escape from eris gdd

37
Extinction Gaming Escape from Eris By: Brandon Hackett, Quinton Maza, and Erin Lake DESIGN DOCUMENT Last Revised: Sunday, January 25, 2015

Upload: zaxxor1

Post on 15-Aug-2015

91 views

Category:

Career


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

Extinction GamingEscape from Eris

By: Brandon Hackett, Quinton Maza, and Erin Lake

DESIGN DOCUMENT

Last Revised: Sunday, January 25, 2015

Table of ContentsExtinction Gaming..................................................................................................................................... 1

DESIGN DOCUMENT.............................................................................................................................................. 1

Design History............................................................................................................................................ 3Version 1.10............................................................................................................................................................. 3Version 1.20............................................................................................................................................................. 3Version 2.00............................................................................................................................................................. 3Version 2.10............................................................................................................................................................. 4Version 2.20............................................................................................................................................................. 4Version 2.30............................................................................................................................................................. 5Version 2.40............................................................................................................................................................. 5

Game Overview.......................................................................................................................................... 5Where does the game take place?.................................................................................................................... 5What is the story?.................................................................................................................................................. 5What is the main focus?....................................................................................................................................... 6How many characters/units/pieces does the player control?...............................................................6Game Theory........................................................................................................................................................... 6

Feature Set................................................................................................................................................... 7General Features.................................................................................................................................................... 7Game Components................................................................................................................................................. 8

Rules & Mechanics.................................................................................................................................... 9Game Setup.............................................................................................................................................................. 9Turn Sequence..................................................................................................................................................... 10General Rules....................................................................................................................................................... 12Detailed Rules for Specific Pieces.................................................................................................................. 13Flowcharts............................................................................................................................................................. 17End Game Conditions......................................................................................................................................... 24Rules/Questions.................................................................................................................................................. 24

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 2

Design History

The purpose for the design history section is to record all change made over the course of the design period. This is beneficial for the creators of the game, and other designers, so that they don’t attempt the same changes. While it's beneficial for understanding why theses changes were made in the first place, it’s also concrete place to return to for references.

Version 1.10

1. We changed the board size to 75 tiles, and not 72 tiles. This leaves the salvageable terrain tiles at 14 Mountain tiles have salvaged parts instead of 18 Mountain tiles, 12 Hill tiles have salvaged parts instead of 10 Hill tiles, and 12 Plains tiles have salvaged parts instead of 8 Plains tiles. These changes were all due to error in counting.

2. We changed the name of the Horde unit “Average Joe” to “Gut Buster”. Average Joe is a reference for a human not an alien.

3. We changed the name of the event card “Recruit” to “Who Do You Want To Call” because we couldn't pass up the opportunity to reference Ghostbusters, and this card spawns a Gut Buster, which is who you want to call.

4. We also changed the Alien Overlord to 50 H.P. down from 100 H.P. This was because the Alien Overlord was far too thick which resulted in the crewmembers losing rather quickly.

Version 1.20

1. Changed the Ankle Biter’s total action points from 8 to 6. We felt like this needed to change because they were traveling across the board too quickly.

2. Changed the Gut Buster’s total action points from 6 to 5. We felt like this needed to change because they were traveling across the board too quickly.

Version 2.00

1. Removed 14 tiles from game board, 75 tiles to 61 tiles. We felt like there was abundance of unnecessary space on the board that wasn’t being used.

2. There are now 24 Plains tiles, 18 Hill tiles, and 14 Mountain tiles, instead of 32 Plains tiles, 20 Hill tiles, and 18 Mountain tiles. 11 Mountain tiles have salvaged parts instead of 14 Mountain tiles, 9 Hill tiles have salvaged parts instead of 12 Hill tiles, and 8 Plains tiles have salvaged parts instead of 12 Plains tiles. This balancing was due to the removal of 14 tiles from the game board.

3. Decreased searching costs to 1 action point instead of being based off the terrain. We felt like this cost was too high, it restricted many of the role cards to where their entire turn would be spent searching a tile, this made gameplay move a lot slower than anticipated.

4. We changed the med bay's healing ability to rolling a 1d6 instead of healing the crewmember to full health. We felt that the med bay was too powerful, and made the medic’s special useless.

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 3

5. The pilot's range is decreased from 1-4 to 1-3. This balancing change was due to the removal of 14 tiles, and we didn’t want the pilot to be able to attack any where on the board from any location.

6. We changed the Alien Overlord’s total action points from 5 to 4. We made this balancing change due to the removal of 14 tiles.

Version 2.10

1. We changed the Head Smasher's H.P. from 25 H.P. down to 20 H.P. We felt like this was a necessary change, because they were too difficult for the crewmembers to take out, and it generated a slippery slope.

2. We changed the repairing amount of the salvage parts up to 10 H.P. from 5 H.P. This change was due to the length of a gameplay session. We felt like the salvage parts only healing 5 H.P. was taking too long to complete the game, or even making it impossible to out heal the incoming damage from the Alien Overlord and his Horde units.

3. We changed the soldier's action points from 4 up to 5, and the engineer's down from 5 to 4 action points. We made this balancing change to make the roles feel their part in gameplay. The soldier should be the role in the front lines, and the engineer’s job is to make sure the spaceship is functional. Reducing the actions points for the engineer keeps him closer to the spaceship, and increasing the soldier’s action points allows him to venture farther each turn behind enemy lines.

4. We changed the name of "Weapons Online" to "Missiles Online.” We felt that the area of effect that this system is capable of felt more like it was firing missiles than mounted guns.

5. We changed the Pilot’s special from Keen Eye (Look at the top card of the Event deck once per turn) to Bird’s Eye View (The pilot can scout ahead for salvage parts by looking under one terrain tile once per turn from the spaceship.) We felt that the pilots special was easily forgotten, because the 3 cards from the event deck were turned over at the end of each turn, so it was inevitable and didn’t affect strategic planning to the extent we had originally intended.

6. We changed the Medic’s special from Heal (restore H.P. based on what they roll on a 1d6 once per turn on the same tile as another crew member) to Resurrection (The medic can revive a downed ally, and roll a 1d6 to determine how much H.P. the revived ally returns with. This special may only be done once per turn, and must be done from the location of the downed ally.) We felt that the Medic’s special was underused, and we also noticed that the protection that the spaceship offered and the risk of permadeath was keeping the crew members too close to the spaceship tile.

7. We changed the Alien Overlord’s special “Over Spawn” from (Spawn an ankle biter at the any hive location of the Alien Overlord’s choice for 1 action point), to “Over Spawn” (Spawn an ankle biter at the Alien Overlord’s location for 1 action point, or spawn two Gut Busters at the Alien Overlord’s location for 4 action points.) We opened up the options for more meaningful choice for the player playing as the Alien Overlord. This also prevented the Alien Overlord from spawning his Horde Units under the safety of the Hive Tiles.

8. We changed the “Show Must Go On” Event card from (If a player died this turn, bring that player back to life at ½ of it’s starting H.P. at the location of death.), to “The Show Must Go On” (If any crew member is dead, those crew member come back with half their starting H.P. on the spaceship tile.) We felt that with all the Event cards within the event deck that benefit the Alien Overlord, that bringing back the Alien Overlord at ½ H.P. after death was overly beneficial for the Alien Overlord, so we decided to have The Show Must Go On benefit only the crew members.

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 4

Version 2.20

1. We changed the Pilot’s H.P. to 4 down from 5. We did this to better fit a 1d4 die so that we would have a way for players to keep track of H.P.

2. We changed the Soldier’s H.P. to 12 up from 10. We did this to better fit a 1d12 die so that we would have a way for players to keep track of H.P.

Version 2.30

Changes 1-7 were made to slow down and reduce the amount of aliens in the Alien Overlord’s assault.

1. The “Alien Quartet” event card spawns 3 Ankle Biters and 1 Gut Buster instead of 1 Ankle Biter, 2 Gut Busters, and 1 Head Smasher.

2. The “Rampage” Event Card amount was reduced to 4 down from 6.3. The “The Ankle Biter Pack” Event card amount was reduced to 4 from 6.4. The “Alien Quartet” Event card amount was reduced to 4 from 6.5. The “Big Time?” Event card amount was increased from to 18 from 12.6. The Alien Overlord’s Over Spawn ability was changed due to balancing issues. It now takes 4

actions to spawn one Gut Buster instead of two Gut Busters.7. All Horde units only have 4 action points instead of the Gut Busters having 5, and the Ankle

Biters having 6 actions points.

Version 2.40

1. We changed the Pilot’s range down to 1-2 from 1-3. We felt like this would open up more options for the Alien Overlord.

2. We changed the Engineer’s actions up to 5 from 4. We felt like this allowed the Engineer’s special to be used more often.

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 5

Game Overview

Where does the game take place?

Eris is a dwarf planet in the outer reaches of the known sectors, the planet surface is filled with harsh terrain, and is uninhabited by humans. Unknown to our stranded crew and the entire universe, the planet is home to thousands of life forms, aliens, and, like ants, they’ve burrowed miles of tunneling underneath the planet’s surface.

What is the story?

The story of Escape from Eris is as follows: A space station called The Frontier lies on the outer reaches of the known sectors of space, and is conducting scavenging missions for materials. These materials come from powered down or fallen probes and satellites within the sector. The space station then uses these materials for repairing the space station and other spacecraft as they wear and tear from use, as well as supplying their crews for future scavenging missions. Our story takes place with The Frontier’s brightest, and most experienced scavenging crew, suiting up for another ordinary mission. Or is it?

After our crew has set forth, an unforeseen explosion has caused the scavenging

mission to suddenly go haywire, and has left our crewmembers’ spaceship damaged, as well as their comm-links disabled. As such, they were forced to land on the nearest planet of Eris. As our crewmembers strapped themselves in, and braced for impact, their pilot noticed several impact craters on the planet’s surface, which could possibly be home to useful salvage. Eris, known to be uninhabitable by humans, hasn’t been a main focus for scouting or scavenging missions. So, it’s up to you to explore the highest peaks, and the lowest regions of Eris in search for salvaged parts in order to repair your spaceship, and Escape from Eris. What dangers lie in wait for our crewmembers?

Meanwhile, a race of aliens, referred to as The Horde, has spotted the wreckage, and

feels threatened by the unknown inhabitants of the spaceship. With no hesitation they begin to move their countless forces to examine and destroy any life forms that could cause harm to them. It’s up to the master of the alien race, known as the Alien Overlord, to control his/her troops, to move upon the wreckage, and validate that any threat, if any, is removed immediately.

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 6

What is the main focus?

A spaceship containing four crewmembers has crashed on the remote planet called Eris, and now they are stranded. Their spaceship has been damaged in the crash, and the group needs to explore this planet for salvageable parts so they can repair the spaceship in order to leave Eris. As time goes by, a race of aliens, named The Horde, have spotted the crew and are eager for their destruction. In order for The Horde to prevent the crew’s escape from Eris they must work together to fight off the crew’s attempt at salvaging parts, and destroy their spaceship before it’s fully repaired, or the entire universe will know their existence.

How many characters/units/pieces does the player control? There will be a total of five main game tokens for each player. There will be a medic token, a

soldier token, a pilot token, an engineer token and an Alien Overlord token. There will also be a total of 70 Horde tokens that are usable on the game board itself. Each player plays as one token per role while the Alien Overlord controls the other alien tokens, which can be anywhere from 1 to 70 tokens. The 70 Horde tokens are separated into the following: 40 Ankle Biters, 20 Gut Busters, and 10 Head Smashers.

Game Theory

Symmetry – Our game is asymmetric on the basis of the Alien Overlord can choose his starting position between the 4 Horde tiles. Another aspect of our game that makes it asymmetrical is due to the fact that the terrain tiles are placed randomly during the set up of the game. During the set up, the tiles are placed randomly within the designated area of play. The last aspect of our game that is asymmetrical is that our salvaged parts are randomly distributed under their designated tiles, meaning that specific amounts of tiles have salvage parts on the underside of the tile.

Play Style -Based on the nature of our game there are both cooperative and non-cooperative aspects, because of the fact that 2-4 players are working together as the stranded crew while playing against another player controlling the Alien Overlord and his Horde. The game is only competitive with no cooperative aspects when there are only 2 players, because one is controlling 4 crewmembers and the other is controlling the Alien Overlord.

Summation - Escape from Eris is a non-zero-sum game based on the salvage parts only benefitting the crewmembers, and the Alien Overlord's goals differ from that of the crewmembers. Another aspect that would make Escape from Eris a non-zero-sum game would be the event card deck because it gives resources that mainly benefits the Alien Overlord by giving him more Horde units, and by effecting the number of action points required to search a tile for salvage parts.

Perfect/Imperfect Information - Escape from Eris has perfect information because every player is aware of what role cards are selected at the beginning of the game, and what those roles are capable of accomplishing. None of the players know where the salvage parts are placed, nor do they know what event cards are going to be revealed from the Event Deck. All players can see at any given time where all units are placed upon the game board, as well as their health (H.P.).

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 7

Feature Set

General Features

● 1 to 1 1/2 hours from setup to pick up.

● From ages 12+

● 1 Alien Overlord player vs. 1 to 4 cooperative crewmember player(s)○ The Alien Overlord role consists of being able to control the Horde units to destroy the

stranded crew and their spaceship. Meanwhile, the crew attempts to cooperatively fight off waves of the Horde while returning salvaged parts to the spaceship for repairs.

● Event Deck○ The Event Deck spawns the Horde units, as well as affecting the Horde in a positive

and negative manner. Few cards from the Event Deck can benefit the Crew.

● Hex Tile system○ The Hex Tile system is a unique feature in our game because it is a fun and interesting

way to set up the game itself. The tiles are ever changing; they’re placed randomly for replay ability and fairness. For more information see (fig. 1.1).

● Combat system○ In this feature, the combat system has a set amount of damage and range depicted on

each role card while the Alien Overlord’s Horde have their own rule set to cause more mischief for the stranded crew. For more information see (fig. 1.2)

● Spaceship systems○ In this feature, as the spaceship is repaired certain systems become activated, which is

beneficial to the crewmembers like the Missile system that can take out many Horde in one tile. For more information on the spaceship systems refer to the (Detailed Rules for Specific Pieces) section.

Game Components

● 61 Hex Shaped Tiles○ 24 Plains Tiles○ 18 Hill Tiles○ 16 Mountain Tiles○ 4 Alien Hive Tiles○ 1 Space Ship Tile

● 2 (1d6) Die● 1 (1d4) Die● 1 (1d8) Die● 1 (1d10) Die● 1 (1d12) Die● 1 (1d100) Die● 60 - Card Event Deck

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 8

○ 12 “Big Time?” Cards ○ 8 “Who Do You Want To Call” Cards ○ 6 “Not Your Average Alien” Cards ○ 6 “Alien Quartet” Cards ○ 6 “The Ankle Bite Pack” Cards ○ 6 “Rampage” Cards ○ 4 “Sandstorm” Cards ○ 3 “The Common Alien Cold” Cards ○ 3 “Natural Disaster” Cards ○ 2 “Big Trouble, Little Crew” Cards○ 2 “Overlord Overload” Cards ○ 2 “The Show Must Go On” Cards

● 5 Role Cards● 4 Salvaged Parts Markers● 5 Player Tokens (one for each role)● 70 Horde Tokens

○ 40 Ankle Biter Tokens○ 20 Gut Buster Tokens○ 10 Head Smasher Tokens

● 1 Rule Book● 4 R.I.P. Tokens● 4 Dry Erase Markers ● 1 Alien Overlord /Horde Dry Erase H.P. chart. See (fig. 1.3)

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 9

Rules & Mechanics

Game Setup

(Fig. 1.1)

To set up the game you must first place the 56 double sided terrain tiles with the salvaged parts side face down onto a flat surface and shuffle them around without looking at the salvaged part side. Then you’ll go around creating the board clockwise starting from the inside of the board (the adjacent tile of the spaceship tile then working your way out till the board is completed. The spaceship tile and alien hive tiles must be placed in the spots depicted in the picture above (fig 1.1). Then you’ll decide which player will play which role, and can be decided by the oldest player choosing first. After that has been decided each player is then placed in his or her starting position on the board. The player(s) playing the role of the stranded crewmembers are placed on the center most tile of the board known as the spaceship tile. The player playing the Alien Overlord must be placed on one of the alien hive tiles, which are the 4 tiles farthest away from the spaceship tile. The player playing the Alien Overlord may choose which of the alien hive tiles he or she wants to start on. The 60-card Event Deck is placed on the left side of the board next to the alien hive tile farthest to the left.

Turn Sequence

Start of Round:Initiative Phase: Roll a 1d6 to determine the order in which players carry out their action phase.

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 10

Action Phase: (movement, attacking, special, searching, repair, using spaceship systems.)

Initiative 1: First player in the turn order uses available actions.Initiative 2: Second player in the turn order uses available actions.Initiative 3: Third player in the turn order uses available actions.Initiative 4: Fourth player in the turn order uses available actions.Initiative 5: Fifth player in the turn order uses available actions.

End Phase: Flip 3 cards from event deck, reveal them, and implement them accordingly.

At the beginning of each turn, the initiative phase occurs. This is when each player rolls a 1d6 die to determine the turn order for that turn. The player that rolls the highest number goes first. Then the player that rolls the second highest number goes next. This pattern continues until all players have rolled the die, and know their position in this turn order. If there are any ties or players that roll the same number on the die, those players that rolled the tie will then roll the die again. The player with the highest roll will go before the other player(s) that were involved in the tie. This pattern is continued until all ties are broken. This random element of deciding the turn order allows the players to settle the turn order without conflict and also adds a strategic element to how players will use their actions during the next phase. After the turn order has been decided, players will each go through their own action phase in the order determined by the Initiative Phase.

During each player's action phase the player can accomplish any of the following actions: move their game piece to another tile on the board, attack an opposing player on the board, activate their characters special ability, search tiles for salvaged parts, taking salvaged parts from another player, and repairing the spaceship. The player playing as the Alien Overlord can move the Horde token(s) during his or her action phase.

Movement: Players can move their game pieces across the board as far as they want, as long as the amount of action points required to move does not exceed the number of total action points that their role or Horde token has available. Also certain terrain types require more action points to travel onto. For example it takes 2 action points to travel onto a hill tile.

Combat: Players with a role card can attack an opposing player as many times as they want, as long as it does not exceed the number of action points that their role card specifies, and as long as they are within range (as depicted below in (fig. 1.2)). Depending on the player’s character role the range of their attacks differ. Horde units (excluding the Alien Overlord) may only attack once per turn, and can only attack on the same tile as a crewmember or spaceship.

(Fig. 1.2)

Range of Zero - Tokens with a range of 0 can only attack other units within the same tile.

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 11

Range greater than Zero - Roles with a range greater than 0, for example, a range of 0-1 could attack any hexes adjacent to the hex that player is currently occupying as well as the tile they occupy. See (fig. 1.2)

The amount of health each role/Horde unit has and the amount of damage a player can do to an opposing player is also displayed on the role card and in the rulebook. When the spaceship, or Horde member reaches zero H.P. and have died/been destroyed, that game piece or tile is removed from the game unless indicated otherwise. If a player’s H.P. reaches zero and has died the game piece is removed from the game and a R.I.P. Token is placed on the tile they died on. H.P. does not regenerate.. The amount of H.P. a specific piece has left is displayed on the die/dice associated to the crew member/spaceship or recorded on the Alien Overlord/Horde Dry Erase H.P. chart. (see fig. 1.3 in the Rules/Questions Section) If certain pieces are removed by combat, it can result in reaching an end game condition, which is explained in the End Game Conditions section.

Special Actions: These are actions that allow the player to use their character’s ability, which is displayed on the role cards and in the rulebook. This action doesn’t use any action points unless noted otherwise, like with the Alien Overlord’s special. For more information, go to the Detailed Rules for Specific Piece section.

Searching Tiles: This action can occur when a player is on an unsearched tile. Once a player has searched a tile, the tile is flipped, and it remains so for the duration of the game. This indicates that the tile has already been searched. Not all tiles have salvage parts, which adds a random element, and forces the player to randomly search for salvaged parts, which helps give the game a more urgent atmosphere. The Alien Overlord, the Horde, cannot do this action. Furthermore a crewmember with a Salvaged part already in their possession also cannot search a tile for another Salvaged part.

Carrying and Taking Salvaged Parts: Once a player has found a salvage part, they must then transport the salvaged part to the spaceship tile in order make a repair. Salvaged parts are automatically picked up when discovered, so it does not require any action points to do so. A player who doesn't have possession of a salvaged part can take a salvaged part from another crewmember that does for the cost of one action point. When a crewmember dies carrying a salvaged part, that salvaged part is removed from the game. When a player has a salvaged part placing a salvaged part marker on that player’s role card shows that it is so. The Alien Overlord or the Horde cannot do these actions.

Repairing Spaceship: This action requires the player to be on the spaceship tile, and the use of an action point unless noted otherwise. Also once a scavenge part is used on the spaceship, that salvaged part is removed from the game. The Alien Overlord or the Horde cannot do this action.

Spaceship Systems: When the spaceship hits a predetermined amount of H.P., a system will come back online for them to use while they’re on the spaceship tile. Using a system on the spaceship requires a crewmember to be on the spaceship tile. It requires 1 action point to use a system from the spaceship. Each of these systems can only be used once per turn, and results in that player’s action phase ending. The Alien Overlord or the Horde cannot do this action. For more information on spaceship systems go to the Detailed Rules for Specific Pieces section.

Actions: Each action can be done any number of times based off the number of action points the role card or Horde token has which is indicated in the Detailed Rules for Specific Pieces section, or during play it will be displayed on the role cards/ in the rule book. For example the Soldier has 5 action points, so that player could move onto a plains tile, attack three times, and search the plains tile he or she is on, all in one turn. As long as the number of actions a player does is equal to the number of <GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 12

action points displayed on the role card, that player can do any combination of actions for the turn. After all players determined the rounds initiative, and have completed the action phase, then the end phase begins.

End Phase (Event Deck): During the end phase three cards are flipped from the Event Deck, and placed next to the deck face up. Once all the cards are visible to all players, read the rules text on each card, and implement the effects accordingly. After the effects of the Event cards have been implemented, put the cards in the discard pile face up, which is located above the Event Deck. This concludes the end phase, and players start at the Initiative Phase again. Until an end game condition has been met, this pattern continues. If there are no more cards to draw from the Event Deck, reshuffle the cards from the discard pile to reconstruct the Event Deck, and continue play.

General Rules

● After initiative is decided at the beginning of each turn, players cannot switch the turn order.

● During the initiative roll the number six is considered the highest.

● Action points cannot be saved for future turns.

● If there are multiple people on a tile, the player may choose whom to attack.

● You may not attack a player or Horde unit on your team, meaning “no friendly fire” unless the player shares a tile targeted by the "Missiles Systems".

● The Missiles cannot be fired at the spaceship tile.

● There is no limit to how many game pieces can be on a tile.

● Even when terrain tiles have been searched it still requires the same amount of actions to travel on them.

● All crewmember roles and Alien Overlord role must be played.

● All initiative rolls after the initial initiative roll follows the previous turn’s initiative order.

● Players continue rolling initiative even when their character is dead, and if they’re revived before their initiative they can continue play.

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 13

Detailed Rules for Specific Pieces

Character Roles:

Character Role

H.P. Actions Damage Range Special Effect

Alien Overlord

50/50 4 5 0 - 1 Over Spawn

Spawn an ankle biter at the Alien Overlord’s location for 1 action point, or spawn a Gut Buster at the Alien Overlord’s location for 4 action points.

Pilot 4/4 4 5 1 - 2 Bird’s Eye View

Scout ahead for salvage parts by looking under one terrain tile once per turn from the spaceship.

Medic 6/6 6 1 0 - 1 Resurrection

Revive a killed ally, and roll a 1d6 to determine how much H.P. the revived ally returns with. This special may only be done once per turn, and must be done from the location of the killed ally. The location where the ally died is where they respawn after they are revived.

Engineer 8/8 5 4 0 - 1 Quick Fix Repairing the spaceship doesn’t take any action points.

Soldier 12/12 5 3 0 - 2 Outdoorsmen Terrain doesn’t affect movement.

Each player is given a chance to choose whom they want to be, starting with the oldest. One player must be the Alien Overlord, while the other player(s) play as the as all the stranded crewmember roles. Every role card is given a set amount of health (H.P.), which will be kept on dice listed in the Game Components section. Also the number of actions, damage of their weapon, the range of their weapon, and their special is displayed on the life keeping role cards.

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 14

(The Horde):

The Horde that spawn from an event card or the Alien Overlord’s special may not use any of their action until the next turn.

The Horde’s turn order is the same as the Alien Overlord, and can be moved in any order during the Alien Overlord’s action phase.

All Horde units are limited to one attack per turn, and the range of their attacks is 0.

Once a Horde unit attacks a crewmember, or the spaceship, that unit’s action phase is over.

The Horde’s spawns are limited to the number of tokens in the game. For example there can’t be more than 20 Gut Busters on the board because there are only 20 Gut Buster tokens.

The Horde Quantity of Tokens

H.P. Actions Damage

Ankle Biter 40 1 4 1

Gut Buster 20 10 4 3

Head Smasher 10 20 4 5

The Board: Contains a total of 61 tiles. These tiles consist of 24 plains tiles, 18 hill tiles, 14 mountain tiles, 4 alien hive tiles, and 1 spaceship tile. Terrain Tiles:(Tiles are randomly placed on the board during the setup of the game.)

61 tiles

24 - plains (requires 1 action point to travel on tile)18 - hills (require 2 action points to travel on tile)14 - mountains (requires 3 action points to travel on tile) Salvaged Parts:(Are randomly shown on the underside of the tiles on the game board.) 28 terrain tiles contain salvage parts. They are as follows.

8 - plains contains parts when tile is flipped9 - hills contains parts when tile is flipped11 - mountains contain parts when tile is flipped

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 15

Each salvaged part restores 10 H.P. of the spaceship when returned.

Each player can only carry one salvage part at a time back to the spaceship for repairs.

Repairs take an action unless otherwise noted.

All Terrain tiles require only one action point to search. Alien Hive Tiles:

4 - Alien Hive Tiles

These tiles are the spawning location for the Alien Overlord and all Horde units spawned from the Event Deck.

The Horde units cannot travel upon an Alien Hive tile once they leave, but the Alien Overlord can return to any adjacent Alien Hive tile for 1 action point.

Spaceship Tile:

This tile requires 1 action point for all pieces to travel onto.

Spaceship’s starting health is 30 H.P.

Players will keep track of the spaceship’s H.P. with the dice specified for it. The 1d100 keeps track of the 10’s place and the 1d10 keeps track of the one’s place of the spaceship’s current H.P. (The med bay is online from the start. If at any time the spaceship goes below the listed H.P. the system will go offline. )

H.P. System Effect

25 Med Bay

Once per turn when a crewmember is on the spaceship tile, that crewmember may restore H.P. based on what they roll on a 1d6.

50 Missiles Online

Once per round, if the spaceship is manned it can fire upon any one tile for 10 damage. It hits all Horde and player game pieces on that tile. It ends that player’s turn.

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 16

80 Teleporter

Once per turn, if the spaceship is manned you can teleport a crewmember back to the spaceship for 1 action. It ends that player’s turn.

100 Thrusters

End Game Condition (Crew members win once they are all on the spaceship tile at the end of the turn).

Event Cards:

The Event Deck contains 60 cards.

Name of Event Card Quantity of Event Card

Rules Text

Big Time? 18 One Ankle Biter spawns at an alien hive tile of the Alien Overlord’s choice.

Who Do You Want To Call 8 One Gut Buster spawns at an alien hive tile of the Alien Overlord’s choice.

Not Your Average Alien 6 One Head Smasher spawns at an alien hive tile of the Alien Overlord’s choice.

Alien Quartet 4 Three Ankle Biters and a Gut Buster spawn at the same alien hive tile of the Alien Overlord’s choice.

The Ankle Biter Pack 4 Six Ankle Biters spawn at the same alien hive tile of the Alien Overlord’s choice.

Rampage 4 The Horde gain +1 damage for the duration of the upcoming turn.

Sandstorm 4 All terrain requires an extra action point to search for the duration of the upcoming turn.

The Common Alien Cold 3 The Horde’s action points are reduced to 2 for the duration of the upcoming turn.

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 17

Natural Disaster 3 The Horde cannot spawn for the duration of the upcoming turn. (This includes spawns from the Event Deck).

Big Trouble, Little Crew 2 One - Head Smasher spawns at each of the alien hive tiles.

Overlord Overload 2 The Horde’s movement are unaffected by terrain for the duration of the upcoming turn.

The Show Must Go On 2 If any crewmember is dead, those crewmember(s) come back to life with half their starting H.P. on the spaceship tile.

Flowcharts

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 18

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 19

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 20

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 21

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 22

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 23

End Game Conditions

Losing Conditions for the Stranded Crew:

● The spaceship is destroyed (reaches 0 H.P.).● All the crewmembers have been killed.● There is a lack of salvaged parts to fully repair the spaceship.

Losing Condition for Alien Overlord:

● The spaceship has been fully repaired, and all the remaining crewmembers are on the spaceship tile at the end of the turn.

In Escape from Eris there are four end game conditions. The first end game condition occurs when the surviving stranded crewmembers collect enough parts to fully repair their spaceship and are all on the spaceship tile at the end of the turn. This end game condition is the only one where the player(s) that play as the stranded crew are declared the winner(s). The second end game condition occurs when the spaceship is destroyed by its H.P. reaching zero. The third end game condition results when all of the stranded crewmembers have been killed. The fourth and final end game condition results when all of the parts have been salvaged from the board, but the spaceship was unable to be fully repaired. These end game conditions all result with the player playing as the Alien Overlord being declared the winner.

Rules/Questions

1. How was the board made for playtesting?

When it came to the board, we used the hex side of the play mat that we got from the game pack. For the hex tiles of the board we cut 61 of them out of poster board, and made sure that they were the exact same size as 7 hexes on the play mat. We also colored the tops of each tile a different color to represent the different terrains. For our playtest the spaceship tile was green, the 4 alien hive tiles were red, the 24 plains tiles were yellow, the 18 hill tiles were pink, and the 14 mountain tiles were blue. See picture below for visual representation:

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 24

2. How can you tell when a tile has a salvaged part or not?

We drew a star on the bottom side of the tile if it had a salvaged part, and left it blank if not. As a reminder only 8 of the 24 plains tiles, 9 of the 18 hill tiles, and 11 of the 14 mountain tiles should have a salvaged part. See picture below for visual representation:

3. How can you tell when a tile has already been searched?

As stated in the GDD, leave the tile flipped over. If you want it to be easier to remember which type of tile it was, you can color the star the same color as the terrain tile, and if blank, color a outline of the back side the same color as the terrain tile. That way you won’t have to keep flipping them over to check which terrain it is.

4. What did you use to represent each character role on the board?

We used game pieces from Clue to represent each of the character roles. Red was the Alien Overlord, blue was the Pilot, purple was the Medic, yellow was the Engineer, and green was the Soldier. You can use anything you have at hand to be the game pieces for your character roles. See picture below for visual representation:

5. What was used to represent each Horde unit?

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 25

We used the glass gaming stones from the game pack to represent each of the Horde types. 40 clear stones to represent the Ankle Biters, 20 blue stones to represent the gut busters, and 10 black stone to represent the Head Smashers. See picture below for visual representation:

6. What is the layout of the Role Cards for your playtesting?

The name of the character role goes across the top of the card. The stats of each card go down the left side of the card in the order H.P. (health), A.P. (actions), DMG (damage), and Range. The bottom half is where the character's special is displayed with the name and explanation. Then the blank portion is where an image would be displayed. See picture below for visual representation:

7. How can you tell when a crewmember has a salvaged part?

A marble is placed on the top left corner of their role card if they are in possession of a salvaged part. See picture below for visual representation:

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 26

8. How can you tell what the current H.P. of the crewmember or the spaceship is?

As explained above in the GDD, specific dice from the game pack are used to keep record of the current H.P. of each crewmember, and the spaceship. Each die for the crewmember is placed by the role card it represents (as shown in the picture above), and the die for the spaceship’s H.P. is placed by the Event Deck.

9. What is the layout of the Event Cards for your playtesting?

The name of the event card goes across the top of the card, the blank portion would be where the picture is displayed, and the rules text is explained in the bottom portion of the card. See picture below for visual representation:

10. What was used to represent the R.I.P. tokens?

The R.I.P token is shaped like a tombstone and was cut out of poster board, and is about the same size as the glass gaming stones from the game pack. See picture below for visual representation:

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 27

11. How do you track of the Alien Overlord and Horde Units Health Points (H.P) during playtesting?

The dry erase board is divided into sections and is marked by 4 different dry erase markers, each markers is designated by the following colors: the Alien Overlord (red), the Ankle Biter (green), the Gut Buster (blue), and the Head Smasher (black).

(Fig. 1.3)

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 28