((Nemesis. Photo credit to Amazon and Awaken Realms))
One of the most popular themes in board games, besides Zombies, are aliens. Among those, the Xenomorph from Alien has become a huge favorite. There are officially licensed games from the Alien IP and then there are the unofficial Alien games. On first look, Nemesis falls into the latter category. But games are not just about the theme; it’s about gameplay and the overall experience. In that aspect, Awaken Realms has brought us the most ‘Aliens’ like the game, which I believe surpasses the official ones. Nemesis stands out way ahead of the others and I will tell you why.
@AwakenRealms Got a small delivery today. Pretty excited to get to play it all! #Nemesis #boardgame pic.twitter.com/dxmbqWzLSp
— A.T (@Trappski) May 12, 2021
First off, it’s from Awaken Realms and they are one of the best companies in making quality games. Components from Awaken Realms never disappoint. The details of the miniatures alone are amazing. The board, cards, plastic components, all top-shelf.
Second, this game was designed to capture the full experience that you are looking for. If you want a game that gives that sense of unknown horrors and overwhelming odds, Nemesis delivers. This is not a friendly team of heroes, it’s a confused bunch of crewmembers aboard a ship who don’t know a thing about this threat, let alone remember who they can trust.
Nemesis begins with the crew coming out of hypersleep and finding one of their crew is dead. Alarms are going off, they only remember the bare basic layout of the ship and have some idea who is who. This is a huge part of the gameplay. The AI on board says there are intruders on board, but cannot offer any details. In addition, not everyone is a team player. Each crew member may, at any time, turn on another to satisfy a personal agenda. No one knows who to believe. This mechanism is one of several that make Nemesis an incredible game.
To start, place the board out on the “normal” side, indicated by a set of red arrows. Next, take all of the room 2 tiles, and randomly place them on the 2 spaces on the board face down, returning the unused ones to the box. Shuffle and randomly place all of the 1 room tiles on the 1 space on the board. Take all of the exploration tokens and randomly place one on each room tile face down, returning the unused ones back to the box. Place a status marker on the 15 space, one by the self-destruct timer, and one on the B space in the control room.
Next, shuffle the coordinates cards, and place one facedown in the cockpit. Take the blue body token and place it in the hibernarium; to represent the dead crew member. Shuffle and sort the items deck into three piles (military, medical, and tools) shuffle the intruder attack, serious wound, event, and contamination cards into separate face-down piles. Take the 2 engine tokens for each of the three engines and place them face down randomly. Take the appropriate number of escape pods, based on player count, and place them on their locked side on the board. Put the intruder tokens into piles based on their type, and place the starting number of each found in the rulebook into the intruder bag.
Based on the player count take the number of player aid cards and give one to each player. Shuffle the character draft cards. The player who has the first player card, draws two character cards, selecting one and returning the other back. Then player 2 draws two and so on until each player has selected a character. Give each player their character board, miniature, card rack, starting card, quest cards and set of 10 action cards for their character. Take the objectives and separate them into corporate and personal.
In player order, draw one from each. Each player keeps these hidden and will decide which one to pursue later. Give each player a number of damage cubes for their starting ammunition. Place the noise, fire, damage, tokens in a general supply. Take the 2 noise, and 2 combat dice and set them aside as well. Finally, take the intruder board, 5 eggs, and the intruder weakness deck. Randomly place one weakness in each area of the board. Each player places their miniature in the hibernarium. Each player draws 5 action cards to form their hand and player 1 takes the first turn.
Nemesis is played in rounds; the player round and the Intruder round. In the player round, each player in order takes two actions. Actions can be basic such as moving, attacking (melee and shooting), picking up an item, trading an item, or passing. Each basic action costs one card to play. To move, for example, a player discards one card and moves from one room to an adjacent one along a corridor.
There are also card actions, room actions, and item actions. Just like the basic actions, each action has a cost in cards; discard the appropriate number and perform the action. After the first player, takes two actions the next player does. This continues until all players are done performing actions and pass. Once all players have passed, the Intruder round begins. First, move the time track down one space, as well as the self destruct if activated. Next, all intruders make an attack against any player they are in combat with, Then any players in a room that is on fire, take a light wound. Then draw an Event card resolving its effect and moving any designated intruders. Finally, draw a token from the intruder bag and follow the instructions in the rulebook under ‘intruder bag development.’ A new player round begins and the game continues.
There are many ways to lose and a few to win. First, this game is won individually, but certain tasks will require players to help one another which is why it is semi-cooperative. Make no mistake, the other players are not your friends or on your side. To win, you must complete your chosen objective and you must survive. To survive, you must either enter the hibernarium before the ship jumps to hyperspace or in an escape pod. If you choose to use the hibernarium, at least 2 of the 3 engines must be working and the coordinates of the ship are set to earth. If the ship has too many fires, it blows up. If there are too many malfunctions, the ship falls apart and everyone on board dies. If the coordinates are not set to earth, it runs out of fuel and everyone dies, unless a specific objective requires it to win.
Speaking of objectives, each player will decide which one to pursue once a triggering event occurs as indicated in the rulebook. If a player chooses an objective that says “player ___ must not survive” note that players cannot attack or harm one another directly so other means will need to be made. Examples such as locking someone in a room with an intruder or leaving someone to fend for themselves. This game is sinister in that no one knows who to trust. It adds a whole other level of tension and strategy.
Combat with intruders is extremely difficult. Each time a player makes a successful attack, they draw the top card of the intruder attack deck and look at the number. If the intruder has equal to or more damage, it is killed. If it survives, you will need to attack it again. To attack the queen, draw two cards and add the numbers together. Unlike similar games, Nemesis intruders do not have a set number of life points which makes them an even greater threat.
In the game, players will be searching the ship and revealing rooms in addition to fighting the intruders. Some may want to visit the cockpit to check or change the coordinates. Some may want to check the engines to make sure they are working or not. In addition, they may want to repair or damage them. Some objectives may require an egg from the nest or to examine a dead body or carcass, in which case they will need to find the laboratory.
Moving about may generate noise and if enough noise is made, an encounter is likely to occur. Each time a room is discovered, flip the tile to reveal it and look at the exploration token. It will indicate how many items can be searched for, and the condition of the room. Is there slime, is it broken, on fire, or ready to use. After the room is revealed a player makes a noise roll. They place a noise token along the indicated corridor. If you ever need to place a second noise token in a corridor, remove all noise tokens and draw an intruder token from the bag. Place the matching intruder in the room and engage in combat or attempt to escape.
Players may also need to make repairs. Players can search rooms for equipment to do so or use an action card. A player can check the status of an engine but must use another action to either repair or sabotage one. Same in the cockpit, a player can check the coordinates, but must take an additional action to change them.
Nemesis is one of the most tense on-edge board games made. It takes the traitor element from games like Battlestar Galactica and Dead of Winter and ups the ante tenfold. You may actually plot to have someone die to achieve your goal. It is absolute sinister fun. That phrase “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” comes to life in Nemesis. While players may be plotting, all still have a common enemy; the Intruders and they can not be ignored. They can not only hurt and kill players, they can infect them. A player with an infected contamination card is on borrowed time. They either remove the larvae or become a host. Attacks from the intruders will cause wounds that can become debilitating as well as contaminating you. And the Queen is almost impossible to face alone. Going against her without support is a death sentence.
So if the odds are so stacked against you, why play? I find the experience and narrative weaved during this game is amazing. I love Nemesis. Win or lose, you definitely have a story to share with the other players. Nemesis will bring a game night as few other games do; one of deception, intrigue, terror, and tension all rolled in about 2 hours’ time. Not a bad way to spend an evening with friends.
Currently, Nemesis is in wave 1 of its new edition Kickstarter, with the sequel game Nemesis: Lockdown scheduled to arrive later this year. For those who find the traitor element unappealing, Nemesis can be played in a full cooperative mode as well as solo. Both are extremely challenging as well and the cooperative version is ideal for a 2 player game.
Game available to purchase on Amazon, and other game retailers.
Written by Ed Carter
Hi, I’m Lynn, and I Make.
Props, Cosplay, Scale Models, Home Projects, and just about anything else that involves me Making.
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