ALIENZ // OFFICIAL GAME GUIDE
🚀 TRANSMISSION LOG // THE BATTLE FOR THE USS RESOLUTE
Deep in uncharted space, the crew of the USS Resolute has been infiltrated. Parasitic alien organisms have possessed several officers—these possessed crew members look, speak, and act exactly like human officers, but are secretly mind-slaves serving the alien hivemind!
Both factions are locked in a desperate struggle for control. Humans must enact Human Technologies to stabilize ship systems, while Aliens try to enact Alien Technologies or crown their secret Overlord—the Xenarch (pronounced ZEE-nark).
1. Overview & Objectives
At game start, players are secretly assigned a role: Human, Alien, or the Xenarch (ZEE-nark).
Human Team Objective
Humans have numerical majority but zero initial trust. Win by enacting 5 Human Technologies OR airlocking the Xenarch.
Alien Team Objective
Aliens are a coordinated minority. Win by enacting 6 Alien Technologies OR electing the Xenarch as Chief Scientist after 3 Alien Techs are enacted.
2. Secret Roles & Crew Manifest
What you see on the ship's Crew Manifest depends on your secret identity and the player count. Test the views below:
You don't know who anyone is. Keep Alien Techs off the board, find the Xenarch, airlock them.
Crew // 5
Human Perspective
As a Human, everyone else displays as UNKNOWN. You must observe votes, card draw claims, and scan results to figure out who to trust.
3. Turn Phases
Turns rotate clockwise around the table. Each turn consists of 4 distinct phases:
The turn leader (Commander) nominates a candidate for Chief Scientist. Term limits prevent recently elected leaders from being nominated again.
All players vote simultaneously (Yea or Nay). If a strict majority votes Yea, the Council takes office! If the vote ties or fails, the Commander rotation advances and the Chaos Meter rises by 1.
The Commander draws 3 Technology cards from the top deck, secretly discards 1 card, and passes 2 cards to the Chief Scientist. The Chief Scientist secretly discards 1 card and enacts 1 card onto the board.
📊 Deck Ratio Note: The deck starts with 6 Human Techs and 11 Alien Techs (17 cards total). Because Alien Techs outnumber Human Techs nearly 2 to 1, Commanders will frequently draw 3 Alien Techs or 2 Alien + 1 Human Tech through pure chance!
If an Alien Tech lands on a slot with an executive power (e.g. 🔍 Scan, 👑 Promote, 👁️ Intel, ☣️ Airlock), the Commander MUST execute that power before the turn ends.
4. R&D Phase & Technology Selection
Once a Council is elected by a majority vote, the ship enters the R&D Phase (Research & Development). Technology cards are selected and enacted in secret:
The Commander draws 3 Technology cards from the deck, secretly selects 1 card to discard, and passes 2 cards to the Chief Scientist.
The Chief Scientist receives 2 cards, secretly selects 1 card to discard, and enacts the remaining 1 card onto the board.
The technology deck starts with 6 Human Techs and 11 Alien Techs (17 cards total). Because Alien Techs outnumber Human Techs nearly 2 to 1, Commanders will frequently draw 3 Alien Techs or 2 Alien + 1 Human Tech through pure probability ($\approx 65\%$ Alien ratio).
Test card selection below to see how cards are discarded and enacted from both leadership perspectives:
Pick one card to discard. The remaining two go to the 🧪 Chief Scientist.
5. Technology Board & Executive Powers
When an Alien Technology card is enacted, it unlocks an immediate Executive Power for the Commander. Executive actions are mandatory—the Commander must perform the listed action before the turn ends:
The Commander secretly inspects a target player's team identity (Human or Alien).
The Commander bypasses normal rotation and picks the next turn's Commander.
The Commander secretly peeks at the top 3 cards of the technology deck.
The Commander eliminates a player. If that player is the Xenarch, Humans win!
Select player counts below to inspect how executive actions, ⚠️ Xenarch Danger Zone, and ⚡ Override Veto scale across the board:
💡 Tap any slot above to inspect its full executive action rules and danger conditions.
6. Council Elections & Voting
Test Council elections below! Click player chips to toggle individual votes between Yea and Nay, and see how majority votes pass or fail:
7. The Chaos Meter & Deck Probability
When 3 elections fail in a row, the ship plunges into Chaos! The top card of the deck is automatically enacted onto the board without any discussion, voting, or executive action.
The technology deck contains 11 Alien Techs and only 6 Human Techs ($\approx 65\%$ Alien probability per top-deck). Forcing a top-deck enactment statistically favors the Aliens! Aliens will often deliberately vote Nay to stall elections and trigger Chaos when Humans refuse to nominate them.
7. Victory Paths & Win Conditions
There are 4 distinct ways a game of Alienz can end. Here is how each victory condition looks on the board:
Humans win immediately when the 5th Human Tech card is enacted onto the board.
If the Commander airlocks a player during an Executive Airlock action and that player is the Xenarch, Humans win immediately!
Aliens win immediately when the 6th Alien Tech card is enacted onto the board.
Once 3 Alien Techs are enacted, the ⚠️ Xenarch Danger Zone is active. Electing the Xenarch as Chief Scientist yields instant Alien victory!
8. Tactical Strategy Manual
Team strengths, vulnerabilities, and advanced tactics to outsmart your opponents:
🛡️ Human Team Analysis
- Truth is on your side—card math does not lie.
- Winning via Airlocking Xenarch provides an instant shortcut.
- Vulnerable to Alien misinformation & false claims.
- Paranoia can cause Humans to vote down clean councils.
- Investigate Conflicts: If a Commander claims 3 Alien Techs, decide if they are lying or if the deck was unluckily stacked.
- Xenarch Guard: Never vote Yea on a Chief Scientist candidate at 3+ Alien Techs unless you are 100% sure they are Human.
🛸 Alien Team Analysis
- Coordinated voting power to pass/block councils.
- Control over executive powers (*Scan* & *Airlock*).
- Exposed if caught discarding Human Techs.
- High stakes when sacrificing an Alien teammate.
- The Xenarch Play: Campaign aggressively to get Xenarch elected Chief Scientist at 3+ Alien Techs.
- Alien Sacrifice: If an Alien gets caught lying, publicly accuse and airlock them to solidify your Human cover!