Escape From Eris GDD

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

<GameDesignDocument> for <ExtinctionGaming>Page 2
Table of Contents
Extinction Gaming.......................................................................................................................................1
DESIGN DOCUMENT................................................................................................................................................1
Design History..............................................................................................................................................3
Version 1.10 ..............................................................................................................................................................3
Version 1.20 ..............................................................................................................................................................3
Version 2.00 ..............................................................................................................................................................3
Version 2.10 ..............................................................................................................................................................4
Version 2.20 ..............................................................................................................................................................4
Version 2.30 ..............................................................................................................................................................5
Version 2.40 ..............................................................................................................................................................5
Game Overview............................................................................................................................................6
Where does the game take place?.....................................................................................................................6
What is the story?....................................................................................................................................................6
What is the main focus? ........................................................................................................................................6
How many characters/units/pieces does the player control? ...............................................................7
Game Theory.............................................................................................................................................................7
Feature Set.....................................................................................................................................................8
General Features .....................................................................................................................................................8
Game Components..................................................................................................................................................8
Rules & Mechanics ...................................................................................................................................10
Game Setup.............................................................................................................................................................10
Turn Sequence.......................................................................................................................................................10
General Rules.........................................................................................................................................................13
Detailed Rules for Specific Pieces...................................................................................................................14
Flowcharts ..............................................................................................................................................................18
End Game Conditions..........................................................................................................................................25
Rules/Questions...................................................................................................................................................25

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.
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.
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.

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.
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.).

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
○ 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)

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.

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.

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

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.

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.
(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 flipped
9 - hills contains parts when tile is flipped
11 - mountains contain parts when tile is flipped
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.
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
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
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

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:

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?

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:

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:

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)

Escape From Eris GDD

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Escape From Eris GDD