Gamehelpnotalone

Object of the game

NOT ALONE is an asymmetrical card game, with one player (the Creature) playing against the other players (the Hunted).

If you play as one of the Hunted, you explore Artemia using Place cards. By playing these and your Survival cards, your aim is to avoid being hunted down by the Creature until help arrives.

If you play as the Creature, your aim is to hunt down the shipwrecked survivors and assimilate them into the planet’s ecosystem. By playing your Hunt cards and activating the powers of Artemia, you repeatedly attack the Hunted to wear down their will and inescapably bind them to the planet.

Place cards

The planet Artemia is made up of 10 different Place cards. Each Place card has a number, a name and a power that can be activated by the Hunted. The place cards are horizontally or vertically adjacent.

Each Hunted begins the game with the 5 basic Place cards (Lair, Jungle, River, Beach and Rover) and may explore new places during the game (Swamp, Shelter, Wreck, Source and Artefact).

Hunt cards

Hunt cards increase the chances of the Creature of assimilating the Hunted. Each Hunt card shows a power that can be activated by the Creature and the phase in which that power may be played. Some also show a Target or Artemia symbol.

Hunt Cards may be played at any time during the phase shown on the card and are discarded after use. The Creature may only play one Hunt card per turn unless specified otherwise.

If a Hunt card with the Target symbol is played, the Creature assigns its effects by placing the Target token on one of the 10 Place cards that form the planet. If the Creature plays 2 Hunt cards with this symbol during a turn, apply both effects to the targeted place.

If a Hunt card with the Artemia symbol is played, the Creature assigns its effects by placing the Artemia token on one of the 10 Place cards that form the planet. If the Creature plays 2 Hunt cards with this symbol during a turn, apply both effects.

Survival cards

Survival cards increase the chances of the Hunted of resisting the Creature’s attacks until the arrival of the Rescue mission. Each Survival card shows a power that can be activated by the Hunted and the phase in which that power may be played.

Survival cards may be played at any time during the phase shown on the card and are discarded after use. Each Hunted may only play one Survival card per turn even if caught by the Creature. There is no limit to the number of Survival cards that a Hunted may hold.

Hunt and Survival cards used during the same phase take effect in the order in which they are played.

The effects of Hunt and Survival cards are limited to the current game turn and they may change the general rules.

Playing the game

Each turn takes place over 4 phases: Exploration, Hunting, Reckoning and End-of-Turn Actions. Proceed as follows:

Phase 1: Exploration

The Hunted simultaneously play one Place card each from their hand by placing it face down in front of them. They may communicate, but only aloud. Players may bluff, but they may not reveal their cards to each other. Playing a Place card is mandatory.

Before playing a Place card, a Hunted may choose to do the following:

- Resist: the player forfeits 1 or 2 Will counters to take back 2 or 4 Place cards of his choice, respectively, from his discard pile. If in doing so a Hunted loses his third Will counter, he must Give Up.

- Give Up: the player regains all of his Will counters and takes back all of his discarded Place cards. Giving up, however, lets the Creature assimilate the Hunted faster. Each time a Hunted gives up during this phase, immediately move forward the Assimilation counter by one space.

Phase 2 : Hunting

The Creature may place the following tokens on the Place cards that make up Artemia:

- The Creature token.

- The Target token if the target symbol is on a Hunt card played.

- The Artemia token if the Artemia Symbol is on a Hunt card played AND/OR on the space under the Rescue counter.

The Hunt tokens can be placed on the same place to stack their effects.