Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game

2014 · Fighting

Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game

Players cooperate as characters from the film series to survive encounters with xenomorphs. Each player builds a personal deck by recruiting marine, equipment and support cards from a central market to improve their abilities and respond to escalating threats. Aliens appear on a shared board and advance through locations; players take turns resolving actions, recruiting, and using card effects to eliminate enemies and protect objectives. The game emphasizes teamwork, hand management and timing as the threat deck grows and scenarios introduce new hazards and mission goals.

Players
1–5 best 3
Playing time
30–60 min
Age
17+
Complexity
2.7 / 5
7.6 on Ludoyafrom $75.87Movies / TV / Radio themeScience FictionOpen DraftingCooperative GameDeck, Bag, and Pool Building

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Full stats in Ludoya
582
Plays logged
221
Players
1h 14m
Average play
109
In collections
26
On wishlists
1
Pre-ordered

7.6/10

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

When do hidden Hive cards get revealed — do I flip them when I draw them or only when scanned/entering the Combat Zone?

Hive cards are added face‑down to the Complex during the Hive Phase and are turned face up only when their room is scanned or when a face‑down card is pushed into the Combat Zone, at which point any “Reveal” abilities trigger (pages 8, 11).

How does pushing through the Complex work — can a card be shoved out into the Combat Zone?

Each Complex room holds one card, so when a new card enters it pushes existing cards one space toward the Airlock; if a card is pushed off the Airlock it leaves the Complex and enters the Combat Zone and is turned face up (page 8).

When do enemies strike, and how do strikes and strike damage work?

During the Strike Phase at the end of each player's turn, enemies in the Combat Zone strike from oldest to newest; each strike makes you draw a Strike card and any damage from strikes is placed next to your avatar — if your accumulated strike damage is greater than or equal to your avatar’s health you die (page 12).

When should I reshuffle my discard pile into my deck?

Only shuffle your discard pile into a new deck when your deck is completely empty and you still need to draw or reveal more cards; do not reshuffle preemptively (page 12).

How do Facehuggers and Chestbursters work — who gets impregnated and when do you die?

A revealed Facehugger is placed in front of the current player and that player (then the next player) has the opportunity to kill it; if it isn't killed it impregnates the original player (Facehugger goes to Dead Enemies and that player gains a Chestburster in their discard), and when a Chestburster is drawn it immediately kills that player (pages 14–15).

Do Vigilant characters still trigger Class/Crew abilities on later turns?

Vigilant characters stay in play between turns but only trigger Class or Crew abilities on the turn they were played; on later turns while they remain in play they do not help trigger those abilities (page 14).

Opens Ludoya's rules assistant, which reads this game's rulebook.

Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.