ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo

To set up, place the game board in the center of the play area. Set the morale marker on the appropriate starting space on the Crew Morale track based on the number of players (top for 4-5 players, middle for 1-3 players). Create piles of scrap tokens, coolant canisters, and double-sided concealed tokens (face-down, showing only the generic side). Add specific quantities of scrap and coolant canisters to designated rooms like Mother, Hypersleep, Medbay, Garage, Equipment Storage, Maintenance, and Workshop. Lay out pairs of item tokens (Electric Prod, Grapple Gun, Incinerator, Cat Carrier, Flashlight, Motion Tracker) face-up beside the board. Shuffle the Encounter cards and set them face-down. Shuffle the Objective cards and deal a number face-up equal to the number of players plus one, returning the rest to the box. Shuffle the Final Mission cards, randomly select one face-down, and return the rest to the box. Each player chooses a crew board, matching figure, and player reference card, placing their figure in the Galley. The Alien figure is placed in the Nest. The player who most recently had a cat hiss at them, or a randomly chosen player, goes first.

The primary objective for the players is to cooperatively complete a series of tasks. First, they must fulfill all the face-up objectives revealed at the start of the game. Once these initial objectives are met, the Final Mission card is revealed, presenting a new set of conditions that the crew must satisfy to achieve victory. The game is lost if the Crew Morale track ever reaches the 'Crew Lost' space at the bottom, or if the ship's self-destruct sequence is completed, as indicated by the Self-Destruct Tracker running out of tokens.

A player's turn consists of two phases: the Crew Action Phase and the Encounter Phase. During the Crew Action Phase, the active player can perform a number of actions equal to the 'Actions' value on their player board. Available actions include moving one space, picking up/dropping any amount of scrap, picking up/dropping one item in their room, using their special ability, using an item they possess, crafting an item by paying scrap costs, or trading items/scrap with another crew member in the same space. If a player enters a space with a face-down concealed token, they must immediately stop, resolve any objective completion, then flip the token. If it's a cat, morale decreases by one; if it's an alien, morale decreases by the value shown, the alien moves to that space, and all crew members in that room must flee three spaces. If fleeing, entering another concealed token space requires immediate resolution. After actions, in the Encounter Phase, the player draws and resolves the top card from the Encounter deck. This involves moving the alien towards the nearest crew member by the indicated number of spaces. If the alien enters a crew member's space, morale decreases by the value on the card, and all crew members in that space must flee three spaces. Finally, scrap and/or concealed tokens are placed in the room indicated on the encounter card, and the card is added to the discard pile. Some encounter cards may also trigger specific events or require shuffling certain cards back into the Encounter deck.

ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo is a cooperative game, meaning there is no individual scoring. All players work together towards a common goal, and they either collectively achieve victory or suffer defeat. Success is measured by the completion of objectives and the final mission, while failure is determined by the depletion of crew morale or the activation of the ship's self-destruct sequence.

The game concludes with a victory for all players if they successfully complete all the objectives listed on the revealed Final Mission card. Conversely, all players lose if the Crew Morale marker reaches the 'Crew Lost' space on the morale track, or if the Self-Destruct Tracker runs out of tokens, indicating the ship has been destroyed. Some Final Mission cards may also have specific defeat conditions that, if met, result in an immediate loss for the players.