Not Alone

The game board is placed with the side chosen by the Creature player face up. The Rescue counter is placed on the blue space corresponding to the total player count, and the Assimilation counter is placed similarly on the red side. One copy of each of the 10 Place cards is laid out in two rows in the center of the playing area, numbered 1 to 10. Additional copies of Place cards 6-10 are placed in a reserve area above the main display. Each Hunted player receives a set of Place cards numbered 1-5, which they keep in hand, and one Survival card. They also collect three Will cubes. The Creature player shuffles the Hunt cards into a face-down deck, draws three into their hand, and collects three Hunt plastic tokens.

The objective for the Hunted players is to survive long enough for a rescue ship to arrive. They achieve this by moving the Rescue counter to its victory space on the game board. The Creature player's objective is to assimilate the hunted players into the planet. They win by moving the Assimilation counter to its victory space on the game board.

Each round, called a turn, consists of four phases. Phase 1: Exploration – Each Hunted player secretly chooses one Place card from their hand and places it face down. They can discuss strategy openly, but cannot show cards. They may also choose to 'Resist' or 'Give Up' before playing their card. Phase 2: Hunting – The Creature player places their Creature token on any Place card on the planet (not the reserve). They may also play one Hunt card and place an additional Hunt token (Artemia or Target) based on the card's effect. Phase 3: Reckoning – All Hunted players simultaneously reveal their chosen Place cards. Effects are resolved in order: first, Hunted players who explored a place without a Hunt token resolve its effect or take back a discarded Place card. Then, Hunted players who explored a place with a Target token resolve the effect of the Hunt card that placed it, then may resolve the place's effect or take back a discarded Place card. Finally, Hunted players who explored a place with an Artemia token lose a Will cube and cannot resolve the place's effect or take back a discarded Place card. If a Hunted player loses their last Will cube, the Assimilation counter moves one space left, but they regain three Will cubes and all discarded Place cards. Phase 4: End of Turn – Hunted players discard their played Place card face up to their personal discard pile. The Creature takes back their Hunt tokens and draws new Hunt cards to have three in hand. The Rescue counter moves one space to the right.

Hunted players score by moving the Rescue counter forward. This primarily happens at the end of each round when the Rescue counter moves one space to the right. Additionally, resolving the effect of 'The Beach' (Place card 4) while its marker is on the card allows the Hunted to advance the Rescue counter one extra space. The Creature scores by moving the Assimilation counter forward. This occurs when Hunted players are caught by the Creature's tokens. If one or more Hunted players are caught by an Artemia token, the Assimilation counter moves one space to the left. If a Hunted player loses their last Will cube, the Assimilation counter moves an additional space to the left.

The game concludes immediately when one of two conditions is met. If the Rescue counter reaches its victory space (the last space on the blue track), the Hunted players successfully escape the planet and win the game. If the Assimilation counter reaches its victory space (the last space on the red track), the Creature successfully assimilates the hunted players into the planet and wins the game.