NEMESIS

A Powerful Force that Challenges and Pushes Me

Every so often, life introduces us to a formidable opponent. A nemesis, if you will. This rival arrives unexpectedly and tests our mettle, forcing us to confront our own limitations and weaknesses. It’s a curious phenomenon that can both intimidate and motivate us, pushing us to become better versions of ourselves.

How does one come face to face with their nemesis? Often, it begins with a simple conversation, an encounter, or a realization. Suddenly, we find ourselves confronted with a challenge that seems insurmountable. Our nemesis lurks in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

But why is this encounter with our nemesis so important? Well, my friend, it is through these battles that we truly discover who we are. Our nemesis exposes our vulnerabilities, our fears, and our insecurities. It is only when we stare into the face of adversity that we have the opportunity to rise above it.

When I stand face to face with my nemesis, I feel a fire ignite within me. It’s a fire that fuels my determination and ignites my passion. I may stumble and fall, but I refuse to stay down. I will rise, again and again, until I conquer my nemesis and emerge victorious.

It’s important to remember that our nemesis is not our enemy. They are not here to destroy us but to challenge us. To push us beyond our perceived limits and show us what we are truly capable of. Without them, we would remain stagnant, never striving for greatness.

So, my friend, when you encounter your nemesis, embrace the opportunity. Embrace the challenge and let it propel you forward. There will be moments of doubt and uncertainty, but it is through those moments that we find clarity and strength.

Now, go forth and face your nemesis with courage and determination. Embrace the struggle, for it is through adversity that we find our true selves.

Nemesis is an exciting survival game where we work together as a group, but also have our own personal objectives. This means that sometimes we might do things that go against what the rest of the group wants, like trying to be the only survivor or making sure a specific character dies. The ultimate goal is to complete our objective and make it through the game alive.

Now, let’s talk about how to set up the game. First, make sure to find a flat surface where we can lay out the playing map. This will be our central hub for all the action.

Before we start, let’s take a look at what comes in the box. You’ll find a two-sided game board and an intruder board to give us different playing options. We also have six character sheets, which we’ll use to keep track of our progress. And don’t forget about the room tokens! There are “one” room tokens and “two” room tokens that we’ll be using throughout the game. You’ll also find a scanner, an intruder bag, and some dice (two d6s and two d10s) to add an element of chance to our gameplay.

I can describe to you what comes in the game box of Nemesis: Lockdown. Inside, you will find a variety of components that add to the excitement of the game.

First, there are several miniatures included. This includes six character miniatures, six larvae miniatures, three creeper miniatures, eight adult intruder miniatures, two breeder miniatures, and one Queen miniature. These miniatures are beautifully designed and will bring the game to life.

Next, there are five card holders included. These holders will keep your cards organized and easily accessible during gameplay.

You will also receive six colored bases. These bases will help you keep track of your characters and distinguish them from the other players.

For keeping track of various game elements, there are 18 status markers, 50 ammo/injury markers, 30 noise markers, 8 fire markers, 12 door markers, and 8 malfunction markers. These markers add an extra layer of strategy to the game.

To further enhance the gameplay, there are six engine tokens and two five injuries tokens included. These tokens will help you keep track of important game mechanics.

The game also comes with four escape pods, eight intruder eggs, 30 exploration tokens, and 27 intruder tokens. These tokens will be used throughout the game to add suspense and excitement.

In addition, there is a first player marker included, along with eight intruder carcasses tokens, one blue character corpse token, and five red character corpse tokens. These tokens represent the aftermath of the game and add to the overall atmosphere.

To assist with gameplay mechanics, there is an airlock procedure token included. This token will help you keep track of important steps during the game.

For the card-based mechanics of the game, there are 60 action cards, eight intruder weaknesses, 18 objective cards, 102 item cards, and eight coordinates cards. These cards will be used to carry out actions and advance your objectives in the game.

In conclusion, the Nemesis: Lockdown game box is filled with an exciting array of components that will enhance your gameplay experience. Whether it’s the beautifully designed miniatures, the various tokens, or the numerous cards, there is something for everyone to enjoy. So gather your friends, dive into the world of Nemesis: Lockdown, and prepare for an unforgettable gaming adventure.

When it comes to the game of Nemesis, there are certain cards and setup procedures that are important to understand. Let me break it down for you.

First, let’s talk about the cards. In Nemesis, there are different kinds of cards you’ll come across. This includes 27 contamination cards, 20 intruder attack cards, 16 serious wound cards, 20 event cards, 6 character starting item cards, 12 character quest item cards, 6 character draft cards, 5 help cards, 7 coop/solo objective cards, and 10 intruder action cards. These cards will play a crucial role in your gameplay, so make sure you pay attention to them.

Now, let’s move on to the board setup. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Start by placing the game board on the basic side. This will be your playing area.

2. Next, shuffle the room two tiles and place one of them randomly facedown on each “2” slot on the board. Put the rest of the tiles back into the box for now.

3. After that, follow the same instructions for the room one tiles. Shuffle them and place one facedown in each room.

4. Now, grab the exploration tiles and shuffle them as well. Place one of these tiles facedown in each room.

5. Moving on, get the coordinates cards and shuffle them too. Place one of these cards face down next to the cockpit.

6. Finally, take one of the status markers and place it on the “b” space of the destination track.

And that’s it! Now you’re ready to dive into the thrilling world of Nemesis. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

When it’s time to set up the game, here’s what you need to do. First, choose the right number of escape pods for your group. If there are 1 or 2 of you, you’ll need 2 escape pods. For 3 or 4 players, use 3 escape pods. And for 5 players, you’ll need 4 escape pods. Make sure to place them in order, alternating between sections A and B. It’s important to have them all facing the locked side.

Now let’s move on to part two of the setup. Take all the “1” engine tiles and shuffle them up. Then, place them face down on the Engine 1 section. Do the same thing for Engines 2 and 3.

Next, set up the intruder board. Put it next to the game board. You’ll also want to place the 5 egg tokens in their designated spot. Shuffle the weaknesses deck, and then put three random cards facedown on their section.

That’s it! You’re all set up and ready to start the game. Have fun and good luck!

Alright, listen up. Here’s what you gotta do:

First, grab that intruder bag and throw in a bunch of tokens. You’ll need 1 blank, 4 Larvae, 1 creeper, 1 Queen, and 3 adults. Oh, and don’t forget to add an extra adult for each player in the game. As for the rest of the tokens, just leave ’em next to the board along with the intruder carcasses.

Next, it’s time to shuffle some decks. Take the event deck, the intruder attack deck, the contamination deck, and the serious wound deck – they all come in different colors. Place ’em next to the board. Oh, and there’s also a craft item deck you’ll need to put next to the other item decks. And don’t forget about the scanner – that goes next to the contamination deck as well.

Now, take a look at this list of items and keep ’em right by the board: Status markers, fire markers, noise markers, malfunction markers, ammo/injury markers, first player token, red character corpse tokens, door tokens, 2 combat dice, and 2 noise dice.

Finally, grab a status marker and put it on the green spot of the time tracker.

There you have it! You’re all set and ready to go. Good luck!

CREW SETUP

1. I’m going to explain how to set up the crew for the game. First, we need to take the number of help cards that matches the number of players. We start with help card 1 and shuffle all the cards. Then, we deal each player a card randomly. The number on the card will determine their character and some of their objectives.
2. Each player needs a plastic inventory holder that matches their numbered card.
3. We have two decks: the corporate objective deck and the personal objective deck. We should remove any cards that are for a higher player count than our group. After removing those cards, we shuffle both decks. Each player will receive one hidden objective card from each deck.
4. Now, we need to shuffle the character draft cards. Starting with the player who has help card 1, each player will draw two cards and choose one. The card they don’t choose goes back into the deck, which we reshuffle for the next player.

When it’s time to start playing Nemesis, here’s what you need to do:

1. Each of us will choose a character board, attach the miniature to the colored base ring, and take our character’s action card deck, starting weapon card, and ammo tokens. Don’t forget the 2 quest markers! Shuffle your action deck and place it on the left side of your character board. Keep the right side empty for your discard pile. Choose one of your hand slots for your starting weapon. And remember, set aside the two quests and place them closer to the board once they’re completed.

2. Player 1 gets the first player marker.

3. Put the blue corpse token in the Hibernatorium room.

Now we’re ready to dive into the world of Nemesis!

Nemesis has a series of turns, each consisting of two phases: the player phase and the Event phase. The game continues with one turn following another until it reaches its conclusion. The game ends when one of the predetermined conditions for ending the game is met.

Now let’s talk about the player phase. During this phase, players engage in several activities. First, they draw cards, then they move the 1st player token, and finally, they take turns playing actions.

Drawing cards is the first order of business for each player at the start of their turn. They need to draw cards from their character’s action deck in order to fill their hand. It’s important to have a hand of 5 cards. If a player needs to draw a card but the action deck is empty, they must shuffle their discard pile to form a new action deck.

Moving on, let’s address the first player.

So, once we’ve all gotten our cards, guess what happens next? The first player token gets handed off to the next person to the left. But hold on, there’s a little twist. On the very first turn of the game, we don’t pass the token just yet. Gotta keep you on your toes!

Let’s Take Turns!

Alright, now it’s time for the real action. Each player will have their turn to shine. And trust me, you’ve got options! When it’s your turn, you can choose to do two actions, play one action and then pass, or simply pass. Easy peasy, right? Remember, we’re going clockwise from the first player, but we’re gonna skip anyone who has decided to pass. We keep going round and round until everyone has passed. Oh, and here’s a neat little tidbit – when you decide to pass, you can toss away as many cards as you want from your hand. It’s your call!

To perform actions, you need to pay a cost. Each action has a cost of 0, 1, or 2. To pay the cost, you discard action cards from your hand. Keep in mind that Contamination tokens are in your action deck, but they can’t be used as action cards to pay costs.

If an action has a small gun symbol, you can only play it during combat. If it has a crossed-out gun symbol, you can only play it outside of combat. If the action doesn’t have either symbol, you can play it in both situations.

BASIC ACTIONS

All characters can use basic actions. These are used for exploring the ship, defending yourself, crafting items, and more.

MOVEMENT

Movement costs 1 action and allows you to move your character to an adjacent room.

Adjacent rooms are rooms that are connected by a corridor.

In this game, being in a room is essential for carrying out actions. And just like intruders, you can only be in rooms. The corridors, on the other hand, are there solely to link the rooms together. Any movement through the corridors is dealt with once you’re inside the next room.

Once you enter a room, we follow these steps:

1. If the room hasn’t been explored yet, we uncover the room tile. Then, we reveal the exploration tile that belongs to that room.
2. If you’re alone in the room, it’s time for a noise roll. However, no noise roll is performed if there’s already another player or intruder in the same room.

Now, when you want to leave a room that has an intruder, make sure to follow the escape rules below.

EXPLORATION

Each exploration token has two important elements: the number of items waiting to be found in the room and a special effect that affects the room in some way.

Let’s talk about how to set up the room and what happens when you do. First, make sure that the room token is facing the red arrow pointing to the room and that it has the correct number of items on it.

If the room’s special effect is Silence, then nothing happens when you move into that room. You don’t need to make a noise roll. But if your character has a slime marker, you’ll need to deal with the special effect called Danger.

If the room’s special effect is Danger, you won’t make a noise roll either. Instead, any intruders in neighboring rooms (that aren’t in combat) will be moved into the room you’re in. If there are no intruders in the neighboring rooms, then a noise marker will be placed in every corridor connected to the room, including the technical corridors.

If the room’s special effect is Slime, you’ll need to place a slime marker on your character board slot.

Fire means that a fire marker is placed inside the room.

Malfunction indicates that a malfunction marker is placed.

Doors means you have to put a door token at the entrance between the corridor and the room you came from.

After the exploration is completed, return the exploration token to the game box.

NOISE ROLL

You only perform noise rolls in rooms where there are no other characters or intruders. To do a noise roll, roll the 6-sided die. If you get a result of 1, 2, 3, or 4, place a noise marker in the corresponding corridor, even in the technical corridors. But if there’s already a noise marker in that corridor, you’ll have to resolve an encounter instead.

If you roll the Danger symbol, follow the Danger reaction described above.

If you roll the Silence symbol, follow the Silence reaction described above.

INTRUDER MOVEMENT

Hey there! Let’s talk about how those sneaky intruders move around in the game. At different points in the game, the intruders will make their move. Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything you need to know when it’s time to move them. Now, when an intruder is moved into a room that hasn’t been explored yet, make sure to keep the room tile face down, along with the exploration token. We want to keep things mysterious, right?

Now, here’s an important rule. If you’re told to place an adult intruder on the board, but there are no more miniatures left, don’t fret! Just remove all the adult intruders who aren’t currently in combat and put their tokens back into the bag. Then, put an adult miniature into the room that you were told to place it in earlier. Easy peasy!

TECHNICAL CORRIDORS

Okay, let’s dive into the technical corridors. These are special places that have entrances in different rooms. The good news is, player characters can still access these technical corridors! That is, unless they have the cool technical corridor action card or if they’re carrying the technical corridor plans item. So, if you have either of those, you can explore these special spaces.

Now, remember this tidbit. You can’t place those door tokens in the technical corridors. They just won’t fit! Keep that in mind while you’re out there exploring and strategizing.

If someone enters a technical corridor without permission, all of their injuries are healed, and they are sent back to the starting point. We remove their miniature from the board, but we keep the noise marker in place.

MARKERS

Noise markers are used to show that a noise roll has occurred.

Slime markers indicate that a character is covered in slime. When a character is slimed, any Silent reactions they try to make are treated as Dangerous reactions instead. A character can only have one slime marker at a time. You can get rid of the slime condition by using the Clothes item card or by taking the Shower Room tiles action.

When a room has a Fire Marker, it means something is seriously wrong – the place is on fire! These markers are dangerous and can cause a lot of damage. If you’re unlucky enough to be in a room with a Fire Marker, you’ll get hurt. You’ll suffer a light wound every round you stay in that room, but don’t worry – it’ll only happen once. After that round, you won’t get hurt anymore.

The Fire Markers are also a big problem for intruders. During the Event Phase, each intruder in a room with a Fire Marker will get injured. It’s like getting burned twice!

But here’s the real danger – if you need to put a Fire Marker on the board and there aren’t any left, the ship will explode! That’s why it’s so important to have enough Fire Markers on hand. And remember, you can’t have more than one Fire Marker in a room at a time. If a room already has a Fire Marker, it can’t catch fire again.

When we’re done with Fire Markers, we don’t just throw them away. We put them back in their pile. That way, they’re ready to use if we need them again.

Hey there! Let’s talk about Malfunction Markers. These sneaky little things can really mess up a room’s action, but don’t worry, you can still search the room like you normally would. The real trouble happens when they start ruining the ship’s integrity. Luckily, there are cards that can fix malfunctions, so there’s hope!

Now, here’s the deal with Malfunction Markers – they always go back to their pile. They can’t be placed in the Nest or the Room Covered in Slime. You can place malfunctions in the engine rooms, but don’t worry, they won’t affect the engine’s status. However, they do disable special room abilities, like the Hibernatorium. But don’t worry about characters who have already hibernated, they’re safe!

Oh, and if a room with a computer has a malfunction, guess what? The computer gets disabled too. Bummer, right? Remember, a room can only have one Malfunction Marker. So, if someone asks you to place a malfunction marker and there aren’t any available, uh-oh, the ship dies and the game ends. Yikes!

DOOR TOKENS

When I’m exploring corridors, I see door tokens placed along the way. It’s interesting because each corridor can only have one door token. These door tokens don’t affect the noise markers, though. I have the power to open, close, or destroy these door tokens.

If a door token is standing upright, it means that the door is closed. Closed doors keep both players and intruders from moving through. They even have an impact on grenade throws. When an intruder tries to pass through a corridor with a closed door, the door gets destroyed but doesn’t end up in the room.

If a door token is lying down, it means that the door has been destroyed. Unfortunately, destroyed doors cannot be closed again.

On the other hand, if a corridor has an empty space where the door token should be, it means that the door is open. I can simply remove the door token to open the door. Now, if I need to place a door but there are no tokens available, I can take any door token off the board to use.

When a group of intruders moves through a corridor with a closed door, they all enter the room together and the door gets destroyed in the process. If an intruder needs to move into a room that is blocked by a closed door, they are able to bypass the door and enter the room anyway. The door will still be there, but it won’t hinder their movement.

BE CAREFUL WHILE MOVING

Being careful while moving requires 2 actions, but it is similar to regular movement. The main difference is that instead of making a noise roll, you get to choose a connected corridor to the room you are about to enter and place a noise marker there. However, if all the corridors connected to the room already have noise markers, you won’t be able to move carefully. It’s important to note that you cannot use careful movement during combat.

SHOOTING

Using the shoot option requires 1 action and can only be chosen if there is an intruder inside the room you are in.

You can only use the shoot option if you have a weapon with ammunition in your hand. Once you have met this requirement, you can proceed with your attack.

When playing this game, there are a few important steps you need to follow. First, you’ll need to select an intruder to attack and choose a weapon to use against them. Next, discard the ammo from the correct weapon card. After that, it’s time to roll the 6-sided die to determine the outcome of the combat.

If you roll a blank face on the die, unfortunately, you’ll miss the intruder and your attack will be unsuccessful. If you roll a single curl, you have a chance to deal one injury, but only if the intruder you targeted is a larva or creeper. If you roll two curls and your target is a larva, creeper, or adult, you can also deal one injury. If the die shows a single target, you can deal one injury to the intruder, regardless of its type. And if the die shows two targets, you can deal two injuries to the intruder.

Remember, the encounter will often be tense and unpredictable, so make your choices wisely and be prepared to adapt to the situation. Good luck!

When an intruder token is drawn from the bag and put in a room with a character, that’s called an encounter. It’s important to note that if an intruder moves from one room to another with a character, it doesn’t count as an encounter. Let me walk you through the steps for completing an encounter.

1. First, we need to return all noise markers to their pile from all the corridors that connect to the room. This includes technical corridors.
2. Next, reach into the bag and take out an intruder token. Each token has a number on one side and an indication of which miniature it corresponds to on the other.
3. Place the correct miniature into the room based on the intruder token you drew.
4. Now, compare the number on the token to the number of cards you have in your hand.

Don’t forget to place the token near the board for future use.

In the game, if the numbers are the same or if I have more cards than my opponent, nothing happens. But if I have fewer cards, the intruder surprises me with an attack. It’s always important to be prepared!

Now, let’s talk about what happens if I draw a blank token from the bag. During step two, if I draw a blank token, I have to place noise counters in every corridor that connects to my location. It’s like an alarm going off, alerting everyone nearby.

When the blank token is the last one in the bag, I have to add an adult intruder token to the game. But, if there are no adult intruders left to add, nothing happens. Then, I have to put the blank token back into the bag and the encounter comes to an end.

If I enter a room and there’s already an intruder in there, it doesn’t automatically trigger an encounter. Instead, whenever I find myself in a room with an intruder, we are considered to be in combat. It’s a tense situation!

COMBAT

When an intruder and I find ourselves in the same room, the fight starts right away. There are certain things I can only do when combat is happening, and some actions become impossible. During my turns, I have the option to attack the intruder or try to run away. Meanwhile, when it’s the intruder’s turn, they will try to attack me. In combat, I have two options to choose from: shooting or using a melee attack.

ESCAPING FROM A FIGHT

When you’re in the middle of a fight, you can make a move to get away. This lets you escape from the room you’re in. But watch out! Any intruders in that room will attack you first. If you survive the attack, you can choose a room nearby to move to. If that room hasn’t been explored yet, you can explore it. And if there are no other characters or intruders in the room, you’ll have to roll to see if you make any noise. But be careful – if you die while trying to escape, your body will stay in the room you were trying to get away from.

DEFEATING OR HURTING INTRUDERS

So, here’s what happens when an intruder gets hurt: I put the right number of injury tokens on their base. If it’s an egg or larva, just one injury is enough to take it out. I remove their little figurine from the board. But if it’s a grown-up intruder or a creeper, things get a bit trickier. I have to draw an intruder attack card. The only part I really care about is the blood splatter section and the number it shows. If that number is the same as or lower than the number of injuries on the intruder, it dies. But if it’s higher, it keeps on living. Now, the queen and breeder are a bit special. I still draw two cards, and I add up their numbers to see what happens to them.

Now, let’s talk about retreats:

If the intruder attack card I draw has an arrow on it, then the intruder gets scared and runs away. To do that, I have to draw an event card and move the intruder to the corridor that matches the number on the event card. Then, I throw away the event card.

And don’t forget about intruder attacks:

There are three instances in which an intruder can launch an attack. The first is a surprise attack, which happens when an encounter occurs and the intruder token has a higher number than the cards in the player’s hand.

The second type of attack is a standard intruder attack that takes place during the event phase. The third type of attack occurs when a character tries to escape.

Regardless of the type of attack, they all follow the same steps.

1. The intruder chooses their target. In a surprise attack, it’s the one who initiated the encounter. In a character’s escape, it’s the character trying to get away. In regular event attacks, if there is more than one character in the room, the player with the fewest cards in their hand is targeted. If there’s a tie, then the next player in the turn order is attacked.

When an intruder attack happens in the game, I draw an intruder attack card. If the symbol on the card matches the intruder, I resolve the effects on the card. If they don’t match, the attack misses.

Once I resolve the card, I discard it. If there are no more cards in the intruder attack deck, I shuffle the discard pile to create a new deck.

Now let’s talk about the “Infest” action. If the attacking intruder is a larva, I don’t draw an attack card. Instead, I place a miniature of the larva on the character board of the character it attacked. The attacked character also receives 1 contamination card.

Speaking of contamination, when a character gets contaminated, they draw a card from the deck and add it to the top of their discard pile. Contamination cards can’t be used for actions, they simply take up space in your deck.

Hey there! Let me tell you about contamination cards and how they work in the game. Each contamination card has a secret identifier that lets you know if you have been infected or not. You’ll need to scan the card to find out. If the card isn’t scanned, it can cause you to lose at the end of the game. So don’t forget to scan them!

Scanning and Removing Contamination Cards

There are a few ways to get rid of contamination cards, but first, you have to scan them. Grab the scanner and put the red screen over the hidden text. If it doesn’t say “infected,” you can remove the card(s) and keep playing. But if it does say “infected,” you can’t get rid of it. In fact, you’ll even get a larva miniature to place on your character board. If you already have one, that’s bad news. Your character dies, and a creeper is placed in the room where you were.

If a rule tells you to remove a contamination card, take it out of the game and put it back in the box. You don’t want that card messing up your deck!

Character Death and Wounds

As you play the game, your character will face attacks and dangerous situations that may result in injuries.

Light Wound:

When you suffer a light wound, you place a light wound marker on the top section of your board. If you get another light wound, move the marker to the lower section. If you suffer yet another light wound, you will discard the marker and draw a serious wound card.

Serious Wound:

Hey there! Let’s talk about what happens when a player gets a serious wound in the game. It’s pretty straightforward. When you get a serious wound, you draw a serious wound card and put it on your board. The effect on the card affects your character. By the way, if you have multiple cards with the same effect, they don’t stack. So keep that in mind.

Now, here’s the deal. When you have three serious wounds and then get another wound, that’s it. You’re done for. Your character dies. Sad, I know. But hey, at least you get to leave a corpse in the room, and anything heavy you were carrying drops.

Let’s move on to dressing and healing wounds. There’s a couple of ways to do it in the game. When you dress a serious wound, you flip it over. It still counts towards your three serious wounds, but the effect is no longer active. So you’re kinda patched up, but still have to be cautious.

Now, when it comes to healing, you gotta pay attention to what the card or room says. It’ll give you instructions on how to heal. Sometimes, you just have to remove a light wound token, and other times, you get to discard a dressed serious wound. It all depends on what the game tells you to do.

Now, let’s talk about some weaknesses of those pesky intruders.

So, in this game, you get to be a detective and figure out how to defeat the intruders in the laboratory. There are three cards that represent different things: an intruder egg, an intruder carcass, and a character corpse. If you can move one of these heavy objects into the laboratory, you can do some research. This will flip the corresponding card and might change the rules to help you win.

MELEE ATTACK

A Melee attack takes 1 action. You can attack an intruder in the same room using your hand or something improvised as a weapon.

1. You have to add a contamination card to your action deck discard.
2. Choose which intruder you want to attack.
3. Roll a 6-sided combat die.

When you roll the die and it lands on the blank side, something unfortunate happens – you miss your target and your character suffers a serious injury. If the target you’re attacking is a larva or a creeper, a single curl will cause 1 injury to them. But if they’re not, your character will take one serious injury instead. If you roll two curls, you’ll deal one injury if the intruder is a larva, creeper, or adult intruder. If not, your character will suffer a serious injury. And if you roll a single target or double targets, you’ll deal 1 injury to the intruder, no matter what type it is.

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PICKING UP HEAVY OBJECTS

When you choose this option, you can take one action. And that action is picking up a heavy object. But remember, it’s only for objects, not heavy items. Heavy items and heavy objects share the same slots. You have two hand slots, and everyone can see them. You can carry two heavy items or objects, one in each hand. But if you want to carry a new heavy item or object and already have two, you need to drop one from your hand.

INVENTORY

Hey there! Let me give you the lowdown on item management in this game. You can store any item that isn’t heavy in your inventory. Heavy stuff, on the other hand, you’ll have to carry in your hand. Don’t worry, the other players won’t know exactly what’s in your inventory, just the color of the card. But, if you decide to use a card from your inventory, you’ll have to reveal it. And the best part? No limit on how many cards you can keep in your inventory.

Now, if you want to drop something, go ahead! You can drop an item or an object from your hand at any time, without using an action. Objects will stay in the room, but if you drop an item, it’s gone for good and the card gets discarded.

Oh, and let’s not forget about trading!

When it comes to trading, it’s important to remember that it costs one action to make a trade. You can only trade with characters who are in the same room as you. It’s possible to trade with multiple players at once. During a trade, players can show the items they want to trade. If both players agree on a trade, it will be resolved. It’s also possible for a player to trade for nothing in return.

CRAFT

You cannot draw cards from the blue item deck directly. Instead, you can use other items to craft blue deck items. On your item cards, you will find blue symbols. If you choose the craft action, which costs one action, and then discard two cards with the correct symbols, you will be able to craft a blue item and add it to your inventory.

ACTION CARDS

So here’s the deal: every character has their own deck of 10 action cards. These cards are pretty special because each one is unique in its own way. When you want to use a card, just discard it face up and pay its cost. The card’s effects kick in right after. If the card has two different options separated by an “or,” you get to pick which one you want to do. How cool is that?

Ready to Search?

If there are any items left in the room you’re in, you have the option to use your action card to search. How does it work? Well, when you decide to search, you draw a card from the deck that matches the color of the room. And guess what? The number of items in that room goes down by one. Once it hits zero, there are no more items left to search for. But wait, there’s more! If you search in a white room, you can choose to draw an item from the red, green, or yellow deck. That adds a little excitement, doesn’t it?

Action Packed Item Cards

Hold on tight because some items come with special actions. You can totally pay for these actions and see their effects come to life right before your eyes. How awesome is that? Pretty awesome, if you ask me.

Take Action with Room Tiles

Hey there! Did you know that some room tiles have special actions you can do while you’re in them? Pretty cool, right? But here’s the catch: these actions aren’t available if there’s an intruder in the room or a malfunction token is hanging around. Bummer!

The Event Phase

Now, let’s talk about the event phase. This is when all sorts of exciting stuff happens with timers and actions involving the ship and those sneaky intruders.

The Time Track

Every time we move forward in the event phase, we’ll also move the time track up by one space. Keep an eye on it! Oh, and if the self-destruction track is activated, we’ll move its token one space to the right as well. Double trouble!

Intruder Alert!

Watch out! This is when all the intruders on the ship get to unleash their attack actions. Brace yourself!

Fight the Fire

Fire is no friend to intruders either. If there’s a room that’s all fired up, any intruder hanging out there will get singed with an injury. Ouch!

Event Card Time

Did someone say event card? Yep, it’s time for some juicy surprises. Keep your eyes peeled for what’s in store!

When you play the game, you’ll start by drawing an event card. This card will have an intruder symbol and a number on it. Here’s how it works:

If the symbol on the card matches an intruder that is not currently in a room with one of the players, you’ll move that intruder to a room that matches the number on the card. If the number indicates a technical corridor, that intruder will escape. You’ll remove its miniature from the board and put its token back into the bag.

Once you’ve finished moving intruders, you’ll resolve the effects of the event card. Unless the card tells you otherwise, you’ll discard it. If the event deck ever becomes empty, you’ll shuffle the discarded event cards to create a new deck.

That’s all there is to it! Now, let’s talk about the intruder bag.

Now, when I play the game, I have to do a few things. First, I reach into a bag and pull out a token. This token will tell me what kind of intruder I have to deal with. If it’s a baby insect, I take it out of the bag and put an adult intruder in its place. If I pull out a creeper, I remove it and put a breeder intruder in its place. And if I get an adult intruder, all the characters outside of the room with the intruder have to make a noise roll. After that, I put the adult intruder back in the bag.

Now, what happens when I pull out a breeder intruder? Well, it’s basically the same as pulling out an adult intruder. I resolve the same effect, and then I put the breeder back in the bag. But if I pull out the queen intruder and there’s a character in the Nest room, things get really interesting. I place the queen in the Nest room and start an encounter. However, if there are no characters in the Nest room yet or if it hasn’t been found, I add an egg to the intruder board and put the queen back in the bag. And finally, if I pull out a blank token, I add an adult intruder to the bag. But if there are no adult intruders left, nothing happens, and I put the blank token back in the bag.

END TURN

Once all the effects of the event phase have been resolved, I begin a new turn.

PLAYER GOALS TO WIN NEMESIS

To win the game, each player has a specific objective that they must complete. It’s essential to fulfill this objective regardless of what the other players are doing. However, completing the objective is not enough. I also need to survive. There are two ways for me to do this. I can hibernate on a surviving ship and head to Earth (or Mars, depending on my objective). Alternatively, I can use an escape pod to leave the ship.

END OF NEMESIS

The game will come to an end when one of the following conditions is met.

When the ship’s time track reaches the red spot, it’s like a signal for the ship to leap into hyperspace. It’s crucial for everyone to be in hibernation during this moment, or else they won’t survive. However, intruders on board are not affected by this jump, so they can still cause trouble.

If the self-destruction marker reaches the end, or if nine fire or malfunction tokens are placed, it’s game over. All characters and intruders will meet their demise. It’s a catastrophic event.

When the last character who isn’t in hibernation escapes, goes into hibernation, or dies, things shift. If the self-destruction track is active, it moves to the end space, and the outcome is the same as before. But if it’s not active, the time track moves to the last space, and the ship takes that leap into hyperspace.

Time for a Victory Check

If at least one character manages to survive, it calls for a victory check.

Engines Engaged

Let me tell you about the top tokens of each of the three engines. It’s really important because if two or more of the engines aren’t working, the ship will explode! And that’s not good because it will kill everyone on board, including the characters and the intruders.

COORDINATIONS

Now, here’s something interesting. If the ship isn’t headed to Earth when it’s revealed, all the characters who are hibernating will die. But if your objective was to go to Mars, they’ll be safe. Oh, and just so you know, this doesn’t affect the intruders. They’ll still be hanging around.

CONTAMINATION

Okay, pay attention to this part. Every character, whether they’re hibernating or in an escape pod, needs to check their contamination cards. It’s really important!

So let me explain what happens. First, a character will look at all their contamination cards. But hey, if you have a larva miniature on your board, you can skip this part. Lucky you!

Alright, next step. The player shuffles their whole action deck and draws four cards. Then they need to be careful because if they draw a contamination card, the character dies. But if they don’t, they’ll keep on living. Phew!

OBJECTIVE

Finally, when all the living characters are left, they reveal their objective cards. If the objectives have been completed, the character wins!

GAME MODES IN NEMESIS

Nemesis board game offers several different game modes. Here’s a breakdown of the variations in setup and gameplay:

SOLO PLAY

You can play this game on your own. To do so, shuffle the solo objectives deck and draw two cards from it. When you start your first encounter, you must choose one objective to complete. The number of items in rooms is reduced by half compared to what is shown on the exploration tokens. To win, you need to complete your objective and stay alive.

COOPERATIVE PLAY

Are you tired of feeling like you can’t trust anyone in the regular Nemesis game? Well, I’ve got good news for you! There’s a fully cooperative mode that eliminates the possibility of betrayal. How cool is that? You don’t have to worry about someone stabbing you in the back.

In this mode, we use a special deck of objectives. Each player will draw one objective from this deck. The goal is to complete all the objectives and keep at least one character alive. Pretty straightforward, right?

Now, if there’s only one objective that requires sending out a signal, only one player needs to complete it. But if multiple players draw the same objective, they have to complete it individually. Teamwork can be a powerful thing, but everyone needs to pull their weight.

REVIVE

In this mode, you can come back to life if you die. If you kick the bucket, a fellow player can carry your body to the emergency room. When it’s your turn again, you can put your miniature back in the room and get back in the game. Any minor injuries you had are gone, and your major injuries are taken care of. But if there’s an intruder or something wrong with the emergency room, you can’t do this.

INTRUDER PLAY

You don’t have to play this way, but you can if you want. If you die first, you get to keep playing as the intruder. This makes the game harder for everyone else who’s still alive.

SETUP

To set up, put away all your character stuff from before. Then, take the intruder player deck, shuffle it, and put it in front of you.

Now, it’s time to wrap up my turn as the active player. But before I do, let me explain the new set of rules that will apply to me as the intruder in the next player phase.

The first thing I need to do in my intruder turn is draw three action cards. And here’s the catch – I can’t hold more than four cards in my hand. So, if I already have four cards, I’ll have to discard some of them before drawing fresh ones. Oh, and one more thing: I won’t be getting the 1st player marker – it will just skip over me.

During my turn in the player phase, I have a limit to what I can do. I can only play one action and then pass. Once I pass, I get to keep one card from my hand and discard the rest.

Now, when it comes to moving and attacking, those are my main options. To move, I need to spend one action, and the number on my action card will determine which room or technical corridor I can move to.

When I want to attack an intruder, I have to be in the same room as the intruder. Attacking an intruder follows a set of rules. First, I need to draw a number of attack cards equal to the number shown on the Player intruder card for this round. Then, the intruder will choose one card from the ones I drew and play it. I must resolve the effects of that card. After that, any remaining cards that were not used are placed at the bottom of the deck they were drawn from.

EVENT PHASE

During the event phase, only two things can affect the intruder: the time track and fire. I need to move the time track up as necessary. If an intruder is in a room that has a fire marker, they suffer one injury.

VICTORY

The intruder player can’t win the game, but they can make sure that all the other players lose.

OTHER SIDE OF BOARD

Hey, guess what? I’ve got some exciting news for you about the Nemesis board game! Are you ready to level up your play experience? Well, buckle up because there’s an additional side of the board that will challenge even the bravest of players. This side is a real doozy, making survival much harder, and it even throws in a few changes to the layout and setup to keep you on your toes.

Let me fill you in on the details. On this tougher side of the board, you’ll encounter two sets of technical corridors, which can really throw a wrench in your plans. But that’s not all! There are also pairs of corridors connecting rooms, adding another layer of complexity to the game. So, get ready to navigate through these new challenges if you dare.

Now, let’s talk setup. When you’re getting started, make sure to place the two Evacuation sections labeled A and B in their designated areas on the board. Then, go ahead and place an exploration token on each of them. This will set the stage for what’s to come.

Hold on! There’s more…

If you thought the base game was intense, get ready for the Nemesis expansions! Right now, there are two expansions available that will take your gameplay to the next level. The first expansion is called Aftermath, and it adds an additional hour of gameplay after the main game. It’s like an epilogue to the original game, showing you what happens to the players sometime after the initial incident. Talk about a wild ride!



If you’re a fan of the board game Nemesis, I’ve got exciting news for you! There’s a new expansion called “Lockdown” that takes the game to a whole new level. This second adventure builds upon the existing rules of the original game, adding new elements for even more excitement.



Hey there! I’m Amber (They/Them), a writer from Austin who’s crazy about games. When I’m not immersed in the world of gaming, you can find me hanging out with dogs, tending to my plants, or playing some good old D&D.