Stationfall

There are some games that seem to defy description, or at least description as we tend to land on here at GNG: a basic overview, explaining the game’s story (if it has one) objective/s, and means of achieving them. Inside the Stationfall box is not so much a game, but a vast catalogue of games, a multitude of possibilities, each with enough twists and turns to make them feel like an epic, even when they only take 90 minutes (be prepared for rather longer whilst you’re learning the ropes!)

The board shows the station of the title, hurtling towards Earth with 15 minutes – possibly less – before ‘stationfall’ happens as you reach the surface – or possibly go up in a belching fireball of doom. The station is made up of various interconnected locations, some with gravity, some without: the station is damaged. In each game, twelve of a possible 27 characters will feature, and players will be secretly assigned two of them: choose one to be ‘you’ – it tells you what your character’s motivations are, which will inform your actions during the game.

But all 12 characters can be activated, by any of the players (including each others: identities are secret; at least at the start) and when you activate a character you get to take at least one, often two actions. Actions might be moving/picking up/dropping off/handing items to another character/throwing/attacking/robbing and so on. Everyone’s goal is distinct: the engineer, for instance, wants to detonate the antimatter before the station reaches Earth. The medic wants to score points by reviving players… but in order to revive them, the medic has to make sure they need reviving in the first place, right…? Stationfall is full of these dastardly, parasitical elements, both in terms of what players need to succeed, and the low-down deeds they’ll do to get there. Specific locations have specific actions, and many characters have character-specific actions as well. Security can get through locked doors, the Astrochimp and Stowaway can both travel through vents.

When characters attack each other, they may be caught on camera, and find they go from innocent status to suspect: if you go from suspect to guilty, you (usually) can’t win the game. You can collect helmets to survive space (and certain onboard locations) use kompromats or bribes to activate characters, carry out nasty deeds in the dark areas – potentially the entire ship in a blackout – and gather evidence for the authorities on Earth – assuming you make it. Players may – depending on their character objective – may prefer it if the station never reaches the planet…

At the end of the game – each round represents a minute, remember – players score points according to the criteria on their character’s identity card, and the player with the most points wins.