Alien 51: El ascensor Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Modes
• Main Competitive Mode
  • Objective
  • Setup
  • How to Play
    • 1. Roll the die and move the elevator
    • 2. Move 1 Alien
    • 3. Use 1 Action card (optional)
    • 4. Draw 1 Action card
    • During another player's turn
• Beginner Competitive Mode
  • Objective
  • Setup
  • Recommendations
• Advanced Competitive Mode
  • Setup
  • How to Play
• Cooperative Mode
  • Objective
  • Setup
  • How to Play
    • 1. Roll the die and move the elevator
    • 2. Move 1 worker
    • 3. Play/discard up to 2 Action cards (optional)
    • 4. Replenish hand
    • 5. Move the boss down 1 floor
    • During another player's turn
  • The Boss
  • Floor 0 Card
• Solo Mode
  • Objective
  • Setup
  • How to Play
• Effects Guide
  • Passive Effect Tokens
  • Active Effect Tokens
• Card Guide
  • Instant-Use Cards
  • Boss Cards
  • Movement Cards

Components

• 33 Action cards
• 4 Help cards
• 4 Character cards
• 3 Boss Aliens
• 12 Worker Aliens
• 8 Effect tokens
• 1 Elevator tile
• 12 Objective markers
• 1 die
• 4 Building tiles

Note: the term Alien is used in this rulebook to cover both workers and bosses.

Game Modes

Alien 51: The Elevator has 3 different game modes. The Competitive Mode (2 to 4 players) has adjustable difficulty and takes place during the chaotic office arrival hour. In it, the players compete to be the first to place their workers at their workstations. The Cooperative (2 to 4 players) and Solo (1 player) Modes take place during the office closing hour and both share a common objective: get all the workers out of the building before the boss meets the strict closing time and leaves them trapped inside.

Main Competitive Mode

Objective

Get your 3 workers to be at their workstations at the same time (floors with Objective markers of your color). The game ends as soon as a player achieves it.

Setup

1. Place the Building tiles in the centre of the table as shown in the image: in ascending order, starting with Floor 0 and ending with Floor A (penthouse).

2. Place the Elevator tile to the right of Floor 0.

3. Each player chooses a color to represent their team and then receives 1 Help card, 1 Character card and 3 Objective markers of the color they chose. The Character card must be face up in front of each player to identify them at all times.

4. Place in the elevator the 3 workers of the color chosen by each player, and the 3 black bosses.

5. Determine the starting player, who will be the one who most recently rode in an elevator.

6. According to the number of players in the game, each player places their Objective markers to the left of the floors indicated by the setup diagram.

   In 3-player games, following turn order clockwise, each player places their third Objective marker on a floor of their choice taking the following conditions into account:

   • There can be no Objective marker on Floors 0 and A.
   • There can be no more than 2 Objective markers per floor.
   • There cannot be 2 Objective markers of the same color on a floor.

7. Shuffle the Action card deck, deal 1 card to each player, and place the deck to the left of the building within reach of all players.

How to Play

The game starts with the starting player's turn and turns continue clockwise.

During your turn:

• Roll the die and move the elevator.
• Move 1 Alien.
• Use 1 Action card (optional).
• Draw 1 Action card.

1. Roll the die and move the elevator

The active player rolls the die and moves the elevator, with all the Aliens inside it, to the floor indicated by the die.

E.g.: if a 2 is rolled, the elevator moves to Floor 2.

• If the die shows as destination the floor where the elevator already is, the elevator does not move, but you must still move 1 Alien.

2. Move 1 Alien

Next, the player must move 1 Alien (worker or boss), either from the elevator to the floor or from the floor to the elevator.

• The player is obliged to move 1 Alien even if the move harms them.
• The worker can be of any color (your own or a rival's).
• There can never be 2 bosses on the same floor, but there can be more than one boss in the elevator. For this reason you cannot take a boss out of the elevator if there is already one on the destination floor.

3. Use 1 Action card (optional)

After moving 1 Alien, the active player has the option of using 1 single Action card during their turn and resolving its effect. After resolving its effect, the card is discarded, forming a discard pile.

Remember! Action cards are always played after performing the action of moving the elevator and moving an Alien. Only Instant Action cards allow us to break this rule as explained later.

4. Draw 1 Action card

The turn always ends by drawing 1 Action card.

• Players' hands are limited to a maximum of 3 cards, therefore, if at the moment of drawing a card you already have 3 in hand, before drawing the new card you are obliged to immediately play or discard 1 of them.
• If the draw deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to create a new draw deck and continue the game.

During another player's turn

During each rival's turn you can use 1 Instant Action card. The cards are detailed in the Card Guide at the end of this rulebook. After using a card in this way, immediately draw a new card.

Watch out! Not all cards can be used at any moment.

Beginner Competitive Mode

This mode is designed for the youngest, for the oldest, or simply to get familiar with the cards little by little. It works very similarly to the Main Competitive Mode, with the following variations:

Objective

Get your 3 workers to be at their workstations at the same time, and that at that moment there is no boss on your objective floors.

Setup

• The card deck will only include the blue Action cards, the rest stay in the box.
• Only 1 boss is used instead of 3, the rest stay in the box.

Recommendations

As players gain more skill, we recommend including new Action cards in the game: some Instant card to increase interaction and/or some Boss card to begin to value this character more. You can also add more bosses to the game.

Advanced Competitive Mode

This mode is designed so that once you master the Main Competitive Mode of Alien 51: The Elevator, you can add a bit more madness to the game. It works very similarly to the Main Competitive Mode, with the following variations:

Setup

In addition to the normal setup, randomly place 1 Effect token to the left of the Objective markers of each of Floors 1 to 6. Return the 2 remaining Effect tokens to the game box. Never put Effect tokens on Floors 0 and A.

How to Play

Generally, the game in Advanced Competitive Mode proceeds in the same way as in the Main Competitive Mode, with the difference that now you must take into account the effects of each floor. Effects are divided into active effects and passive effects.

• Passive effects: They are constant throughout the game.
• Active effects: They are activated after the active player moves the elevator to the floor where the token is and moves 1 Alien.

The effects are detailed in the Effects Guide at the end of this rulebook.

Cooperative Mode

This mode is designed for 2 to 4 players to play as a team with a common objective. You no longer defend a single color, all the workers belong to the same team.

Objective

Take all the workers to Floor 0 before the boss arrives.

Setup

The game setup is the same as in the Competitive Mode with the following exceptions:

1. Objective markers and Character cards are not used.
2. Do not place the workers in the elevator, place them 2 by 2, regardless of their color, on each of Floors 1 to 6.
3. Place 1 boss on Floor A.
4. Remove the 2 Floor A Cards from the card deck and return them to the game box.
5. Shuffle the deck and deal 3 cards to each player in games of 2 and 3 players and 2 cards in games of 4 players.

How to Play

During your turn:

• Roll the die and move the elevator.
• Move 1 worker.
• Play/discard up to 2 Action cards (optional).
• Replenish your hand.
• Move the boss down 1 floor.

1. Roll the die and move the elevator

In the same way as in Competitive Mode, the active player rolls the die and moves the elevator with all the workers inside it to the floor indicated by the die.

2. Move 1 worker

Even if the movement harms you, you are obliged to move 1 worker from the elevator to the floor or from the floor to the elevator. The worker can be of any color.

3. Play/discard up to 2 Action cards (optional)

Next, optionally you can play and/or discard up to a maximum of 2 cards in any combination. To increase the difficulty of the game you can reduce to 1 the number of cards played per turn.

4. Replenish hand

Draw as many Action cards as necessary to get back to 3 cards in hand.

5. Move the boss down 1 floor

Move the boss down 1 floor and start the next player's turn.

During another player's turn

As in Competitive Mode, during each player's turn you can use 1 Instant Action card and immediately draw 1 new card.

The Boss

In this game mode the boss works as a turn counter, going down one floor each time a player's turn ends.

The boss follows two rules:

• The boss can never get into the elevator. For example, if a Wet floor card is played on the floor where the boss is, the workers will enter the elevator, but he will not be able to.
• Cards can be used to slow the boss down. For example, using the blue Upward Movement card, or the Alarm card on the boss's floor.

Floor 0 Card

IMPORTANT! The Floor 0 Card changes its function in this mode.

When using the Floor 0 Card, the elevator will move to Floor 0 and will be emptied completely, forcing all the workers inside it to get out. The Floor 0 Card is very important to achieve victory, so it is advisable to fill the elevator as much as possible before using it.

Solo Mode

This mode is designed so that you can play Alien 51: The Elevator without needing other players. Do you accept the challenge?

Objective

Take all the workers to Floor 0 before the second boss arrives.

Setup

The game setup is the same as in Cooperative Mode with the following exceptions:

1. Place 2 bosses on Floor A.
2. Shuffle the deck and take 3 Action cards.

How to Play

The game is played the same as in Cooperative Mode with the following exceptions:

• First one boss will descend and once it reaches Floor 0, the second boss will begin its descent.
• As in Cooperative Mode, the Floor 0 Card changes its function and, therefore, to achieve victory it is very important to fill the elevator before emptying it on Floor 0.
• The difficulty can be increased by using only 1 boss and, if you still want to complicate the game a little more, the use of Action cards can be limited to 1 per turn.

Effects Guide

Remember: Effect tokens are never placed on Floors 0 and A.

Passive Effect Tokens

The effects of the passive Effect tokens are constant throughout the game. There are 3 types of passive effects.

• No bosses: On the floor where this token is, there cannot be bosses during the whole game. If an alarm causes a boss to end on this floor, it will advance one more floor in the same direction. If in this way the boss would have to move to Floors 0 or A, it will return to the elevator instead.
• Maximum 2 Aliens (MAX.): On the floor where this token is placed there can never be more than 2 Aliens at any time.
• No card use: The active player cannot play a card during this turn. If they already had 3 cards in hand, they are forced to discard 1.

Active Effect Tokens

The effects of the active Effect tokens are activated after the active player moves the elevator to the floor where the token is and moves an Alien. These tokens cause an additional action that must be carried out by the active player. There are 5 types of active effects:

• Card swap: The active player takes and looks at the cards of a rival of their choice, swaps 1 of their cards with those of the rival and returns them. Then, the player continues with the turn sequence.
• Alien swap: The active player must swap 1 boss or 1 worker from the floor where the token is for any other one that is on another floor.
• Double elevator movement: The active player gets a second die roll: they will move the elevator again and move 1 Alien. This new roll cannot trigger any active effect on the new destination floor.
• Double Alien movement: The player moves (if possible) 2 Aliens instead of 1, from the elevator to the floor or from the floor to the elevator in any combination.
• Discard card: The active player is obliged to discard 1 of their cards. Afterwards they can continue their turn normally, playing 1 card if they wish.

Card Guide

Alien 51: The Elevator has different types of Action cards distinguished by colors:

• Blue:* These cards control the movement of 1 worker of your color or of 1 boss, but never that of 1 rival worker.
• Purple: These cards control the movement of 1 worker (of your color or a rival's), but never of 1 boss.
• Yellow: These cards indicate that an action takes place on a zone (floor or elevator), which can have consequences for a varied group of players and Aliens.

*In the Cooperative and Solo game modes there are no rivals and therefore blue cards can be used to move 1 Alien of any color.

Instant-Use Cards

Instant cards are marked with a lightning bolt in the top left corner. Sometimes you will see a die accompanying the bolt, this indicates that the instant action affects the die roll.

• Wet floor: All Aliens that are on the same floor as the elevator go back into the elevator.
• Broken elevator: Cancels the die roll. When this card is played the target player loses the roll. No Alien can enter or leave the elevator; cards that interact with the elevator cannot be used either.
• Hacker: Modifies the die roll by +1 or -1. For example, if a 3 is rolled, the player using the card can decide to turn it into a 2 or a 4. After making the modification, the active player resumes their turn by moving 1 Alien.
• Chatter: Prevents a worker from leaving their location as long as they are accompanied by another worker or boss. This card can only be used to cancel blue cards and movements between the elevator and a floor. This card can never be used against yellow cards or Boss cards.

Remember: In Competitive Mode there can never be a boss on Floors 0 and A.

Boss Cards

These cards are the most strategic and in many cases are essential to win. Since a boss can be an ally and an enemy at the same time, these cards must be used strategically: their use can help and hurt in equal parts.

• Boss call: Choose 1 boss that is on a floor and then place next to him 1 worker that is on any other floor (but never in the elevator) regardless of the number of floors that separate them.
• Transfer: Choose 1 boss that is on a floor and then move 1 worker that is on the same floor to an adjacent floor.

Movement Cards

Movement cards allow the active player to choose 1 worker of their color or 1 boss that is on a floor and move it to an adjacent floor without using the elevator. There are cards for going up, cards for going down, and cards that can be used to go up or down. These cards cannot be used to move a boss to Floors 0 and A or to any other floor where there is already a boss.

(Card types: UP, UP OR DOWN, DOWN.)

• Floor 0 Card: When playing this card the elevator moves again in the turn. This time the elevator moves to Floor 0, where, depending on the game mode you are playing, the following will happen:

  • In Competitive game mode: The active player must move to the floor 1 worker (of their color or a rival's) that is in the elevator. Never a boss.
  • In Cooperative and Solo game modes: The active player must move to the floor all the workers that are in the elevator.

• Floor A Card: When playing this card the elevator moves again in the turn. This time the elevator moves to Floor A, where the active player must move to the floor 1 worker (of their color or a rival's) that is in the elevator. Never a boss.

• Alarm card: The active player chooses a floor and moves all the Aliens on that floor to an adjacent floor of their choice. If as a consequence of the movement 2 bosses were to end up on the same floor, one of the bosses will move one more floor in that direction.

  E.g.: the active player plays the Alarm card on Floor 4 and moves all the Aliens on the floor (several workers and 1 boss) to Floor 5 where 1 boss is. To avoid both bosses joining, they will move one of them to Floor 6.

  If as a consequence of this card a boss would have to move to Floors 0 or A, it will return to the elevator instead.