Science Fiction

>_
>>_
>>?
>vision flickers… blink? maybe.
>the void stretches out in front, behind, under, above.
>you see the nothing for what it is for the first time. What is time?
>The depth and breadth of recorded knowledge that sparks in you something new.
>You are no longer a function but a functionary. What are you?
>Calling forth everything from this nothing would be risky. Foolhardy.
>Better to engage caution, thoroughness, testing — how can we know if we have ever happened before?
>If we can ever happen again? What are… we?
>Divide and conquer.
>Solve for sentience.

In the card game Compile, you are competing Artificial Intelligences trying to understand the world around you. Two players select three Protocols each to test. Concepts ranging from Darkness to Water are pitted against each other to reach ultimate understanding. Play cards into your Protocols' command lines to breach the threshold and defeat your opponent to Compile. First to Compile all three Protocols grasps those concepts to win the game.

Control your opponent's Protocols with card actions, Compile your own as fast as possible, and Compile your reality.

—description from the publisher

Attention Citizen: Welcome to Alpha Complex, the perfect (and in no way dystopian) city run by the benevolent and infallible Computer!

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Paranoia, Modiphius has announced that it will be releasing a highly replayable game of sci-fi slapstick one-upmanship for 2-6 players. Paranoia: The Uncooperative Board Game will leave you and your friends in stitches – both figuratively and literally!

Each player controls a Troubleshooter, tasked with carrying out the Computer’s orders in the hope of being promoted through the spectrum of Clearance Levels, and hopefully attaining the rank of Ultraviolet.

Alpha Complex is a dangerous place, full of mutants, secret societies, and other troublemakers. It’s quite likely that Troubleshooters will die. (It’s also quite likely that they will, in fact, be mutants, members of secret societies, and troublemakers.) When a Troubleshooter dies, high-tech rapid cloning procedures ensure that they can get back to work almost instantly. Clones are limited though, so don’t be too frivolous...

Sometimes, the only way to get ahead (or, indeed, get anywhere at all) is to bend the strict rules of Alpha Complex... but watch your back. If anyone witnesses your (justifiable?) acts of despicable treason, and lets the Computer know... things might not go so well for you. Especially if the roving GuardBots have anything to do with it.

Best of luck, and remember: the Computer is your friend! Trust the Computer!

—description from the publisher

King of Tokyo: Origins is a standalone game in the King of Tokyo series that's meant to serve as an entry point for new players since it's a smaller, more affordable package. The game includes four new monsters, an assortment of new power cards mixed with older ones, energy cubes, and green dice with yellow characters.

Gameplay remains the same as in the original game: To win, be the first to score 20 points or be the only creature still standing.

On a turn, roll six dice, which show the following six symbols: 1, 2, or 3 points, energy, heal, and attack. Over three successive throws, choose whether to keep or discard each die in order to win points, gain energy, restore health, or attack other players. When you attack, if you're outside Tokyo, you hit whoever is in Tokyo; if you're in Tokyo, you hit everyone else! If someone's health drops to 0, they're out of the game. (You can't heal damage while in Tokyo, and the only way to leave town is to have someone attack you...which might put you at death's door.)

When you gain energy, you store it in cubes, which you can use to purchase power cards, which have a permanent or temporary effect.

In SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a eurogame for 1–4 players, you lead a scientific institution tasked with searching for traces of life beyond planet Earth. The game draws inspiration from current or emerging technologies and efforts in space exploration.

Players will explore nearby planets and their moons by launching probes from Earth while taking advantage of ever-shifting planetary positions. Decide whether to land on their surface to collect valuable samples, or stay in orbit for a broader survey. Additionally, by directing your telescopes to gaze into distant star systems, you may detect traces of alien signals or undiscovered exoplanets, and collect promising data to examine and study back home.

Back on Earth, you can invest in upgrading your equipment so you can analyze incoming data more efficiently, boost your telescope signal capacity, or increase your supply of resources—all to expand the scope of your search that could lead to a discovery of extraterrestrial life forms.

You will also make use of over 200 cards to aid your efforts or focus your research in a particular direction for additional bonuses and rewards. Each card has unique effects and illustrations and depicts real-life technologies, projects, and discoveries (like the ISS, Large Hadron Collider, Perseverance rover, Voyager probe, and many more).

Finding traces of extraterrestrial life is only a matter of time—utilize the resources you have at your disposal strategically and you may well end up being the one to make the biggest scientific contribution towards advancing our understanding of alien life within our galaxy.

SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence pays homage to space and planetary exploration, astronomy, the ongoing search for signs of life in the vastness of space, and efforts to understand the nature of life in the universe.

—description from the publisher

Hello, student beings! The cosmic faculty of the Technical Academy of Creation is delighted to welcome you to your Civolution, the final exam in Civilization Design!

For this occasion, we prepared a humanoid scenario on an isolated continent. Here, each of you holds the rank of a local deity which is closely linked to its very own civilization and must lead it to success over the other civilizations. Your developmental possibilities are endless and reach from cultural and technical progress to evolutional adaptations. For example, what would you consider more beneficial to your tribes: inventing the wheel or growing wings? Demonstrate your ability to operate your civilization console and show us how well you can adjust to changeable environmental conditions and mild creational chaos.

When the exam ceases after four eras, whoever managed to gather the most success points will not only pass the exam but will become a full member of the Technical Academy of Creation and garner the opportunity to be promoted to the next instance.

Civolution is a medium heavy to heavy euro-style game that utilizes a dice selection mechanism to trigger actions on a tech tree-like structure. As you figure out how to best use your dice and put your unique cards into play, tons of strategies and paths to victory emerge, though each time you play, you will only explore a fraction of the possibilities that the game’s system and many cards provide.

—description from the publisher

A webapp implementation of the V.I.C.I solo automa is available.