Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game

I purchased this game based on all the positive reviews and since I like deck-building and the Alien movies. Note that I play the game solo. I played the first mission (of 4 missions, 1 for each Alien movie) 2-handed and absolutely loved it, even though I lost twice. The theme comes through in a very strong way in this game. I am eagerly anticipating beating the mission and progressing to the next 3 movies. If you like the movies, and you like deck-building, I absolutely recommend it. There is a random element to the setup and card shuffle and there are many characters to choose from, so i can imagine good replay value. Only negative is that you will need 2-3 hours sorting the cards once you open the box. I recommend you put on your favorite Alien movie to get you in the mood while you sort the cards.

I purchased this game based on all the positive reviews and since I like deck-building and the Alien movies. Note that I play the game solo. I played the first mission (of 4 missions, 1 for each Alien movie) 2-handed and absolutely loved it, even though I lost twice. The theme comes through in a very strong way in this game. I am eagerly anticipating beating the mission and progressing to the next 3 movies. If you like the movies, and you like deck-building, I absolutely recommend it. There is a random element to the setup and card shuffle and there are many characters to choose from, so i can imagine good replay value. Only negative is that you will need 2-3 hours sorting the cards once you open the box. I recommend you put on your favorite Alien movie to get you in the mood while you sort the cards.

I've played a few deck building games, this is by far my favorite. I love that you can be the alien after you die and try to kill off your teammates. There's a good twist by having an agenda you can be good or evil before dying. You can try to sabotage your team by not helping them when they need it. Then if they start to die off, your winning by them losing. Or you can die on purpose then come back as an alien and try to attack them. Now you don't have to play that way, you can play a deck building as normal just trying to make it thru to the end of the game all alive and helping each other. Just double check all cards are in the box when getting them, upper deck has been known for leaving a card out here or there sometimes. You'll have to contact upper deck and let them know which one is missing to get a replacement. We didn't have a problem and all cards were accounted for. Even if you haven't seen the movies you can play this game. Not like the Marvel deck building games, unfortunately I started on this game before playing Marvel deck building. If I had started with Marvel I may like them better. But this game had set the bar of deck building. When I tried Marvel, I didn't like it. Harry Potter deck building game had also set the bar as a twist to the deck building games as well for me. -another 5 stars on that one.

I've played a few deck building games, this is by far my favorite. I love that you can be the alien after you die and try to kill off your teammates. There's a good twist by having an agenda you can be good or evil before dying. You can try to sabotage your team by not helping them when they need it. Then if they start to die off, your winning by them losing. Or you can die on purpose then come back as an alien and try to attack them. Now you don't have to play that way, you can play a deck building as normal just trying to make it thru to the end of the game all alive and helping each other. Just double check all cards are in the box when getting them, upper deck has been known for leaving a card out here or there sometimes. You'll have to contact upper deck and let them know which one is missing to get a replacement. We didn't have a problem and all cards were accounted for. Even if you haven't seen the movies you can play this game. Not like the Marvel deck building games, unfortunately I started on this game before playing Marvel deck building. If I had started with Marvel I may like them better. But this game had set the bar of deck building. When I tried Marvel, I didn't like it. Harry Potter deck building game had also set the bar as a twist to the deck building games as well for me. -another 5 stars on that one.

Solid cooperative game that includes several options to adjust difficulty higher or lower. Would recommend at least 3 players but 2 players works well enough and you could play 2 characters solo as well. I'm a big Alien series fan and I have to say this is one of the best cases of gameplay matching theme I've seen in a board game. It definitely is a tense experience full of surprises. Each scenario is based on one of the movies and each one of them fits their movie well. Flavor text taken from the movies is also an enjoyable touch. Often you win by the skin of your teeth or have huge strokes of luck washed away by a couple of bad turns as everything unravels. Yet my brothers and I found we felt that better decisions earlier in the game could have prevented these random disasters. Gameplay involves playing cards to build up your deck of characters or using attack to kill enemies or reveal upcoming cards. Most things can be prevented but some things can't which leads to a tension where you don't want to see what's next but you know you have to move forward. A lot of cards can be used to help allies adding a team conscious element to decisions. Neat combo system encourages players to take different styles of play and fill different roles. Definately I game you explore and not spoil every card before playing. Only downsides are the quality of the cards, bizarre organization when unboxing, and the inconsistent artwork. Definately buy sleeves and organize before your first play. Also, some of the artwork has violent content that some parents may not want children to see (but then again this is Alien). Final suggestions: If you like Alien, you'll enjoy this theme. It does the films justice. Resist the urge to spoil the cards before playthrough. Read the role cards but only read the deck location for the rest of the cards. Excellent team game with lots of replay ability.

Solid cooperative game that includes several options to adjust difficulty higher or lower. Would recommend at least 3 players but 2 players works well enough and you could play 2 characters solo as well. I'm a big Alien series fan and I have to say this is one of the best cases of gameplay matching theme I've seen in a board game. It definitely is a tense experience full of surprises. Each scenario is based on one of the movies and each one of them fits their movie well. Flavor text taken from the movies is also an enjoyable touch. Often you win by the skin of your teeth or have huge strokes of luck washed away by a couple of bad turns as everything unravels. Yet my brothers and I found we felt that better decisions earlier in the game could have prevented these random disasters. Gameplay involves playing cards to build up your deck of characters or using attack to kill enemies or reveal upcoming cards. Most things can be prevented but some things can't which leads to a tension where you don't want to see what's next but you know you have to move forward. A lot of cards can be used to help allies adding a team conscious element to decisions. Neat combo system encourages players to take different styles of play and fill different roles. Definately I game you explore and not spoil every card before playing. Only downsides are the quality of the cards, bizarre organization when unboxing, and the inconsistent artwork. Definately buy sleeves and organize before your first play. Also, some of the artwork has violent content that some parents may not want children to see (but then again this is Alien). Final suggestions: If you like Alien, you'll enjoy this theme. It does the films justice. Resist the urge to spoil the cards before playthrough. Read the role cards but only read the deck location for the rest of the cards. Excellent team game with lots of replay ability.

Let me start by saying I am not an "Alien" fan. So I know almost nothing about this world. I am reviewing this solely on the boardgame's merits. Now that that's out of the way, on to the review. I was told that this game was basically a cooperative Dominion. That is a bit misleading. It IS a deck builder, but Dominion it is not. Quality wise, there are no concerns. Everything seems thought out, the box makes sense, they give you a playmat to organize everything while playing. No problems there at all. For what you get, it's worth the price. For me, value drops in the actual gameplay. I felt this game was mediocre. Not bad, but it didn't draw me in either. The mechanics are pretty simple, and gameplay flows in a predictable manner, but I just never felt connected to the game at all. Perhaps it's my ignorance of the source material. I have not played the game extensively, but it seems like it may be geared to lose. That in and of itself is not a bad thing. I realize that I will likely lose every game of Pandemic I play, but it's a challenge and it really draws me in to the game by having to coordinate with my team. This game did not do that. Sure, there are "Coordinate" abilities, but you can't always use them. Your team may or may not be able to do anything to help you, and not because they don't have a card to help, but because the card isn't specific enough to the situation. So there's no way to work together with teammates in many instances. In one turn, my entire party went from doing very well and on track to win, to all dead and game over. Again, I haven't played extensively and this may be a fluke. Regardless, that aspect and my lack of connectedness to the game mean it's not something I'd ever buy. I might play if there's a game happening, but I would never bring it up. To sum up, it's a solid game, mechanics-wise and build quality-wise. However, I found it hard to engage with the game. Overall, I think this game is so-so. Not bad, but not my cup of tea, either.

Let me start by saying I am not an Alien fan. So I know almost nothing about this world. I am reviewing this solely on the boardgame's merits. Now that that's out of the way, on to the review. I was told that this game was basically a cooperative Dominion. That is a bit misleading. It IS a deck builder, but Dominion it is not. Quality wise, there are no concerns. Everything seems thought out, the box makes sense, they give you a playmat to organize everything while playing. No problems there at all. For what you get, it's worth the price. For me, value drops in the actual gameplay. I felt this game was mediocre. Not bad, but it didn't draw me in either. The mechanics are pretty simple, and gameplay flows in a predictable manner, but I just never felt connected to the game at all. Perhaps it's my ignorance of the source material. I have not played the game extensively, but it seems like it may be geared to lose. That in and of itself is not a bad thing. I realize that I will likely lose every game of Pandemic I play, but it's a challenge and it really draws me in to the game by having to coordinate with my team. This game did not do that. Sure, there are Coordinate abilities, but you can't always use them. Your team may or may not be able to do anything to help you, and not because they don't have a card to help, but because the card isn't specific enough to the situation. So there's no way to work together with teammates in many instances. In one turn, my entire party went from doing very well and on track to win, to all dead and game over. Again, I haven't played extensively and this may be a fluke. Regardless, that aspect and my lack of connectedness to the game mean it's not something I'd ever buy. I might play if there's a game happening, but I would never bring it up. To sum up, it's a solid game, mechanics-wise and build quality-wise. However, I found it hard to engage with the game. Overall, I think this game is so-so. Not bad, but not my cup of tea, either.

Legendary Encounters continues Upperdeck's tradition of combining deck building with a well known IP. In this case, the first 4 alien franchise films are the focus and players relive the terrifying moments of those films. Different from the marvel legendary games is players assume a character roll with defense, hit points, and a unique card for their deck. In this version you can be killed. Player's assume roles of various solder types or corporate characters seen in the Aliens universe. Also, games are broken up into 3 missions which must be completed in order. They can be kill, find, or even activate missions. New cards such as "events" and "hazards" take the place of plot twist and schemes. They add new challenges to the game that keep the tension fun and real. The game is truly enjoyable for Sci-Fi action films. The decks of enemies, events, and buyable character cards each fit the movie they represent. Aliens has a lot of firepower, while characters from Alien have less combat oriented abilities. My favorite addition is the game mat. Flexible and rollable. It is easy to store and gorgeous. My only drawback is the box itself. It is a giant mess and can be hard to organize, prep games, and put away. It is only includes foam dividers and labels you have to hand write. That minor annoyance aside, this game is great deck builder that with lots of variation and fun to be had.

Legendary Encounters continues Upperdeck's tradition of combining deck building with a well known IP. In this case, the first 4 alien franchise films are the focus and players relive the terrifying moments of those films. Different from the marvel legendary games is players assume a character roll with defense, hit points, and a unique card for their deck. In this version you can be killed. Player's assume roles of various solder types or corporate characters seen in the Aliens universe. Also, games are broken up into 3 missions which must be completed in order. They can be kill, find, or even activate missions. New cards such as events and hazards take the place of plot twist and schemes. They add new challenges to the game that keep the tension fun and real. The game is truly enjoyable for Sci-Fi action films. The decks of enemies, events, and buyable character cards each fit the movie they represent. Aliens has a lot of firepower, while characters from Alien have less combat oriented abilities. My favorite addition is the game mat. Flexible and rollable. It is easy to store and gorgeous. My only drawback is the box itself. It is a giant mess and can be hard to organize, prep games, and put away. It is only includes foam dividers and labels you have to hand write. That minor annoyance aside, this game is great deck builder that with lots of variation and fun to be had.