Playing Games at PAX, Part Two: Taking Over the World

Invasion from Outer Space by Flying Frog Productions

I’ve been a fan of Flying Frog’s Last Night on Earth zombie game ever since the fine folks at Tabletop Game and Hobby in Kansas City recommended it as the zombie board game to get. My own gaming group quickly became fans and I’ve been meaning to give it a proper review (soon, I promise). The game is designed to feel like you’re playing through a B-movie zombie flick, with different scenarios and a pile of characters. So when I first heard rumors that Flying Frog was working on an alien invasion game (think “Mars Attacks” style aliens with the big exposed brains and domed spacesuits), I was pretty excited. And then when I saw that they were actually going to be exhibiting at PAX, I marked it down as one of my first stops.

Beware the Zard Beast!

Invasion from Outer Space uses the same type of setup as LNoE, with modular boards, a huge cast of characters, and semi-cooperative gameplay (one team plays the Eartlhings and the other controls the invading Martians). What I hadn’t realized until I saw the demo copies is that it’s not just Martians vs. humans. It’s Martians vs. carnies. That’s right—the spot these particular Martians decide to take over is a circus, and so they come face to face with characters like Archibald the Human Cannonball, Angelica the Bearded Lady and even Jo Jo the Dancing Bear. Awesome.

I played an abridged version of one of the scenarios, and was quite pleased with what I saw. (Plus we kicked the Martians’ butts, after losing Archibald.) Invasion from Outer Space isn’t available until October, but you can pre-order it now (non-US customers use this link). I’m definitely looking forward to playing this one some more once it’s available.

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Jonathan H. Liu

Jonathan H. Liu is a stay-at-home dad in Portland, Oregon, who loves to read, is always up for a board game, and has a bit of a Kickstarter habit. I can be reached at jonathan at geekdad dot com.