White Goblin Games, in conjunction with Stronghold Games, is planning a November U.S. release for Panic Station, a paranoia-driven, partly cooperative science fiction board game. David Ausloos’ game, which will debut at Spiel 2011, includes a “hidden-traitor” component and therefore requires at least 4 players and can accommodate up to six. 

 

Players each control two characters in the Extermination Corps, which is charged with ferreting out and destroying hostile alien life forms.  Players have to move their Androids and Troopers through the base (created by a modular game board) while gathering equipment to help with their mission to find and destroy the Parasite Hive. When a player manages to get his trooper into the Hive and play three gas can cards to fuel his flamethrower, he wins the game for the humans.

 

But one of the players is a parasite Host, who must keep this identity secret while trying to infect as many other players as possible to gain allies and prevent the humans from destroying the Hive.  Only players who carefully watch the behavior of other team members and find the right balance between cooperation and paranoia will have a chance to survive against infected players and roaming parasites.

 

Panic Station is an ingenious game of rampant paranoia where players must work together, but in which no one can be trusted.