Alien Attack: USA — Rules Manual

RULEBOOK
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Nothing could have prepared us for this day. The long-awaited event for humanity has finally come: the aliens are here!
Unfortunately, they are hostile and aggressive. With their thirst for conquest, they have decided to start their attacks on the world superpower: the United States of America. But it is only a matter of time until the rest of the world becomes the target of these invasions.
They attack in waves and you can never know which region they will invade next.
The problem is that there are so many of them that it is impossible to protect yourself from them all.
However, all is not lost... worldwide military intelligence has managed to develop strategies to survive and minimize humanity’s losses.
Luckily, the aliens are not totally invincible: with the right weapons, we will inflict serious damage on them, preventing them from establishing a powerful stronghold and, who knows, maybe they will give up the invasion and go away, at least for a while...
In Alien Attack, players take on the role of a military force responsible for defending the United States from alien attack.
It will take a lot of strategic effort to defend cities, protect borders, evacuate the population to the strongholds in the National Parks, and save enough supplies for human civilization to survive.
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Components
12 mission cards
(4 Global Missions, 4 City Missions,
and 4 Border Missions)
120 numbered alien
attack markers (from 1
to 120)
22 National Park
markers
16 Special Power pieces
(4 per player)
132 defense discs (33 per player)
4 Victory Points (VP) markers
(1 for each player)
1 cloth bag, referred to in this
manual as the “Mothership”;
1 game board
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1. Place the game board in the center of the table. It represents a map of the United States of America divided into 120 numbered spaces.
2. Place the 22 National Park markers near to the board. These correspond to the 22 National Parks that are on the board.
3. Each player chooses a color and takes all the components of that color: 1 victory point marker (placed on the 0 space of the VP track on the board), 4 special action pieces (arranged in front of the player), and 33 defense discs.
4. Arrange the Global Mission cards face up near to the board.
5. Shuffle the four City Mission cards and the four Border Mission cards separately and deal one of each to every player. The players then place their mission cards face up in front of them.
6. Put all 120 alien attack markers into the Mothership. These markers are numbered, with each marker corresponding to a numbered space on the board.
Setup
11
22
33
44
55
66
44
3333
11
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Alien Attack USAAlien Attack USA is played over multiple rounds. The player who most recently saw an
alien starts the first round.
Playing a round
At the beginning of the round, follow these instructions in order:
1. Draw and place the attacks
Take a number of alien attack markers from the
Mothership equal to the number of players plus
two (four markers for two players, five markers
for three players, and six markers for four players).
After drawing the correct number of alien attack
markers, place them with their numbers facing up
on the corresponding spaces on the board.
Example: In a 3-player game, the attack markers that
were drawn were 33, 51, 84, 88, and 102. The players place
the markers on the board, number side up.

2. Defend and score regions
The player whose turn it is selects one of the
alien attack markers on the board with the
numbered side up and no defense disc on it
and covers it with one of their defense discs.
They then score as described below in the
“Scoring Defense” section below. After this, in
clockwise order, each other player does the
same.
Example: the purple player places one of
their defense discs on space 51, which con-
tains a Herd, earning them 2 VPs.

3. Attack markers become bases
After all of the players have taken
their turns, any alien attack mark-
ers that were not defended (covered
with a defense disc) are flipped over,
starting with the lowest number. These
markers are permanent alien bases.
Example: alien attack marker 102 was
not defended by any player, so it be-
came an alien base.
How to Play
84
33
51 84
88
102
51
51 84
102
+2+2
88
84
102
84
88
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Bases capture ground defenders
When an attack marker is flipped, players may
lose their defenders: if a defense disc of any col-
or is trapped between two directly adjacent per -
manent alien bases, the defense disc is captured
and removed from the game. This applies only to
bases that were flipped on this turn.
The points earned by these discs in previous
rounds are not lost. It is possible for several de-
fense discs to be removed when an alien attack
marker is flipped.
Example: when alien attack marker 9 is flipped,
the blue defense disc is removed from the game
because it was surrounded by alien bases.
4. End of the round
The current first player passes the Mothership to
the player on their left, who starts the next round.
Scoring Defense
After you cover an alien attack with a defense disc of your color, check to see if one
of the following situations has occurred:
Cities: each city (blue) that has a value between 1 and
7 which is surrounded by two or three spaces. When
you place your first disc on a space around the city,
nothing happens. When you place your second disc on
a space around the same city, adjacent to your previ -
ous disc, you score the city’s value (1 to 7 points) and
advance your marker on the scoring track by the same
number of spaces. If you place a third disc of your
color on a space around the city, you again score the
city’s value (1 to 7 points).
Example: when placing a second defense disc around
a city with a value of 3, the yellow player scores 3
points.
Herd: each herd (brown) displays a bovine icon, indicating it is worth 2 points to who -
ever defends it. Each herd belongs to a region with 3 connected herds. When you
place one of your defense discs on a herd, you immediately score 2 points, advanc -
ing your Victory Points marker on the track. If you place a second or third disc in the
same region, connecting your discs, you will gain 2 points for each connected disc.
16
9 removed
84
+2 +4 +6
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National Parks: National Parks: when you place a disc on a National Park area (green), immediately take one of the National Park markers and place it in front of you.
Example: Example: by covering a National Park, the player receives a marker that can be used to score objectives.
Alien Base: Alien Base: When you place your marker next to an alien base (with its number face down) and there is a marker of any color directly behind the base, then the base is destroyed. Remove the alien base from the board and place it in front of you (with its number face down). It is possible to destroy several alien bases in one turn.
There are some icons on the Canadian border. These icons also help you to destroy any alien base as if they were a neutral player’s defense disc that is adjacent to the alien base.
Example: Example: when the blue player places their defense disc, all three alien bases are destroyed and removed. The blue player places the pieces in front of them, with the numbers facing down.
Special Power Pieces
Each player starts the game with 4 Special Power pieces. You can use them as a free action at specific moments during the game. However, each piece can only be used once per game. After using a Special Power Piece, turn the piece over to the opposite side to show that it has already been used in this game.
Protection: Protection: when an alien attack piece is transformed into a permanent base and the player would lose one of their defense discs, they can activate this Special Power Piece to protect their marker, which remains on the board.
Example: Example: when turning attack piece 57 into a base, the blue player would lose their defense disc on space 49. However, by activating the Protection Special Power piece, they prevent it from being removed from the game.
Cover: Cover: after a player places one of their defense discs on a space and destroys an alien base, they can use this Special Power piece to cover the now empty space with one of their defense discs. Score this piece normally.
Example: Example: after covering a space adjacent to a base and removing it, the purple player uses the Cover Special Power piece to place one of their defense discs on that space.
84
3 captures
Protected
Capturaded
88
88
88
84
84
84
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Neighborhood: after placing a defense disc on a space, you can use this Special Power piece to destroy an alien base in a space adjacent to any of your defense discs. Take one of your defense markers, cover the space of the destroyed base, and score the piece normally.
Example: after removing the alien base from space 89, the blue player can activate this Special Power piece to place one of their markers in that space and score 5 points for the city space.

Extra Turn: during your turn, after placing your defense disc on a space, you may use this Special Power piece to take an extra turn, defending another space with a numbered attack token using another one of your defense discs.
Nota: only 2 players can use this Special Power in the same turn to avoid the last player not having an attack space to defend.
Example: on their turn, after placing a defense disc, the green player decides to use this Special Power piece to place a second disc.

End of the Game
The game ends once all of the alien attack markers have been placed on the board, leaving the Mothership empty.
The number of alien attack markers in the Mothership corresponds to 30 rounds with 2 players, 24 rounds with 3 players, or 20 rounds with 4 players.
Finally, all players score missions: the four Global Missions and each player’s individual City and Border missions. Players advance their markers on the scoring track according to the number of points scored.

Mission Scoring
City Missions: each player counts the number of cities with the value indicated on their own mission card (2, 3, 4, or 5) where they have at least one defense disc in the surrounding spaces. Score the corresponding number of points. Note that each city counts only once, even if the player has multiple defense discs around it.
88
Capturaded
1
2
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Border Missions: each player counts the number of defense discs in the spaces of the border indicated on their mission card. Score the corresponding number of points. Note that the Atlantic Coast has eleven spaces, the Pacific Coast and the Gulf of Mexico have ten spaces, and Mexico has only seven.

Global Missions

National Parks Card: count the number of defense discs each player has collected during the game and score the corresponding number of points.

Alien Bases Card: count the number of alien bases that each player has collected during the game and score the corresponding number of points.

Territorial Expansion Card: each player counts the contiguous group containing the largest number of adjacent defense discs of their color. All of their markers must connect to each other through spaces containing their own markers. Score the corresponding number of points.

Global Protection Card: if you meet all three requirements listed on the card, score 20 points; otherwise, score no points.

The three requirements for scoring are:

Cities 1: have defense discs around 4 different cities of value 1.

Herd: have defense discs on 4 different Herds.

Border: have defense discs on three border spaces (including Canada) that are different to your Border Mission card.

Note that a defense disc can count towards fulfilling more than one condition.

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Example of final scoring:
The blue player starts the scoring phase with 39 points. They have the City Mission Card of value 2. As they have defended 7 different cities of value 2, they score 22 points. Their Border Mission card was for the Pacific Coast. Since they ended with 4 markers, they score 6 points.
In the Global Missions, they scored 10 points for National Parks (5 markers), 5 points for Alien Bases (5 markers), 24 points for Territorial Expansion (19 adjacent defense discs), and 0 points for the Global Protection card as they did not meet the requirements (they have 2 value 1 cities, 4 herds, and 7 Borders).
They reached a total of 106 points, but it was not enough to beat the purple player who scored 127 points.
2= 7
= 4
= 5
= 6
= 19
39 106
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Winner
The player who scores the most victory points is the winner. In case of a tie, the
winner is the player who defended the highest value city space. If the tie persists,
the tied players share the victory, as we have after all defended the planet from the
alien invasion.
Game Mode: Semi-Cooperative
For players seeking a greater challenge, use the variant in which, if fewer than 24
alien bases have been destroyed, the invasion is considered a success and all players
lose!
If 24 or more alien bases have been destroyed, Earth wins and the player with the
most points is declared the winner.
Acknowledgements: Reiner Knizia thanks all the playtesters who contributed to de-
fending Earth against the alien attack, especially: Sebastian Bleasdale, Rudi Gebhardt,
Britta Stöckmann, Andi Stamer, and Peter Wimmer.
Credits
Autor: Reiner Knizia
Illustrations: Thiago Mendes e Guilherme Pulga (Harpy Studio)
Graphic design and layout: Gerson Lopes, Kaique Messias e Paulo Toledo
Editor: Renato J. Lopes
Revision: Romir G. E. Paulino
Supervision: Diego Bianchini
English version: Hendrik Slaney
Glyp Games LTDA. Rua Manoel Pires de Moraes, 18 - Sala 03.
Jardim Brasil, Embu-Guaçu/SP. CNPJ:53.273.552/0001-30.
All rights reserved. Reprinting and publishing of rules, components, or illustrations of
this game without the permission of Glyptodon Studio and MeepleBR is prohibited.
All rights reserved. Reprinting and publishing of rules, components, or illustrations of
this game without the permission of Glyptodon Studio and MeepleBR is prohibited.
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