Conquest of Planet Earth
Conquest of Planet Earth, The Space Alien Game is a fast-paced game of terrifying alien invaders, futile Human resistance, and 50's SciFi Movie Action. Players each take on the role of a different Alien Race, all part of the same invading armada, but each with their own unique abilities and ambitions. Command waves of Flying Saucers to blast the Human resistance into submission with Death Rays and terrifying weapons of war as you unleash powerful alien technologies upon the Earth (and the other Alien Races if they get in your way). But beware; these pitiful Humans are not defenseless. They will fight to the last to defend their planet, aided by countless platoons of army soldiers, powerful Human Heroes, and their most deadly new weapon, the dreaded Atomic Bomb.
Featuring a modular game board, 10 different Alien Races to play (such as the Orzax, masters of technology; or the Venezian Matriarchy, beautiful but deadly space amazons), a host of Human Resistance to battle, and four game types - Competitive, Cooperative, Team Game, and Solo Play. Conquest of Planet Earth is a strategic game of maneuvering, backstabbing, and fantastic battles for alien conquest.
User Reviews (4)
Add a Review for "Conquest of Planet Earth"
You must be logged in to add a review.
Are any of you familiar with Flying Frog Productions? I certainly am. I really enjoyed playing Last Night on Earth, their scenario-based zombie survival game. Complete with a soundtrack and stunning photographic art, it is a very nice game and worth a playthrough. So we were pretty excited to try out Conquest of Planet Earth, with its quirky 1950’s B-movie saucermen theme. And I love it.
How it looks
For starters, it’s pretty . This game does not use the fun photography and makeup of the Last Night… series. Instead, this goes for a more traditional painted/drawn style. The alien races are all well illustrated and really convey those B-movie tropes. You could totally see these in a monster movie from the 50’s or 60’s, or maybe even off of the original Star Trek series. The Rantillion Beetlemen, the Fishmen of Atlorak, the Vyborian Arbiters… heck, there’s even some warrior-women and and space emperors in faux-Roman clothing. The miniatures are well-scuplted, with four tokens of each color (all the same sculpt), and four unique ally tokens. They very much capture the theme. Embrace the cheesiness! And then there’s the soundtrack…
Player tokens
Why a soundtrack for a game? Why not! On the CD, there are eleven tracks of instrumental music that goes a long way to set the mood for the game. Most of the ten alien races have tracks named after them, themed after their breed of vileness. Crazy, spacey, atmospheric… I highly recommend those of you trying out the game play this in the background. Sure, it’s not absolutely necessary; but don’t let that stop you from turning a playthrough of a boardgame into an experience.
Four different games in one!
For those of you really trying to make the most of your gaming dollar, I want to point out that there are four ways to play this game. That’s right: four. The first is the competitive game. In this, each player plays an alien species bent on taking over the Earth, but there’s these pesky humans in the way… not to mention the other aliens who want this prime real estate! The second is the cooperative game, in which the alien players join forces to take over the Earth, but the humans are much craftier and have a more active resistance. The third is a team game, which has two teams of two aliens fighting for the planet. And the last is the solo game, which is just like the cooperative but it is played solitaire, with the player choosing to play one or more alien races, again, trying to subjugate Earth. Of those four, the competitive and cooperative games fit our play style the best, and both offer great gameplay.
Overview
All styles have a similar board setup, with a central human capital and an additional adjoining board for each alien player. Location cards are played on the spaces when aliens move to an undiscovered one, and each have a Terror rating (victory points for the controller) and a Resistance score. The resistance score determines the number of battles a player will do with human defenders from the Resistance deck. Watch out! Those crafty humans have ways of joining forces and some cards will stack and give bonuses. Woe to the saucerperson who finds Captain Fantastic… he’s the toughest the humans have to offer, a pulp-era hero ready to swing his super-powered fists at any alien daring to land on his planet! A dice roll for each side, plus modifiers, determines the outcome, though cards in players’ hands can, of course, alter outcomes. Simple resolution, meaningful choices… perfect for a theme-heavy game of this sort.
My thoughts
I love this game. It’s just that simple. This is a game that can be equally enjoyed by those looking for a game with a quirky, fun theme, or a more strategy-oriented player. Granted, there is enough randomness here that hardcore eurogamers may have cause to turn up their noses, but this isn’t for them. This is an experience in a box. If you have ever delighted in watching a cheeseball low-fi movie with aliens and rayguns, check this game out. You won’t regret it. My advice is to make a night of it; try watching something like The Green Slime (1968, rating a whopping 3.8 of 10 stars at IMDB!), or maybe just an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series after playing the game. You’ll have a blast!
Initial Impressions:
The box art for this game is not your typical Flying Frog photo collage. The artwork is all hand drawn and certainly has a different style than what we’re all used to. I would even go so far as to call the style “rough” as it often resembles artwork from the 50′s, if a highschooler was doodling in a notebook after reading his favorite pulp sci-fi comic. Also, there are not a lot of plastic bits shown on the box, which is not what I’m used to being served by Flying Frog. I had, for the most part, dismissed this one altogether.
Further Investigation:
I was coereced into giving it a try with a group I play games with on Tuesday nights. I was assured that it would not take long to play so if I did not like it, I wouldn’t have to endure it for long. We played a three-player game that moved right along, but too fast.
My thoughts:
After a couple of games, I’ve got to admit that I really have flip-flopped on this one. I had a great time and Conquest is now on my must-buy list. It is a simple game that allowed me to become a real contender on my second turn, which I appreciate. I don’t mind having my lunch handed to me the first time I play a game, but the rules were clear and a lot of useful information is provided on the guide cards. If you like the theme, can forgive the rough artwork, and don’t mind an easy to pick up and play game, give this game another look.
This game is just fun. If you find the theme even a little bit appealing I think this is a can’t miss. Co-op is by far the better option. We’ve only played the standard rules twice but have played the cop-op game a bunch. It plays fast and is silly enough to feel very light but has enough tough choices to keep it interesting. The artwork is cool and really brings the theme to life. My favorite from Flying Frog so far. A few of the races are kind of broken or under/overpowered right out of the box but with so many to choose from its not a big deal. Hopefully we’ll see this corrected with an expansion.
This game is great because you can play solo, cooperative to competitive. The components are high quality. The art is fun great and funny. The mechanics work great and fit the theme. I have trouble finding flaws.