How to Play

Nemesis

1-5 players 90-180 min 8.3 Board Game Geek Rating

In Nemesis, players control unique crew members aboard an alien-infested spaceship in this semi-cooperative sci-fi horror game. Hostile organisms grow stronger over time and react to player noise. Each character has distinct abilities, personal cards, and equipment. Victory requires completing secret objectives while surviving alien swarms, ship malfunctions, and potentially treacherous teammates to escape alive.

Published 2018

Nemesis

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Choose board side
Select the basic or alternative side of the game board
2
Place Room tiles
Shuffle and place Room "1" and Room "2" tiles on their respective spots, then randomly place exploration tokens on each room tile
3
Set coordinates
Randomly place a coordinates card face down next to Cockpit and place a status marker in the "B" slot of destinations
4
Position Escape Pods
Place Escape Pods starting with "1" in slot A and alternating to B
5
Prepare Engine tokens
Randomly shuffle Engine tokens and place them face down in their spots
6
Set up Intruder board
Place the Intruder board next to the game board with 5 Egg tokens and 3 random Weakness cards face down
7
Fill Intruder bag
Put Intruder tokens into the bag (1 Blank, 4 Larvae, 1 Creeper, 1 Queen, 3 Adults + an Adult per player)
8
Arrange card decks
Place shuffled decks next to board: Event, Intruder Attack, Contamination, Serious Wound, and all Items
9
Set Time Track
Place a status marker on Time Track position #15 (default)
10
Assign player numbers
Give each player a random player number with the Help/Pass cards
11
Distribute inventory holders
Give each player an Inventory card holder based on their player number
12
Deal objectives
Shuffle both Corporate & Personal Objective decks and deal each player one of each card (first remove objectives for higher player counts)
13
Draft characters
Give player #1 two random Character draft cards to choose one, then all players do the same in number order
14
Collect character components
Each player takes their Character board, miniature, Action cards deck, starting weapon with ammo, and 2 Quest Item cards
15
Designate first player
Player 1 receives the 1st Player token (cat)
16
Place characters
Put all characters in the Hibernatorium and place 1 blue Character Corpse

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Draw Action cards
Draw up to 5 total Action cards at the start of each round
2
Pass First Player token
Move the cat token to the left
3
Perform actions
Each player performs 2 Actions starting with the first player going clockwise
4
Continue or Pass
Continue player turns until all 5 Action cards are exhausted, or a player Passes (players must do 2 actions each turn or they Pass by default)
5
Movement [cost=1]
Move to a neighboring room, flip Room Tile and Exploration token if face down, then perform a Noise Roll unless a character or intruder is already present
6
Careful Movement [cost=2]
Same as normal Movement, but place a Noise marker in a corridor of your choice
7
Pick up Heavy Object [cost=1]
Collect a heavy item in the room
8
Trade [cost=1]
Exchange items with another player in the same room
9
Craft Item [cost=1]
Create an item using available components
10
Shoot [cost=1]
Choose a weapon, discard 1 ammo, and roll the Combat die
11
Melee Attack [cost=1]
Same as Shoot except draw 1 Contamination card to your discard pile and suffer 1 Serious Wound for ANY miss
12
Escape [cost=1]
Resolve an Intruder Attack card for each Intruder in your room, then move to a neighboring room with a Noise roll
13
Rotate Room tile
Turn the Room tile number towards the red symbol on the board until it matches the exploration token number (determines searchable items)
14
Resolve Silence (X)
Nothing happens, but if character has slime, do a danger roll
15
Resolve Danger (claw)
Any neighboring Intruders move to this room (unless in combat), OR place noise markers in ALL connected corridors without one
16
Resolve Slime
Set character slime marker
17
Resolve Fire
Add fire token to room
18
Resolve Malfunction
Add malfunction token to room
19
Resolve Doors
Place a door behind you
20
Roll numbers 1-4
Place a noise marker in the related corridor number
21
Roll Silence (X)
Nothing happens (unless character has slime)
22
Roll Danger (claw)
Neighboring Intruders move to room or place noise in all corridors
23
Discard Noise Markers
Remove markers only from corridors connected to this room
24
Draw Intruder token
Place matching Intruder miniature in the room
25
Check for Surprise Attack
Compare token number to cards in hand; if token number is higher, character is Surprise Attacked
26
Handle Blank token
Resolve Encounter and place Noise markers in all corridors
27
Draw Attack card
Draw and resolve 1 Intruder Attack card
28
Match Intruder symbol
If the Intruder in the room doesn't match the card symbol, no attack happens
29
Follow attack effects
Apply the written effects on the card
30
Determine target
If 2+ characters present during Event Phase attack, attack the character with the least Action cards
31
Track Light Wounds
Place a status marker on character board (3 light wounds = 1 serious)
32
Draw Serious Wounds
Draw 1 serious wound card with effect staying active until healed
33
Character Death
3 serious wounds + any additional wound = death; place Character Corpse token and drop all Heavy Objects
34
Dress Wounds
Use Items or Room actions to remove card effects while keeping Serious Wound status
35
Heal Wounds
Use Items or Room actions to fully heal Light or Serious wounds
36
Kill Larva/Egg
1 injury kills them
37
Damage Creeper/Adult
Draw 1 Intruder Attack card and check top left number as defense value
38
Damage Breeder/Queen
Draw 2 Intruder Attack cards and combine both top left values as defense
39
Trigger Retreat
If arrow drawn, Intruder flees using Event Card movement rules
40
Receive Contamination card
Place it on top of Action discard pile
41
Cannot spend for actions
Contamination cards have no action value
42
Scan during procedures
When attempting any procedure, scan Contamination card; if INFECTED, place a Larva miniature on Character
43
Second Larva death
If placing a 2nd Larva, you die
44
Advance markers
Move Time and Self-Destruct markers
45
Resolve Intruder Attack
If Intruder in same room as character
46
Apply Fire Damage
If applicable to Intruders
47
Draw Event Card
Move matching Intruders along listed corridor number (except Combatants), then follow Event Effect
48
Intruder Bag Development
Draw token and resolve:
49
First Encounter
Choose ONE Objective from your cards
50
First Death
Escape Pods Unlock
51
Time Track #8
Hibernation Unlocks
52
Self-Destruct #3
Escape Pods Unlock and Self-Destruct cannot be stopped

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Time marker reaches red
Game ends immediately
2
Self-Destruct marker reaches red
Game ends immediately
3
Fire markers equal 9
Ship destroyed, game ends
4
Malfunction markers equal 9
Ship destroyed, game ends
5
All players exit game
No characters remain in play
6
Fulfill your Objective
Complete the chosen objective card requirements
7
Survive the game
Either use an Escape Pod to evacuate OR hibernate in the Hibernatorium with functioning ship headed to Earth
8
Verify Engine status
At least 2 Engines must be "Working"
9
Confirm ship destination
Ship must be headed to "Earth" or the location on your Objective card
10
Scan all Contamination cards
Review every Contamination card you possess
11
Resolve INFECTED status
If you have at least 1 "INFECTED" card, shuffle ALL Contamination cards back with your action cards and draw the top 4 cards
12
Determine survival
If any Contamination cards are drawn in those 4, you die

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