Add to Wishlist

XCOM: The Board Game

In XCOM: The Board Game, you and up to three friends assume the roles of the leaders of the elite, international organization known as XCOM. It is your job to defend humanity, quell the rising panic, and turn back the alien invasion.

52.90€

30 day low:

Out of stock

Meeple on Board Rating

Be the first to review this product.

Board Game Geek Reviews


  1. 8 out of 10

    The intensity and tension of the timed sections is great. The resolution gets better the longer the game gets as players have more action cards to interact with. Saddly the most depressing this about this game is the very low flavor impact of the base defense and mission component of the game.

  2. 6 out of 10

    XCOM is a real-time cooperation game by Eric Lang (Blood Rage, Rising Sun) in which each player takes a role with a special task. The game is separated in a real-time phase (distribute resources) and a resolve phase (dice rolling). [b]What makes it special?[/b] It is one of the first professional real-time cooperative board games that integrates an app as a "dungeon master". The XCOM licence is also only used in this game. [b]Roles:[/b] * Commander: manages the money for all players, chooses crisis cards, and distributes airplanes on the world map * Researcher: decides which tech to research * Squad Leader: sends soldiers to defend the base or attack a location * Central Officer: distributes satellites on the world map, operates the app and tells other players the app events [b]Pros:[/b] + Artwork (not great but good) + Theme (defend the world against aliens, captures the XCOM universe well, XCOM equipment is well integrated by cards) + Components quality (a lot of detailed minis) + Many scenarios and difficulty levels: each game has different aliens (but this matters only to the Squad Leader) and a special end mission (some variability) + The app creates quick pacing and includes a step-by-step tutorial + Resource management: how to spend money for all actions in a round (usually the part that is more discussed between players - controlled by the commander) + Communication is necessary due to the shared money pool. Players can sometimes help each other with special tech cards from research + All: push your luck dice rolling: risk resources or stop rolling? + All: indirectly managing the tracks for the six countries (loose game) + All: deciding when to exhaust a special effect card (push your luck) + Commander: which crisis to pick? May effect one particular role or all roles (quite tense). + Squad Leader: which mission to pick? It depends highly on the bonus especially when a particular country is in a very bad shape + Squad Leader: push your luck: how many soldiers to deploy? + Researcher: which tech to research, which role should get the benefit? + Researcher: push your luck: how many scientists to deploy? + Central Officer: communicates the events from the app to the other players + Central Officer: push your luck: how many satellites to deploy? [b]Neutrals:[/b] # Theme is good implemented from the PC game but the game feels more like an abstract meta game all about resource management # People who played the PC game and expected a tactical dudes-on-the-map game might be disappointed. I would also love to see a tactical dungeon crawler with the XCOM licence. # Some roles are more interesting than others # Replayability may suffer over time because each role has only limited tasks # After players get to know the cards, the game becomes simpler (less reading required during real-time phase) # Language dependent (text on cards) # No alpha gamer issues since there is not enough time # Some tokens are underwhelming compared to the other components # Best with 4 players but: roles are not that complex, solo is also possible. [b]Cons:[/b] - Downtime during the resolve phase: gets less interesting over time... - ...because of too much repetitive sequential dice rolling during the resolve phase for each role - Luck and order of random events, especially due to the order of real-time events: sometimes players have to deploy units before aliens / Ufos get revealed and players do not know when the real-time phase ends. However, some players may appreciate this kind of uncertainty. - Handling (counting) money tokens in real-time can be fiddly and error-prone - No rulesbook or reference book - Tasks of each role is very (too) simple. If you are a gamer who wants to be challenged, then better play solo or with 2 players so that each player has more to do. However, with less players you may end up managing 10+ tech cards and may loose the overview. - Cooperation is necessary, but I wish, there would be more intersections and dependencies between the roles - Real-time stress is not for everyone [b]Thoughts:[/b] I am a fan of the PC games. I like the unconventional approach for this game, but it does not work for me. I miss more challenging tasks, interaction, and deeper gameplay. The resolving phase is not exciting because of too many dice rolls. [b]Similar games:[/b] * UBOOT (better cooperation between roles because they depend more on each other while in XCOM it feels more solitaire, real-time, app integration, worker placement, light simulation, more complex, different roles, great thematic and tactile elements, potentially limited replayability due to the submarine theme) * Level 7 [Invasion] (cooperative, area control, similar theme, long playing time, requires 5 players, complex game with not enough decisions, no real-time) * Space Cadets (real-time, coop, space exploration, scenarios, many mini games depending on the station, similar resource distribution, chaotic) * Damage Report (real-time, player movement over modular locations, pick-up-and-delivery, actions and events based on timed intervals, chaotic) * Space Alert (Sci-Fi, coop game with real-time programming and resolving phase, quick playing time, no dice, no luck, requires communication between players, different roles but all roles are equal, more chaotic) * Galaxy Defenders (dungeon crawler / tactical combat game inspired by XCOM the PC game with a good AI system) * Level 7 [Omega Protocol] (1 vs many dungeon crawler, feels a bit like Stargate/XCOM themewise with military squads, very tactical combat, no real-time)

  3. 8 out of 10

    Creative use an iPad with the game. We played on the tutorial and it kicked our asses. Seems incredibly difficult. Although I had a great time playing it regardless.

Be the first to review “XCOM: The Board Game”

Game description from the publisher:

You are humanity’s last hope.

In XCOM: The Board Game, you and up to three friends assume the roles of the leaders of the elite, international organization known as XCOM. It is your job to defend humanity, quell the rising panic, and turn back the alien invasion.

Where the world’s militaries have failed to stand against the alien invaders, you must succeed. To do so, you must make strategic use of the resources available to you. You must launch Interceptors to shoot down alien UFOs, assign soldiers to key missions, research alien technology, and use that technology to defend your base — all while trying to keep the world from collapsing just long enough that you can coordinate one final mission to repel the invaders for good.

One of the more notable aspects of XCOM: The Board Game is the way that it incorporates a free and innovative digital app into the core of its gameplay. This digital companion will be available both as a downloadable app and as an online tool.

The app’s primary function is to coordinate the escalating alien invasion, randomly selecting from one of five different invasion plans. Each invasion plan represents a general outline that the alien commanders will use to coordinate the arrival of new UFOs, plan strikes against your base, and respond to your successes or failures as it seeks to conquer Earth. The app manages all of these tasks and heightens the game’s tension as it forces you to respond in real-time. Then, after you move quickly to coordinate your response, you engage the enemy in the untimed resolution phase and feed the results to the app. Based upon these results, the app launches the invasion’s next strikes.

Additionally, the app teaches you the rules, controls the information that your satellites provide you, and tracks the progress of your resistance efforts, even as it allows you to enjoy the game at any of three levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, or Hard.

The use of this app does more than simply streamline your play experience and track your turns in real-time; it also permits a uniquely dynamic turn structure. While the variety of game phases remains the same from round to round, the order in which you and your friends must play through them may change, as may the number of a given phase. As a result, while you’ll want to know where UFOs appear before you deploy your Interceptors, the alien invaders may be able to disrupt your satellite intel and force you to deploy your Interceptors on patrol with limited or no knowledge of the UFOs current whereabouts. Similarly, you may be forced to think about the costs of resolving the world’s crises before you know how many troops you’ll need to commit to your base defense.

The effect of the app is to immerse you deep into the dramatic tension at the core of XCOM: The Board Game, and it ensures that the game presents a challenging and cooperative (or solo) experience like no other. Just like the XCOM department heads that you represent, you’ll need to keep cool heads in order to prevail.

Ages

14+
Designer

Eric M. Lang
Mechanics

Cooperative Play, Dice Rolling, Hand Management, Miniatures, Press your Luck, Time Track, Variable Player Powers
Play Time

60m – 120m
Players

Solo, 2 Players, 3 Players, 4 Players
Publisher

2K Games, Inc., Firaxis Games, Inc., ADC Blackfire Entertainment, Edge Entertainment, Fantasy Flight Games, Galakta, Galápagos Jogos, Giochi Uniti, Heidelberger Spieleverlag
Theme

Electronic, Miniatures, Real-time, Science Fiction, Video Game Theme, Sci-fi
Cart
Checkout - 0.00€
  • 0
  • 1
Skip to content