Project: ELITE

2020

Join the ELITE squad in Project: ELITE, a thrilling, real-time dice-rolling game where players combat waves of alien enemies to save Earth.

60
minutes

1 - 6
player(s)

14+

Medium

About the game

Welcome to the thrilling universe of Project: ELITE, a fast-paced, cooperative board game that expertly combines real-time action with tactical decision-making. This game will transport you into an adrenaline-infused battle against an alien invasion, right from the comfort of your living room.

Set in a dystopian future where Earth has been invaded by hostile alien forces, Project: ELITE puts you and your team in the shoes of an Elite Squad, tasked with defending our planet. Your mission is to complete critical objectives while keeping the alien forces at bay. The game is laden with a rich, immersive theme that is well complimented by its top-notch components, including beautifully crafted miniatures that bring the alien invaders and your brave squad to life.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Project: ELITE is an engaging cooperative board game that features real-time gameplay and dice-rolling mechanics. The game includes a variety of components that contribute to the overall gaming experience.

1. Game Board: The game board represents the game environment where players will interact and perform their missions. It is marked with different paths and spaces where the players’ miniatures and enemies are placed and moved.

2. Miniatures: These are small figurines representing the players and enemies. Each player chooses one character mini to represent them in the game, moving it around the board as they complete missions. The enemy minis are controlled by the game’s mechanics and pose challenges for the players.

3. Dice: The game includes a set of custom dice, which are used by players to take actions during their turn. Each die’s face corresponds to a specific action that a player can perform, such as moving, attacking, or performing special abilities.

4. Event Cards: These cards introduce unexpected events into the game, adding an element of surprise and unpredictability. When drawn, they can change the game’s conditions, affect the enemies’ behavior, or provide challenges or advantages to the players.

5. Character Sheets: Each player receives a character sheet that provides information about their chosen character’s abilities, health, and special skills. Players use these sheets to track their character’s progress and status throughout the game.

6. Tokens: There are various tokens used in the game, including health tokens, ammunition tokens, and objective tokens. These are used to track various aspects of the game state, such as a player’s health and ammunition, or the completion of certain objectives.

7. Mission Cards: These cards provide the mission that the players must complete to win the game. Each card includes a mission brief, a layout for setting up the game board, and any special rules for that mission.

8. Alien Cards: These cards represent the different types of aliens that the players will encounter during the game. Each card provides information about the alien’s abilities, health, and behavior.

9. Equipment Cards: These cards represent various pieces of equipment that players can acquire and use during the game. Equipment can provide a variety of benefits, such as enhancing a player’s abilities, providing additional actions, or offering other advantages.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Project: ELITE is an exciting, cooperative board game that requires strategy and teamwork. Here’s a step-by-step guide on setting up the game:

Step 1: Player Roles

Each player selects a character to play. The characters available are the Gunner, Medic, Recon, and the Technician. Each character has unique abilities that will be crucial in combating the alien threat. Distribute the corresponding character boards to each player.

Step 2: Board Placement

Set the game board in the center of the play area. The game board is double-sided, and the side you use depends on the mission you are playing. Consult the mission guide to determine which side to use. The board is divided into sectors, and each sector has a number of spawn points where the alien forces will appear.

Step 3: Initial Resources

Each player starts with a set of basic weapons. These are indicated on the character’s board. Place the corresponding weapon cards next to each player’s character board. In addition, each player gets a starting hand of three action cards.

Step 4: Random Elements

Shuffle the Alien deck and draw cards equal to the number of players plus two. Place these cards face up in the Alien staging area. This sets the initial wave of aliens that the players will face.

Shuffle the Event deck and place it next to the game board. During the game, an event card will be drawn at the start of each round, introducing new challenges for the players.

Step 5: Mission Objective

Choose a mission from the mission guide and place the corresponding mission card next to the game board. The mission card will state the objectives that the players need to complete in order to win the game. Place any mission-specific tokens or markers as indicated on the mission card.

Step 6: Starting the Game

The game starts with the player who most recently watched a science fiction movie. That player takes the first turn, and play proceeds clockwise around the table.

Now you’re ready to start playing Project: ELITE. Good luck, and remember – teamwork is key!

Game flow Round and round we go

Project: ELITE is a cooperative, real-time, speed-dice, tactical, tower-defense-like game. The game is played over a series of rounds, each divided into two distinct phases: the Real-Time Phase and the Alien Phase.

The Real-Time Phase is where the bulk of the gameplay takes place. During this phase, players take on the roles of ELITE (Earth Land Infantry Tactical Experts) members, each with unique abilities and roles. Here’s what happens:

Each player simultaneously rolls their action dice as quickly as they can. These dice determine the actions available to the player on their turn.
Players can perform actions as soon as they roll the dice. Actions include moving, shooting, searching, and more.
If a player rolls an alien symbol, an alien effect is immediately activated.
Players can reroll their dice as often as they wish, but must reroll any dice with the alien symbol.
The Real-Time phase lasts for only 2 minutes. After the time runs out, players must stop rolling and performing actions.

The Alien Phase follows the Real-Time phase. During this phase, the alien forces react to the players’ actions. Here’s the sequence of events:

The top card of the Alien deck is revealed, spawning new aliens on the game board.
Spawned aliens move towards the nearest target, as indicated on their card.
If an alien ends its movement in a space with a player, it attacks that player.
After all aliens have moved and attacked, the players check for victory or defeat conditions. If neither is met, a new round begins with the Real-Time phase.

The game continues in this way, alternating between the Real-Time and Alien phases, until either the players fulfill their mission objectives (victory), or the base is destroyed/overrun by aliens (defeat).

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

Project: ELITE is a fast-paced, cooperative board game where players must work together to complete a variety of missions while battling off a horde of alien invaders. Each player’s turn is divided into two phases: the Real-Time Phase and the Resolution Phase.

During the Real-Time Phase, players have two minutes to perform as many actions as they can in order to fight off the invaders and complete objectives. Here are the key actions:

Move: A player can move their character to an adjacent space on the board.
Attack: A player can attack an alien in their character’s line of sight.
Search: A player can search their current location for useful items.
Activate: A player can activate a location’s special ability, if available.
Special Action: Some characters have special actions unique to them. These can be used during this phase.

During this phase, players also have to roll a set of dice that determine their actions. The dice results can force players to make strategic choices, such as whether to focus on attacking, searching, moving, or activating. Players can perform multiple actions in any order, as long as they have the necessary dice results.

After the Real-Time Phase comes the Resolution Phase. In this phase, players:

Resolve any unfinished actions from the Real-Time Phase.
Draw and resolve an Event card, which can bring unexpected challenges or bonuses.
Move the aliens according to their movement rules.
Spawn new aliens on the board.

The strategic choices made during the Real-Time Phase can greatly affect the Resolution Phase. For example, choosing to focus on attacking might clear the board of aliens, making the Resolution Phase less dangerous. On the other hand, focusing on searching or activating might provide the players with useful items or abilities that can help them in later turns.

The game continues in this way, with players taking turns in real-time and then resolving the results, until they either complete their mission or are overwhelmed by the alien invaders.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

In ‘Project: ELITE’, the game ends after a certain number of rounds have been completed, as per the specific scenario instructions. The standard game lasts for 8 rounds, but variations exist depending on the chosen scenario. The game can also end prematurely if all players are eliminated or if the aliens succeed in their invasion.

Victory Conditions:

There are three main victory conditions in ‘Project: ELITE’:

Alien Extermination: All players collectively eliminate a certain number of aliens, as dictated by the chosen scenario. Once this count is reached, the game ends and the players are victorious.
Objective Completion: Players successfully complete all objectives detailed in the scenario. This often includes tasks such as retrieving items, defending locations, or activating specific devices.
Survival: If the game ends after the pre-determined number of rounds without the aliens achieving their invasion goal or all players being eliminated, the players win by default.

Actions Before Final Scoring:

Before final scoring, players should complete the following actions:

Remove all remaining Event cards from the game. The Event deck should be empty at the end of the game.
Check if any player’s character is in the ‘down’ state. If so, that player must roll the dice to attempt recovery. If they fail, their character is eliminated and does not contribute to final scoring.
Calculate the total number of aliens eliminated by the players. This is done by counting the number of alien miniatures removed from the board during the game.
Verify completion of all scenario objectives. If any objectives are incomplete, the players lose the game.

Once all these actions have been taken, the final scoring can occur. Victory is achieved if the players meet one of the victory conditions and have not lost the game as per the loss conditions detailed in the scenario. The players then calculate their scores based on the number of aliens eliminated, objectives completed, and surviving characters.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

In the board game ‘Project: ELITE’, players work together to complete objectives and eliminate alien threats. Scoring is a crucial part of the game, where the team’s performance is evaluated.

Scoring System

The scoring system in ‘Project: ELITE’ is based on the successful completion of objectives and elimination of alien threats. The scoring system includes:

Objective Completion: Each completed objective awards the team a certain amount of points. The exact number of points varies according to the specific objective, as outlined in the mission guide.
Eliminating Threats: Players also earn points for eliminating alien threats. The number of points earned depends on the type of alien eliminated.

Team Score

The team’s score is the combined total of all points earned from completed objectives and eliminated threats. The team’s score is used to determine the success of the mission and can be compared to previous games to track the team’s progress.

Tie-Breaking Rules

In the event of a tie, where two or more players have an equal number of points at the end of the game, the following tie-breaking rules apply:

Most Completed Objectives: The player who has completed the most objectives wins the tie.
Most Alien Threats Eliminated: If there is still a tie, the player who has eliminated the most alien threats wins.
Least Damage Taken: If there is still a tie after comparing the number of completed objectives and alien threats eliminated, the player who took the least amount of damage wins the tie.
Game Master Decision: If there is still a tie after all these comparisons, the winner is chosen by the game master.

These rules ensure that the game remains competitive and balanced, rewarding players for both their individual and team contributions.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Project: ELITE is a fast-paced cooperative board game with a real-time element. While the basic rules are straightforward, there are some special rules, exceptions, and clarifications that can impact gameplay. These are outlined below:

Real-Time Elements:

The game is played in real-time during the “Action Phase” where players have exactly two minutes to take as many actions as they can. This time is not paused or extended for any reason.

Rolling the Alien Die:

When a player rolls the Alien Die, they must resolve the alien’s movement. This happens immediately and interrupts any other action the player was taking.

Swarm Spawn:

Swarm Spawn is a special event that can occur when an Alien card is drawn. Instead of the usual one Alien, a whole swarm appears. The number of Aliens in the swarm is determined by the current round number.

Alien Movement:

Aliens do not move during the Action Phase, only during the Alien Phase. The only exception is if the Alien die is rolled during the Action Phase, which can cause an immediate move.

Equipment Cards:

Players can only use the abilities of their equipment cards during the Action Phase. Also, each player can only use one equipment card per round.

Winning and Losing:

The game is won if the players complete the mission objective within the time limit. Failure to complete the mission objective, having all players eliminated, or the base being overrun by aliens all result in a loss.

Special Abilities:

Each character in Project: ELITE has a special ability. These abilities can be used once per game and not during the same round in which the character is eliminated.

Rule Clarifications:

If players run out of Alien figures to place on the board, they do not place any more. The remaining aliens are not “invisible” or “implied”. If there are no figures, there are no aliens.
Players must resolve all dice rolls. For example, if a player rolls the Move icon, they must move. They cannot choose to ignore the roll.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Advanced Strategies:

Always remember to balance your time between eliminating threats and completing your objectives. Spending too much time on one can make you lose sight of the other.
Don’t underestimate the power of teamwork. Coordinating your actions with other players can help you overcome difficult situations.
Know your character’s abilities and use them to your advantage. Every character has unique abilities that can be used strategically.

Beginner Tips:

Learn the rules thoroughly before you start playing. This will help you understand the game mechanics and make better decisions.
Start with the basic game before moving on to the advanced scenarios. This will help you get a feel for the game and understand its dynamics.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Other players can provide valuable advice and insights.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

Don’t forget about the time limit. Each round is timed and you need to complete your actions before the time runs out.
Avoid getting too attached to your equipment. Sometimes it’s better to sacrifice an item to complete an objective.
Don’t ignore the aliens. They can quickly overwhelm you if you don’t keep them in check.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay:

Plan your moves in advance. This can save you valuable time and help you react quickly to new threats.
Practice makes perfect. The more you play, the better you’ll get at managing your time and making strategic decisions.
Communicate with your team. Sharing information and coordinating actions can make a big difference in your performance.