Unsettled is a new board game where teams of 2-4 players work together to try and stay alive in a universe where the hostile alien environment, not the bad guys, is trying to get everyone killed.
The game’s brief says “every step, breath, and particle around you could mean immediate, terrifying, death”, and has players working to complete sets of small goals like repairing the water system on your ship, or finding food.
Interestingly, the game is built around distinct alien planets that don’t come shuffled inside the box or available as simple expansions, but which exist as entirely separate “platforms”, and come in their own big boxes. While each planet is built on the same basic set of rules, each has their own “mechanisms, actions and keywords”, and play differently each time a team tackles their challenges.
Also sounding neat is the the fact your crew’s stats are based on trust. If everything is going well and everyone is working together then you’ll draw from certain stats, but if trust starts to evaporate once the shit hits the fan, then other traits may start to emerge. These aren’t locked to a positive/negative scale, either; some crew stats may get better when under stress, and vice versa.
Unsettled has already blown way past its Kickstarter goal, and is looking at releasing towards the end of 2020.