EVERYONE WANTS TO RETURN HOME…

BUT NOT EVERYONE SHOULD.

ECHO LIFEBOAT is a space horror game for 2-5 players that will have you making or betraying allies to ensure you get a spot in the last lifeboat on a doomed spacecraft. It's a hybrid tabletop role-playing game that blends elements of board games and card games to create a thrilling adventure with the ease of your average party game. You'll explore the ship looking for crucial code key fragments to unlock the last lifeboat before the self-destruct timer runs out. Along the way you might find useful items or weapons, and uncover the horrifying mystery of what's happening on board. 

ECHO LIFEBOAT is a one-sheet game that folds into an 8-page mini zine featuring the core rules. The zine unfolds into a map of the ship that the players explore,. You can keep this game in your backpack for a trip, in the glovebox of your car, you name it.

ECHO LIFEBOAT doesn't use dice for attempted actions, it uses any deck of regular playing cards. Players draw a card from the deck, trying to hit the sweet spot for a success or a critical success. You may also draw again as a second effort to try to hit the total sum (like hitting in blackjack), however if you go over it's a critical fail! This push-your-luck mechanic adds delicious tension, and critically failing moves the self-destruct timer down, so the consequences loom large. Note: The game doesn't including playing cards, but you can use any regular deck.   

The game system doesn't use a gamemaster, only players. The system creates the player roles and ranks during set-up, and if there is ever a dispute over whether an action should require a draw, the highest ranking player decides. But don't get too comfortable as the highest ranking player— there are surprise game elements that can shuffle up the rankings. 

ECHO LIFEBOAT features three ships to explore:

IEV: VENTURE: The core game.

EBER-NARI: An expansion ship featuring more weapons, a spreading infection mechanic, ducts to sneak around in, and more chaos!

KILANDER STATION: An expansion space station featuring a unique infection mechanic and more rooms to explore along with a disastrous fire mechanic and airlocks to blast your friends out of.

The map of the ship is explored by the players desperate to find code key fragments to unlock the last lifeboat. Along the way you will find log entries that have a QR code that is scanned by your personal data transmitter (you might call it a phone).

Not only do these code entries provide secret info and gruesome discoveries, we can change them anytime on our end! In one game you might walk into a room and the log entry provides you with a useful tool, but the next time you play that same log entry might surprise you with a horrifying confrontation. By using these dynamic codes we can pack a ton of game into this small package. There is an offline mode of IEV: VENTURE available with the game package, however all other games in the set require a phone to play.

LOTS OF EXTRAS

Lots of extras included with any version of the game including a SOUNDTRACK by Morris Kolontyrsky of the band BLOOD INCANTATION! There are also printable item cards, player dashboards, EZ-read rules and more!

NCRV: PHOENIX SOLO EXPANSION

NCRV: PHOENIX is a standalone solo expansion for the series that leaves you all alone to make hard choices on a doomed research vessel. The game uses story forks, light journaling, and the same card draw system for attempted actions. There is a unique card-based ending sequence that is affected by player choices, so how you play the game will change which ending you receive. There are currently 13 unique endings in the game to discover (or suffer).

*This game also requires a phone to play, as it uses QR codes.