War of the Worlds: The Journey

Fighting Fantasy meets poker in War of the Worlds: The Journey: a co-operative card game of survival, skill and some luck, as you travel across southern England during the Martian invasion of 1901. Players : 1-4 Learning time : 15 minutes Playing time : 15 minutes (solo) – 60 minutes (co-op) You will travel through a country crawling with Martian war machines and emptying of humanity. Your journey is a standard 52-card deck where each suit represents the locations, Martians, people and resources you encounter along the way. Suit Role Description ♠Spades Martians The invaders: fight, flee, or hide ♥Hearts Locations Take refuge. Face cards are Companions who may travel with you. ♦Diamonds Humanity Weapons. Face cards are Survivors who defend you. ♣Clubs Artefacts Your resources. Face cards are Survivors who aid you. Martian encounters are tense push-your-luck exchanges: try to slip past unseen, burn cards to flee and try your luck further down the road, or strike. But each battle reduces your options for the next threat, and the attack your weakened hand can't defend one turn may be the one that saves you the next. Stalking you throughout is the Fighting Machine , from which you can run but not hide. Your only hopes are the weapons you have gathered, and the terrestrial bacteria that weaken the Martians, but which may yet help you survive. Missions and chronicle events add RPG elements and bring the story to life. Do you spare the Curate, or let the Martians take him? If you reach Primrose Hill to witness the defeat of the Martians, can you avoid the looters on the way back to Woking? Can you bring all the survivors safely back home? Or do you make one last desperate dash for the coast with your brother, where the paddle steamer awaits? Once you have familiarised yourself with the rules, the game can be played with a standard deck of cards and the 2 page quick reference guide included. Alternatively, download and print off the themed card deck provided here. The rules include a competitive variant where one player takes the role of the Overlord, controlling the Martian advance and the looters that block your return home. You can also play the game online at: https://journeyengine.cards/ . The online build currently plays the Overlord as an AI opponent, whereas the tabletop rules support a human Overlord player. Game design and rules: Phil Gooch and Dom Wright Artwork: Dom Wright