You are a crew member on an intergalactic starship. Things were humming along just fine and then, boom! Claxon’s blare and everything goes south in a hurry. And to make matters worse, the captain of your intrepid starship has perished! You ship is taking damage and you are doing all you can just to keep your ship in one piece. Welcome to The Captain is Dead, our newest Game of the Week.

The Captain is Dead

We are big fan of cooperative games here at Geek 10, especially ones that demand cooperation from your fellow players. This is especially true in The Captain is Dead if you have even a hope of surviving. This game dropped onto our radar at Gen Con this year and we have been loving it ever since. It’s harsh difficulty reminds me a little bit of Pandemic, where things can definitely go from bad to critical rather quickly.

So you know the premise already, but what about the game play? In The Captain is Dead, each player controls one of over a dozen unique characters (in 8 different roles). You’ll be running around the ship (or using the teleporter if it hasn’t been destroyed yet) trying to not only repair systems, but also fight off invading aliens. Your ultimate goal is to jump the ship to safety before the shields fail and you destroyed. Sound easy? No chance. It took us a few games to even get our first win!

While the Captain is Dead scales up to 7 players, I think it’s probably best in the 2-4 player range. This gives you flexibility in the roles, yet still keeps the downtime between turns to a bearable level. That being said, once the game gets going, it’s an absolute blast to play. Attacks come every turn, and you will be putting out fires left in right. There is always something to do in The Captain is Dead. If you are a fan of cooperative games with a great scifi theme, than this one is absolutely worth checking out.

1-7 PLAYERS • AGES 10+ • 60-90 MINUTES • $40