Escape the Kronos
A downloadable game
You are part of the crew of the space ship USCN KRONOS. The ship is on fire, and there is a massive predatory alien hunting you through the corridors. The captain is panicking, the pilot is injured, and the ship's cat is missing. You must help them all, unlock the lifeboat, and get to it before the alien becomes enraged and kills you.
Escape the Kronos is a single-player card game that you play in your hand. Print out the 20 cards provided, pick one of 4 game modes, and follow the actions to move them and turn them to escape the alien and move through ship modules. Escape the Kronos takes seconds to set up and minutes to play. All the instructions come on one sheet you can print and fold yourself!
Inspired by the graphic design of Ron Cobb on the original Aline film, the gameplay of Escape the Kronos is described on symbols along the edges of each card.
4 game modes provide lots of different challenges, using anywhere from 13 to up to all 20 cards. Maybe swap out some cards and come up with your own game modes?
Avoid the stalking alien as you rally your crew members and unlock the lifeboat so you can all evacuate before the KRONOS falls apart. Will you manage to find the ship's cat before the halls flood from the fire suppression system? Will you blow the alien out the airlock to buy time? Or will you risk a power surge to open the locked doors of the lifeboat so you can all escape?
Oh good, the marines are here. Instead of escaping you take the fight to the aliens, attempting to kill 3 of them before the soldiers destroy the ship, or the fire gets out of control, or you run out of ammunition. Surely a pulse rifle will even the odds, right? Right?
The USCN KRONOS was outfitted with an experimental quantum artificial intelligence. This was to provide advance logistical management and enhanced navigation. Unfortunately it is broken, activating ship modules and closing random doors, all while this damn alien is hunting you down. Will you find the technician in time?
For those who need a real challenge, chaos mode lets you play with all 20 cards at once. Kill all 3 aliens or escape the ship. If you can live long enough, the choice is yours!
Printed card and tuck box coming soon from DriveThruRPG.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $10 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copies
Everyone who purchases this game provides a copy for someone to download free of charge. These community copies of the game are intended for those who are experiencing financial hardships and cannot pay for a copy. If you want to check out this game and cannot afford the price, help yourself.
You can also get all my games by joining my Patreon for as little a $1 a month.
Download demo
Development log
- Escape the Kronos Re-Released!6 days ago
- Escape the Kronos Coming to BackerkitFeb 19, 2025
- Escape the Kronos Released!Oct 31, 2024
Comments
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Once I prepared the cards (printed and sleeved) and ready to play, I noticed something which could be an issue, at least for me. The issue is, the extra cards using for HUNT and AI game modes have similar design like cards using in ESCAPE game mode (default mode).
I know the rules mentioned which cards to add to the deck before play, but it would be a great help if the cards for HUNT and AI mode have 2 different colors border, for example. OR put any symbol on the cards to indicate HUNT and AI mode usage. So that player does not have to remember or refer to rules everytime to play.
Just to share my experience :) Great game! I love the idea of in-hand card game.
Agree to the above, had to mark my "Expansion" cards to don't mixed it... Especially until I feel comfortable to use it in game, as I am still learning it.
Had a bit of trouble while printing the rules. It is not aligning, for that intend, perhaps add the "guidance" on printing setting which you have tested.
A part from that it is a clever game and I am enjoying very much, easy and fast but with enough room for a role play.
Oh shoot. I see what you mean. I'll need to play around with the layout to let folks print double-sided.
Hi. Are the normal coloured version of the Hunt and AI cards missing or intended to be gray-scaled?
Woops! Not intentional, just an error on my part. They are now uploaded. Thanks for letting me know.
Welcome 👌🏼
do you have plans to add more community copies in the future?
Game just officially released and I added a bunch! Enjoy!
thank you so much
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'll be honest, when boardgaming geeks talk about the stories those games tell, I'm often unable to identify with their enthusiasm. This is probably because I lack some skill: I'm too busy trying not to make a fool of myself to notice any emerging narratives. Escape the Kronos is different. This rogue-like card game finally made it click how a game I strive to win can also take me on a journey.
Trying to escape a space ship that is being attacked by a xenomorph-like monster is a win or lose situation, but it's also a plot. You'll try and survive the ship, even as it catches on fire, long enough to get your exit in order. It won't be easy. The monster is gaining on you, nothing will deter it forever.
Materially, you are manipulating two hands full of cards. Each represents a different part of the story, and one after the other, they'll travel to the front of the order, where you'll have to deal with them. The monster, too, travels through your hand. You'll see it get closer and closer, and while you can manipulate the order of the cards to delay and divert it, it will never stop coming.
Unless, of course, you manage to escape.
If Michael does give this game the crowdfunding treatment, I'll be at the front of the line to get my hand of cards.
Thank you so much Hendrik!
This is crazy. I've been developing a game extremely similar to this for a while. I have individual card actions on each card and in-hand play with a win condition that is based on card order. I'm wondering if you found any other similar games to this in your research.
Also I have a few suggestions for the icons if you're interested. I think they could be more intuitive in a few ways.
The only ones I found that looked interesting to me were Galdor's Grip and Palm Island. Lets of others but these stood out.
Just confused with this instruction:
"If an action would move a card
further than the front or back of your hand, that card just stays at the front
or back of your hand."
Does that mean you cannot take that set of actions, since you cannot move the the card as instructed?
Ah good question!
You can still do the rest of the actions, it's just that if any card would be moved beyond the front or back, it would stop instead. So like if an action on the card moved the alien forward 3, and the alien is 2 cards back from the front of your hand, it would move to the front of your hand then stop. Hope that makes sense!
That makes sense. Thanks for the reply!
;-; community copy? community copies?
I add them as soon as people make a purchase! However if you'd like it sooner and get it cheap there's my patreon, or you can contact me and I can get you a complimentary copy.
looks like a fun game. why is your nail black?
It's nail polish.
why nail polish? is it a style thing? I thought poeple stopped doing that
I guess not!
lol have fun with it
Just casually dropping a whole new format for designers to tinker with.