the independent shelf
LIFEFORM
Join us for another game of cat and mouse, or rather, humans and xenomorphs, in Lifeform
Words by Charlie Theel
Lifeform is one of the most overlooked games of 2019. Coming from Hall or Nothing Productions by designers Mark Chaplin and Toby Farrands, it quietly stalked onto the scene like a xenomorph crawling through an air duct. This release needs to be brought to the foreground. People need to know.
The most remarkable aspect of this experience is that it hews closely to a hidden movement game while defying some of the genre’s criterion. The majority of the players take on the role of crew members, managing a hand of cards which are played to perform actions. You dash about the hulking ‘Valley Forge’, a freighter drifting through space and now contaminated with an alien lifeform. The aim is to collect supplies and prepare for evacuation in the ship’s shuttle. Selfdestruct has been initiated and your home is going to be torn apart in violent fury.