It looks as though it's gonna be "game over, man" for a whole new crew of Colonial Marines, because the Alien RPG is getting an all-new campaign that's shoving them through the meatgrinder. I'm sure they'll be fine, and their mission will go exactly to plan with no issues whatsoever.
Following the launch of its new version earlier this year (Alien RPG Evolved Edition, which we gave four and a half stars in our review), Operation Leading Edge is a standalone adventure designed for three to five players. It'll launch in Q4 2026, and is up for pre-order via publisher Free League's store now.
While it can be played as a one-off, publisher Free League says that Operation Leading Edge is actually part two of the Jeremiah Saga trilogy (following on from Rapture Protocol, launched around the same time as Alien's Evolved Edition). With the exception of the core rules, it contains everything you need to run the campaign; you're getting the adventure itself, double-sided battlemaps, five pregenerated characters, playing cards with info on character agendas, tokens, and handouts. In terms of the story, it apparently "lets the players take the roles of a team of Colonial Marines sent to secure a rich mineral deposit on the remote moon Jeremiah VI. Just a routine drop n’ stop mission. What could possibly go wrong?" What indeed.
If you've not tried the Alien RPG before, I'd highly recommend the starter set - it's brilliantly written, is easy to run, and takes place just before Aliens. You can grab it for $39.99 at Amazon, or for £23.99 via Wayland Games in the UK.
Judging by our experience with the Alien RPG, the answer is "a lot." We've long held this up as one of the best tabletop RPGs around, and I honestly think you'd struggle to find a more tense experience. The way it builds up and ekes out anxiety is masterful, and it's a struggle not to be perched on the edge of your seat. I played through the Alien RPG Evolved Edition Starter Set a few months ago, and it was perfectly unsettling – it absolutely nails the sense of desperate dread the movies are known for.
This was just one announcement of many, though; Free League also showed off Evolved Edition versions for previous releases, including the Chariot of the Angels cinematic adventure, the Colonial Marines sourcebook, and the Building Better Worlds book. While the previous versions were technically compatible with Evolved Edition, these reprints bring everything up to date.
For more recommendations on what to play next, why not check out the best board games?
