Alien RPG Evolved Edition review: "This might be the best horror RPG I've ever played, and it's not even close"

The second edition of the Free League Alien RPG was always going to have a lot to live up to, as the first edition (which earned almost full marks in our Alien: The Roleplaying Game review) still ranks, in my view, as one of the greatest TTRPGs ever made. It's a focused, intelligent and wonderfully atmospheric system, and Free League successfully spun dark, eldritch magic out of the franchise that ultimately ended up surpassing much of it. And after the tabletop community as a whole came out to celebrate Alien, a second edition was practically inevitable (at least from a business perspective).

Hence what we get now: a reinvention of the rules sold as their "Evolved" form, but which for me can't help but beg the furtive question: how does Free League now go about fixing what ain't broke? After all, the previous version was - and still is - one of the best tabletop RPGs around.

Alien: The Roleplaying Game Evolved Edition features & design

• Stress rules now differentiate between general stress and actual panic
• Characters across the board are more vulnerable and easier to kill, adding tension
• The Evolved Rulebook isn't quite as spellbinding as the previous one

The new core rulebook is a hefty beast, though still slimmer than the first book by nearly 100 pages, as the Evolved Edition doesn't include a free actual adventure – just the rules and a few some procedural generation systems for quickly making your own sessions, which I can't help but suspect wouldn't necessarily provide the artisanal care that good horror requires. Nonetheless, you should have everything you need to enjoy the game (with the exception of dice, sold separately).

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And what a game it is, though if you're familiar with the previous iteration of Free League's Alien game, you won't need long to catch up. Players roll pools of D6s sized according to their skills, but a character's stress can add further dice to the pool, representing the adrenaline and focus that comes with fight-or-flight terror. But if any of the stress dice roll a 1, your frightened space trucker panics and things immediately start to slip out of control… Though not quite as much as was the case in the previous edition, as now there's separate tables and mechanics for both low-level stress reactions and actual panic. It means that PCs are less likely to have episodes of murderous rage or catatonic breakdown as a result of not being able to find their car keys – I leave it up to individuals to decide whether that's more or less realistic.

This is part of a general rebalancing that also sees certain specific mechanics reworked, such as stealth, as well as armor and durability both simplified and scaled down for players and enemies alike, meaning a lot of people can expect to be killed with very little effort. Some might call this an overcorrection, but I felt the first edition could get a little spongey, and I'm always in favour of dialing up the danger in survival horror. Besides, being reduced to zero hit points in Alien doesn't guarantee death – though you might suffer mutilations that make you wish you had.

But one thing that I can't help but be a little disappointed by is the change of aesthetic. The V1 core rulebook was all printed on black pages, a void-like space out of which text and illustrations loomed in a way that was both menacing and enchanting. The Evolved Rules are now stark white pages with green digital text, not to mention more than a few reused illustrations from the last edition. So the Evolved Rules look fine, but only fine, which is a step down from the darkly beautiful (and presumably ink-intensive) previous edition. And while I'm critiquing the book, the general layout could definitely be more intuitive – I'm sure putting the stress table on page 44 and the associated panic table on page 72 couldn't possibly have been the most elegant option available.

Gameplay

• Minor changes and balances to gameplay rather than any kind of overhaul
• Gameplay is well set up to generate tension and dread, especially early on
• A few existing imbalances yet to be fixed, but nothing major

So, how does all this play out? Well, rather like the previous edition, to be honest. The Evolved Rules seem to mimic the philosophy of changes made to D&D 5e in 2024, in that these are a few tweaks made at the peripheries, rather than anything more substantial. The rulebook lists all the changes made between editions at the end, and it's barely a few pages, largely tables of specific stat changes to certain enemies, items and vehicles. But while 5e was probably in need of greater changes than what it ended up with, I can understand Free League not wanting to ruin the elegant balance of their beloved system – even if it means that the Evolved rules can't help but feel a bit inessential.

Still, there are some notable changes. The lower armor ratings mean combat is now faster and every attack more impactful, as alluded to. The new stress rules are designed to have lesser, but longer effects, with characters plagued by trembling hands or short tempers until they can find a safe space to relax in – and good fucking luck to them, considering every air vent could have a Geigerian nightmare lurking within. Still, I admit that the new stress rules could occasionally verge on frustrating, as once it begins to max out near the end of a session, it becomes very hard for players to do anything without just auto-failing.

However, up until that point things are usually cooking nicely, especially when panic explodes and trust begins to degrade. It's made all the more tense by an emphasis on conflicting, hidden motivations that add a layer of social stealth more commonly seen in the best board games. Is John a secret synth? Is Jane a Weyland-Yutani plant? Is it Henry, the mild-mannered janitor?!

What criticisms I have of Alien otherwise are more minor critiques of specific rules, but nothing more than that. There's a few skills that seem to be disproportionately more important than others, with "Observation" being used for about a thousand different purposes, and androids still seem to be overpowered in a way that I'm not sure is intentional, but these are small scuff marks on an otherwise gorgeous chassis, and when Alien is running properly, it practically purrs… Or growls, at least.

Should you buy Alien: The Roleplaying Game Evolved Edition?

If you don't have the previous edition? Absolutely, you should buy this game. If you do have the previous edition? That's harder to say, as what you're paying for is a small, careful series of upgrades. It's better overall, yes, but only better by degrees. I can't deny that if this had been a video game this would probably have been a free balance patch, and ultimately there's not a huge distinction between the editions.

Nevertheless, if judged on its own merits, the Alien RPG is still lightning in a bottle, and the gold standard by which all horror tabletop games should be judged. And considering the Evolved Rules don't really change much, that fawning praise still applies.

Ratings

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested Alien: The Roleplaying Game Evolved Edition

I ran several sessions of the Alien RPG Evolved Rules with different player groups, having also played numerous games of the original ruleset for the sake of comparison.

For more on our testing process, see the wider GamesRadar+ reviews policy.

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