Nemesis: Lockdown

When Nemesis was first published by Awaken Realms in 2018, it made quite the splash(down). Its horrifying theme and extra-terrestrial enemies provided gamers with a sense of true sci-fi suspense, all wrapped up in one great big box.

Nemesis has enjoyed a collection of expansions, such as Void Seeders and the Carnomorphs. But now, these have been joined by Nemesis Lockdown, the first stand-alone expansion. This bigger-and-badder Nemesis comes complete with its own new and unique challenges and even more horror than before.

Get Away from Her You B****!

Lockdown introduces a wave of new content for Nemesis fans. Not only does it bring in a new alien threat, but it also provides a new double-sided map full of dangers. Unlike Nemesis’ spaceship setting, Lockdown takes place on Mars. The map details a Martian base from which players must escape without running into the terrifying Nightstalkers, all while fulfilling their own selfish goals.

On the more advanced side of the board, players will have to jump between the Martian surface and different hubs as they uncover rooms and piece together their plans. This may sound simple, but it is quite the challenge, as first you must either call the rover or craft an Enviro-suit to brave the harsh atmosphere.

Another big change introduced is power. Each section of the board can either be powered or unpowered and with great power comes great benefits. Firstly, power allows players to use the computer actions. These special actions allow for some useful perks, such as moving the rover, which can come in really handy in a pinch.

However, it seems the base’s wiring isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and as the timer progresses the power will fail. This throws players into darkness and makes them more vulnerable to surprise attacks. The Mars base also features contingencies, which add a new layer to the challenge. Players must deduce the active contingency or risk having their escape foiled by a deadly fail-safe.

These tokens work similarly to the destination cards in the original Nemesis but bulked up. Players must use a room’s action to peak at one contingency at a time to slowly work out which is active. This means that there is more chance for co-operation (or betrayal).

Is There Life On Mars?

Action taking in Lockdown is much the same as in its predecessor. Players draw and select cards paying the relevant card cost until they choose to pass or can’t take any more actions. Despite each character only having ten cards, the gameplay is incredibly varied from game to game. With the changing room layout and the random nature of the alien bag development, no two games are the same.

This means it is up to the players to make the most of whatever situation is presented. Thanks to the power mechanic, it really feels like players have more agency over their environment. At two players it can feel more challenging to manage all of the maintenance tasks, such as keeping the power on, than in a larger group. This, however, is just another puzzle for players to solve, and gameplay is still manageable at lower numbers.

The biggest flaw I found with Lockdown was the rulebook. The 32-page booklet is badly laid out and doesn’t give sufficient coverage for some of the most important aspects of the game, such as the advanced side of the board.

At times I also struggled to follow its structure, a problem I also had with Nemesis’ rulebook. This feels frustrating given that the glaring problems from the original haven’t been addressed and gaming is often ground to a halt because of it.

The room actions are easily confused and could do with some more distinct descriptions on the tiles themselves. The horror fantasy that the game works so hard to build is broken by players struggling to clarify elements of gameplay.

Space Race

Lockdown is a fantastic stand-alone, and packs even more into the exciting and horrifying world of Nemesis. Characters and aliens can be migrated to Lockdown from the original and vice versa, as Lockdown has some adjusted cards to make sure everything works smoothly. If you’re undecided between Lockdown and plain old Nemesis, Lockdown wins out for me.

This stand-alone brings all the best bits from its predecessor and adds in more mechanics. There’s little not to love about Lockdown (rulebook aside). If you’re a fan of campaign games, then the Lockdown Stretch Goal box includes a comic based campaign mode which has been great fun. It seems that Nemesis should watch its back, as Lockdown could well overtake its older brother in popularity.