Upper Deck Legendary Encounters: X-Files Deck Building Game Multi, small

Fun game based on the original TV series run of the first nine seasons. The Legendary: Encounters brand is similar to normal "Legendary" card games, but the biggest difference to me is that enemies can strike you, dealing wounds which vary and deal damage to your character. To me this has been much more of a challenge than other Legendary games. If one player dies before reaching the End Game it's game over. The End Game (which there are several scenarios) has it's own abilities and is much more of a boss battle (deal wounds to them if you have enough power to attack them at all, until their life is reduced to zero. My favorite thing about this game is the challenge and the replayability (many different combinations of cards are randomized during setup, and also the player count will change things up with more players being more difficult to win the game.

(4.5 stars) For me, Legendary Alien is still the best in the series, but Legendary X-Files comes in a close second! The X-Files theme is well represented in this game and all your favorite characters, monsters and villains are all here. Legendary X-Files plays a lot like Legendary: Firefly, but wherein you're playing a television season (usually 3 seasons per deck/session) instead of individual episodes. While X-Files plays about 75% the same as every Legendary game, there are some MAJOR differences: 1) The recruited cards (The FBI academy) come out FACE DOWN! Yeah, you have to scan them TWICE: Once to reveal, a second time to recruit. 2) The reason (thematically) the cards come out face down is that The Syndicate has infiltrated the bureau and enemy cards are shuffled into the recruit deck! Yeah, sometimes when you reveal a card hoping to recruit you'll reveal a double agent working for the Syndicate/Aliens and they have special powers/rules that can really mess up the player's ability to win, and therefore must be defeated quickly! 3) Conversely, the Conspiracy Deck (which come out face down like other legendary games) has Informants and Allies shuffled into it. When they are revealed IN THE SHADOWS (where conspiracy cards are placed), they give the players special powers (informants) for as long as they remain in the shadows, or are immediately added to the revealing deck (allies). 4) Legendary X-Files uses a "The End" mechanic that sorta' works like a final boss card. There are 9 ends, one of which is chosen randomly and placed at the bottom of the conspiracy deck every game. The players must beat 'The End' card to win. These end cards are SUPER powerful and represent The Syndicate's ultimate goal for the season(s) story arc. However, the power of these end cards can be lowered (see below). 5) The game uses an neat, thematic 'lead/evidence' mechanic. Three 'Evidence' cards (one of each level 1-3) are laid face down in the evidence slots at the beginning. These evidence cards have addition powers, rules and abilities for the End card for that scenario. When the end is reached, the evidence cards are revealed and their powers are added to, or modify the powers on the End card itself. 6) However, Lead cards (3 cards, one for each evidence card) are shuffled into the conspiracy deck. When revealed, these lead cards tell the players if they preform certain tasks, they can REVEAL one of evidence cards, thus giving the players insight into what they'll be facing at the end of the game. Furthermore, the lead cards have a 'collect evidence' ability as well. When the collect evidence tasked is completed, the evidence card is REMOVED, thus weakening the End card! This is a huge part of the game. Getting rid of all three evidence cards is essential to winning the game! This is a great mechanic....but (and hence why the loses a half-star) makes Legendary X-Files VERY swingy and perhaps the HARDEST of all the Legendary games. If you can't complete those lead cards and remove the evidence cards (at least 2 of 3), you're chances of winning are just about nil in my experience. So.....beware.

This x files playing set makes it easy to enjoy a new game with other people

I don't like Marvel. I'm not a huge fan of Aliens. But I really enjoyed playing Marvel Legendary at my friend's house. I've seen some X-Files episodes, and I know the theme is my vibe, so I went with this set. Plays similarly to Marvel but with FBI agents and creepy X-Files type bad guys and some villains. Beautiful cards, artwork, and fun challenges. 👍 But the game feels slow or off. I rarely pull it off the shelf. So I suppose it could be a bit better. Still a good deal at $55.

Lotta fun with some nice changes in strategy and playstyle from other versions of Encounters

Great game!

Legendary Encounters: The X-Files is Upper Deck's latest deck building game in the iconic Legendary Encounters line. Here, one to five players take on the roles of either Mulder, Scully, Reyes, Doggett, or Skinner as they search for evidence and attempt to stop a conspiracy determined to destroy Earth. The game plays very similarly to Legendary Encounters titles like Alien, Predator, and Firefly. Essentially, each player begins with twelve starter cards, seven Field Agents (+1 Recruit) and five Assault Teams (+1 Combat). The game mat contains a number of spaces, including The Shadows, where enemies, leads, informants, events, and allies will appear; the Field, where enemies will attempt to deal damage to players; and the Bureau, where players can recruit agents to help them and battle disloyal humans working for the Syndicate. Every turn a player will begin with hand of six cards. The first thing a player will do during his turn is add a card from the Conspiracy Deck face down to The Shadows, (the Conspiracy Deck is made up of cards from three seasons of the TV show, in order, as well as random lead and informant cards). The Bureau will begin with five cards from the Academy deck face down as well, (the Academy Deck is made up of four different agent decks, representing characters from the TV show, as well as Syndicate enemies). On a players turn he will player his cards, add up his Recruit and Combat points, and gain any bonuses that come with playing his cards (which can accrue depending on the order his cards are played and other factors). He can then Scan spaces in The Shadows with Combat or spaces in The Bureau with Recruit. Once those cards are revealed, then may have text that triggers some action or condition in the game. All things being equal, enemies in The Shadows can be fought with Combat points, while characters in The Bureau can be recruited with Recruit points. Syndicate enemies in the Bureau (characters like The Cigarette Smoking Man who like to obstruct your quest) can likewise be defeated, usually with one currency or another. If any of the enemies from The Shadows make it to the Field, at the end of the turn in the enemy has not been defeated, it will Strike the current player. The player must draw a strike card with damage and place it under their characters' Avatar card. There are a few other mechanics unique to Legendary Encounters: The X-Files. In addition to the facedown cards and the ability to Scan The Bureau spaces, those spaces also contain special abilities. When you recruit a card from one of those spaces you can use this ability. Among the abilities are being able to remove a Strike card from your Avatar, place the new card on the top or bottom of your deck, or the ability to gain a Belief of to defeat a Doubt. Each character has a Belief and a Doubt condition on their Avatar card. When you gain one of the Belief of Doubt cards they go into your discard pile, but when they come back up again they trigger these abilities. The Belief abilities are generally positive while the Doubt abilities are generally negative. Another very interesting new mechanic is the Evidence cards. There are three Evidence cards facedown on the board, selected randomly, and listed in order of priority 1-3. When Lead cards appear in the Shadows, they will have conditions for you and your friends to first reveal the appropriate Evidence card, and then to collect it. The Evidence cards will enforce special rules that will be negative for players during The End. If the Evidence has been collected, it will not work against the players in The End. Finally, one The End card has been placed at the bottom of the Conspiracy Deck at the beginning of the game. It is the last card to enter The Shadows, and when it is revealed it triggers the end phase of the game. Players must fight the card to defeat it by playing enough combat equal to its Defense value. For every "Hit" scored this way, the The End card will collect a Strike card. When its Strike cards equal its Health value, the players defeat The End and win the game. If, however, any one of the players are eliminated because their own Health has been compromised by Strikes, then the conspiracy wins and the players lose Legendary Encounters: The X-Files. There's a lot more to it than that, but those are the rules in a nutshell. I'm a big fan of all the Legendary games, and Legendary Encounters in particular. I love the paranoia of not knowing what enemy cards are approaching every turn until scanned. I love the cooperative nature of the game, and how players must work together to defeat the conspiracy. I really like some of the new mechanics here. The paranoia factor is doubled now that you also have to Scan The Bureau to learn what cards are there, and the possibility that you may find enemies there as well. The Lead and Informant cards are interesting, although it is often very hard to get those Evidence cards. Again, players must work together. The abilities that are available when you recruit from The Bureau is something that is really engaging. Suddenly, you're recruiting cards that you don't necessarily want, just so you can heal some damage or gain a Belief. It's a great new dimension to the game. As far as the presentation goes, I love the play mat- it looks great. I'm not quite as big a fan of the cards, however. I don't mind the screen caps (though many legendary players don't care for them). But the colors and the clip board and file aesthetic just made it look kind of bland and uninteresting visually. Still, that's a minor complaint compared to the rich experience that this game offers. This is a wonderful deck building game that offers a creepy, fun challenge. It's a hard game- cooperative games need to be hard to win or they wouldn't be worth playing- but you and your friends will have a ball. If you loved The X-Files, you will get a kick out of this game. If you've never seen The X-Files, but enjoy cooperative games or deck builders, I think you'll still enjoy the engine here. I recommend it! The Discriminating Gamer

This is a fun game. Setup takes quite awhile and the mechanics take some learning but all in all its a good game.

Truthfully I expected a bit more umfff for the price but you get a simple board with many cards. Have not played yet but as a big x-files fan I look forward to it. We take anything we can get to relive the X-Files craze!

Jogo temático, quem é fã da série, deve amar.

love this one!!