I just played my first game of Descent. Very cool game. For 23 pages of rules the learning curve was not too bad. However...

I am more of a SciFi person than a fantasy game person. What is out there that is similar to Descent with a SciFi theme?

My average game would consist of 2 to 4 players (5 max).

I have heard of Twilight Imperium. But what I have heard is that you really need 4 to 6 hours (dont have that kind of time)

I have heard of space hulk but it is seems to be out of print and the prices I can find on the web are in the $250 range.

Thanks

Doom: the Boardgame. Descent is based on its ruleset...

Yap DOOM has almost the exact rules, expect for ammo and armor and some other minor stuff. As the guy above said it's based on the same ruleset.

gator456 said:

Really? Space Hulk 3e is already out of print? Man, GW are a bunch of.... greedy people. =P

I'll echo what others have said, Doom is basically exactly the same as Descent with a sci-fi backdrop. There are some minor differences in the rules, the whole ammo thing is probably the biggest one, I think. Oh, and there's no fatigue.

The good news is that since Doom only got one expansion, the rules are tighter and clearer than Descent's by a long shot. The bad news is Doom has also been out of print for a few years now, so it might be tricky to track down a copy.

gator456 said:

Yea, I would have said Doom as well... but anyway, you don't have 4-6 hours to play but you are playing Descent?! Our Descent games usually range from 6 to 12 hours and beyond. Sometimes we have to leave it up on the table to finish it another day...

Steve-O said:

Try here: http://www.dogstargames.com/product/FFGVA08DOOM fantastic store with outstanding customer service and really good prices and they seem to have it in stock.

Steve-O said:

Space Hulk 3rd Ed was out of print the minute it went into print! Everyone preordered it and *poof* it was gone.

As for Descent like games in Sci-Fi settings:
- Doom: The Boardgame
- Space Hulk and the lot (Space Crusade, etc)
- Earth Reborn
- Aliens
- Dust Tactics

Of the above games, only Earth Reborn and Dust Tactics are still in print. DT is a bit more of a war game than a dungeon crawl though. ER is brand spankin' new (only been on the shelves a couple weeks) and it plays very much like a dungeon crawl, plus they have an added benefit of a random scenario generator that works very well. It's a post-apocalyptic setting, so very sci-fi (guns, radios, etc).

-shnar