A downloadable survival microgame

Buy Now$3.00 USD or more

A frosty survival microgame.

You and your team of mechnicians maintain L.A.B. Crawler 846-A on the inhospitable ice planet Bo’reus.

L.A.B. Crawlers are hulking, mobile, mechanised laboratories built by the Science Syndicate. However, the one you’re in has begun to malfunction...

Your mission is to pilot 846-A to Repair Dock HAL-2 before glitches cause a complete hydro-mechanical failure in the Crawler’s reactor core.

Bo’reus ice-storms rage fiercer every minute, but don’t panic—you’ll be safe inside of 846-A. Keep an eye on things and you’ll be fine! (Probably...)

L.A.B. Crawler Mechnicians is an icy survival microgame with some elements of strategy, controlled chance, resource management, tactile wire-bending, and a little story. It was inspired by one of my previous games (Remnants of Saegon) and made for the Pleasure-not-Business Card RPG Jam in 2021. Players take on the role of mechnicians trying to keep a hulking L.A.B. Crawler functioning amidst the myriad of glitches that occur throughout its modules.

All you need to play is the card, a marker, a six-sided die, and a multitool (that is, a paperclip, which you unwind during the game). You can play cooperatively with other mechnicians by taking turns, or solo by taking all the turns yourself.

Stay warm out there, team.

For science!


This work was made by a human. No AI or machine-generated works are included in this project. Supporting this project means you are supporting a real human being who has dreams, passions, and bills.

Thank you.

"Human Made" icons used in good faith, made by HINOKODO and distributed in their Human Made asset pack.



Attributions

Imagery

Typefaces

Software

  • Created using Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 and Affinity Photo 2.4.0.
StatusReleased
CategoryPhysical game
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(4 total ratings)
AuthorAaron Goss
GenreStrategy, Survival
TagsBoard Game, cooperative, Multiplayer, Sci-fi, Solo RPG, Team-Based, Turn-based
Average sessionAbout a half-hour
LanguagesEnglish
AccessibilityColor-blind friendly
MultiplayerLocal multiplayer

Purchase

Buy Now$3.00 USD or more

In order to download this survival microgame you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $3 USD. You will get access to the following files:

L.A.B. Crawler Mechnicians v1.0 158 kB
L.A.B. Crawler Mechnicians v1.0 (with print-and-play cut guides) 160 kB

Download demo

Download
L.A.B. Crawler Mechnicians v1.0 (text only; EN) 2.6 kB

Development log

Comments

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(+1)

This is a fun little game. I did wonder whether I was cheating by just leaving glitched Robotics Bay patched; if I roll that glitch again should I reroll or is it just a null result? Not really an issue as it doesn't greatly sway the dice roll results, just a thing I was curious about.

(+1)

Thank you! 🥰

Yes, you can leave a patch on a module as long as you want. And if you roll that module again, the patch protects you from the effects of the glitch, making the roll a null result as you said.

But you may still want to take care and repair glitching modules because having all four modules glitching at the same time will the end the game!

(1 edit) (+1)

Digging the paperclip multi-tool mechanic and the location progress track.  Great work!

(+1)

Thanks!

The location progress track wasn’t there in the first version. Playtesting revealed that the game needed a more solid goal, however, and thus the track was born! It fits so nicely up the top, too, if I can say so myself. After all, I gotta use as much of the card as I can! 😂

(+2)

This looks really cool, the mechanics give an interesting boardgame feel and it has a cool scenario.
Cant wait to try it!

(+1)

That’s pretty much exactly what I was going for, so I’m chuffed that you think so! 🥰