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About Under Falling Skies
Under Falling Skies is a solo game and only a solo game. Alien ships descend a column-based board, and every die you place to take an action also pushes a ship further down that column. Doing anything useful therefore accelerates your own defeat, which is a beautifully hostile little engine. It runs about half an hour and has a full campaign.
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Is Under Falling Skies Right for You?
Best for
Under Falling Skies is the best solo-only box we can recommend without qualification. It sets up in two minutes, plays in thirty, and the campaign adjusts difficulty gradually across a series of scenarios. If you want one game specifically for playing alone in an evening, this is it.
Maybe skip it if…
It is strictly one player, so it has no use as a group purchase at all. The theme is also thin, and the puzzle is essentially mathematical, which will not suit everyone.
How to Play Under Falling Skies
Setup
Set the city board with its rooms and the sky board with descending alien ships. Choose a campaign scenario and set the research target.
On Your Turn
- Roll your dice. Place each die in a room to take its action, with the value determining strength.
- Placing a die in a column moves the alien ship in that column down by the die value.
- Excavate, build energy, research and shoot down ships with the actions you have taken.
How to Win
Complete the research track before the mothership reaches the bottom or your city is destroyed.
💡 Strategy Tips
A low die in a busy column is worth more than a high die in an empty one. Placement is about damage control.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Chasing the highest-value action every turn. The die value pushes ships down, so a strong action often costs you more than it gains.
- Neglecting the energy economy. Without energy you cannot fire, and a research-only strategy loses to the descent.
- Ignoring which column the mothership is in. It moves differently and is the actual loss condition.
- Skipping the campaign order. The scenarios introduce rules progressively and jumping ahead is confusing rather than challenging.
Advanced Strategy
- Place your lowest die in the column with the most immediate threat; minimising descent is usually worth more than maximising an action.
- Excavate deeper rooms earlier than feels comfortable. The powerful actions are at the bottom and you need them before the endgame.
- Keep at least one gun charged at all times rather than saving energy for a big turn.
- Read the research track requirements before your first placement and work backwards from what you actually need.
Variants & House Rules
The campaign
A sequence of scenarios with escalating difficulty and new rules, played across a full city map. The intended way to experience the game.
Difficulty dials
The rules include several ways to adjust the challenge independently of the campaign, which is useful for tuning it to your taste.
Video Guides
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Our Verdict
Under Falling Skies takes one idea, that every useful action accelerates your defeat, and builds a tight, replayable puzzle around it. It is short, it sets up instantly, and the campaign gives it real longevity. For solo players it is one of the best small boxes available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can two people play?
No. It is designed strictly for one player and there is no multiplayer variant.
How long does a game take?
Around thirty minutes, plus a couple of minutes to set up. It is very easy to play several scenarios in one sitting.
Is the campaign replayable?
Yes. Nothing is destroyed and the difficulty dials let you replay scenarios harder once you have cleared them.