UNDER FALLING SKIES

Under Falling Skies is magic. It wonderfully emulates Space Invaders and there’s a reason that Space Invaders was so successful. You felt like you were doing what you were supposed to be doing. On top of that Under Falling Skies has the admirable quality of putting science at the core of success (there’s a lesson to be learned here). Under Falling Skies is a machine that creates tension. At the start you happily increase the size of your base and push towards your research victory and those gnats that occasionally swish by are easy to bat away but, as you play, the tension ramps up as the ever-present mothership descends, previously simple tasks become dangerously time consuming and victory, if it happens, is snuck in under the wire. You feel the tension and pressure, you feel under attack and, if you fail, you have no one to blame but yourself. Under Falling Skies manages to squeeze so much incident and narrative out of a few dice, some cardboard and some moulded plastic. You have to feel like you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing and in Under Falling Skies, you do.