Alien Muscle Training

Team Size: 1

Timeframe: 2 weeks

Type: Dice game

Gameplay: 45 minutes (for a 10-turn game)

Number of Players: 2-4

Prompt: Create a game that heavily utilizes dice

Date Completed: February 2019

From the start of this prompt, I wanted to explore the idea of turning something ordinary we do in our lives into a dice game.

In Alien Muscle Training, you and your opponent choose from a selection of alien characters to play as. You will then undergo muscle strength training programs. Each alien has muscle that correspond to six of the major muscle groups of the human body. Though, because the characters are aliens, their anatomies range very differently. Players alternate turns rolling dice to build up strength in the groups.

You will need:

  • 8 Alien Characters
  • 20 Strength Sheets
  • 36 Training Cards
  • 12 Boost Cards
  • 6 Bonus Cards
  • 12 Red d6 Dice, 12 White d6 Dice
  • 2 Small Red “Injury Dice” (1 d10 + d20)
  • 1 Large Blue d20
  • 2 Red Injury Pens + 1 Regular Pencil
Basic Rules

There are six different groups: Shoulders, Arms, Chest, Abs, Quads, and Lower Legs, for each character. Each muscle group corresponds to a number on the respective character sheet (the numbered lines that connect segments of the physiology signify that this is a unified group). This number designates the number of dice that a player must roll for that muscle group. So, for instance, if you have chosen Stanley (above) as your character and are rolling to build up strength in his Chest (3), you must roll 3 dice in order to do so. If you are rolling for his Abs (1), you must roll 1 die.

Each muscle group also has a

  • Half strength number – The desired number in which your trainer has deemed your muscles to be half-developed. For Stanley’s Chest, this would be a 15.
  • Developed strength number – The desired number in which your trainer has deemed your muscles to be fully developed. For Stanley’s Chest, this would be a 30.
  • Maximum strength number – This is as high as your muscle strength should go. To accumulate strength higher than this number risks injury. For Stanley’s Chest, this number is 36.
        • When you are rolling to build up strength, you will often be tasked to reach the Developed strength number in order to earn points (see below), but to go above the Maximum strength number is dangerous. There is room in between these two numbers for you to play with.

Players will draw Training Cards that ask players to build up strength in specific groups, and players must complete the challenges in these cards to get points.  If players go over the maximum amount of strength capable in a given muscle group, that muscle group will become torn and then the player must undergo further challenges to restore that group.

In addition, players can roll a die to build up “brain strength” to acquire “brain boosts” which serve as items for the game.

At the end of the designated turn amount (10, 15, or 20), points are added up to declare the winner.  In addition, there are Bonus Cards that get added out at the end of play, similar to Mario Party.

Full-scale documentation can be viewed here (turn to page 26 for the final ruleset):

Alien Muscle Training.