Maschine Zeit

The ghosts hate intruders

You are an intruder

They hate you

Maschine Zeit is ghost stories in space stations. It does quick, brutal horror in the vein of Alien, Event Horizon, Pandorum, Life, and other movies set in a future where people go places they shouldn't be, and die terrifying deaths.

It's designed for improvised one-shot games, which emulate the arcs of horror cinema. You can play it long-term as "sequels," but it's made to end in the time it takes to bleed out.

The game system has two major mechanics, which can be learned in minutes: The basic resolution system, and the injury and dying system.

• The basic resolution system is resource-based, and drives the pacing along.
• The injury system is unforgiving and dramatic. You might die by being stabbed by a pencil, but even if you get hit with a chainsaw, you get your dramatic dying speech.

You just need two ten-sided dice to play.

The book has ideas for hacking the game into different genres, including Japanese psychological horror, mecha body horror, and "final girl" slasher films.

If you're familiar with the original edition, this hits on a lot of the same notes, but:

• The rules are clarified and tightened down to the necessities.
• Characters are even quicker to make.
• Setting is truncated to the bare minimum so you can give everything at the table.

You can watch a session of the game with the creators in the video.