- BGG rank
- BGG #6,399
- BGG rating
- 6.6
King Chocolate
- 2–5 players
- 30–60 min
- Complexity 2.3/5
- 2015
- BGG rank
- BGG #19,231
- BGG rating
- 6.4
Area 51: Top Secret
2016
Rules assistance for Area 51: Top Secret
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–6 players
- 60 min
- 10+
- Complexity 3.0/5
Rules assistant for Area 51: Top Secret
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Area 51: Top Secret is a board game released in 2016 for 2–6 players and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Stefan Alexander and its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Pick-up and Deliver, and Deck, Bag, and Pool Building.
Similar games
- BGG rank
- BGG #1,182
- BGG rating
- 6.9
CuBirds
- 2–5 players
- 20 min
- Complexity 1.3/5
- 2018
- BGG rank
- BGG #27,863
- BGG rating
- 5.7
Among Us
- 4–8 players
- 60–90 min
- Complexity 2.5/5
- 2018
- BGG rank
- BGG #554
- BGG rating
- 7.9
Skymines
- 1–4 players
- 75–150 min
- Complexity 3.9/5
- 2022
- BGG rank
- BGG #2,022
- BGG rating
- 7.6
GKR: Heavy Hitters
- 1–4 players
- 60–120 min
- Complexity 2.8/5
- 2018
- BGG rank
- BGG #13,811
- BGG rating
- 8.2
SCRAP
- 2–4 players
- 45–150 min
- Complexity 3.3/5
- 2023
- BGG rank
- BGG #23,694
- BGG rating
- 6.2
Marauders of the Great Wastelands
- 2–4 players
- 40–80 min
- Complexity 2.0/5
- 2018
- BGG rank
- BGG #2,135
- BGG rating
- 7.6
Renegade
- 1–5 players
- 90 min
- Complexity 3.7/5
- 2018
- BGG rank
- BGG #19,738
- BGG rating
- 6.9
Project Universe
- 2–4 players
- 100–120 min
- Complexity 2.5/5
- 2019
- BGG rank
- BGG #27,385
- BGG rating
- 5.8
Exploration
- 1–5 players
- 30–150 min
- Complexity 3.5/5
- 2020
- BGG rank
- BGG #29,542
- BGG rating
- 5.4
Tau Ceti: Planetary Crisis
- 1–5 players
- 60–120 min
- Complexity 3.3/5
- 2017
- BGG rank
- BGG #1,045
- BGG rating
- 7.1
Lords of Xidit
- 3–5 players
- 90 min
- Complexity 2.6/5
- 2014
About the game
Welcome to 1950s USA — the era of huge cars, rock 'n' roll, and alien activity! To prevent a mass panic, the President has ordered his generals to store all evidence of the existence of aliens. In Area 51, a secret military base in the Nevada desert, players store all the futuristic weapons, unbelievable tools, and alien corpses in high-end storage facilities. However, this base is capable of hiding only certain artifacts and must be improved all the time. The generals try to outperform each other in building and upgrading the facilities and the infrastructure in addition to finding the optimal logistics for storing the artifacts to please the President. In Area 51: Top Secret, players encounter several categories of artifacts — ships, weapons, tools, etc. — which are numbered 1-4 to show how dangerous they are (and therefore what security level is needed to store them). Players must build storage facilities to store these artifacts. Artifact cards need to be collected, but the decisive element in the game is that once a player chooses to pick up a pile of artifact cards to place them into storage facilities, they need to store ALL cards possible, including those that will score points for the other players. The main strategy of the game is thus to use the existing storage facilities and transportation vehicles to optimize one's own scoring.
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- Mücke Spiele
Questions and answers
Area 51: Top Secret supports 2–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The catalogue lists Area 51: Top Secret for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Area 51: Top Secret has a complexity rating of 3.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Area 51: Top Secret belongs to these categories: Science Fiction and Spies / Secret Agents. Its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Pick-up and Deliver, and Deck, Bag, and Pool Building. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Area 51: Top Secret are: Stefan Alexander. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Area 51: Top Secret as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.