
- BGG rank
- BGG #791
- BGG rating
- 7.4
Sub Terra
- 1–6 players
- 60 min
- Complexity 2.1/5
- 2017

2017
Rules assistance for Raxxon
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 1 player

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Raxxon is a board game released in 2017 for 1–4 players, 45–60 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by J. Arthur Ellis and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Push Your Luck, and Tile Placement.
Raxxon is a 1-4 player cooperative card game set in the Dead of Winter universe at the start of the zombie apocalypse. Players each choose one of six different specialists assisting Raxxon with the evacuation of healthy citizens from among the sick. Citizens take the form of face-down square cards in a grid. Through game actions, these can be flipped to reveal whether they are sick or healthy. There are various types of sick and healthy cards, each triggering different effects when flipped or killed. Flip too many Chaotic sick and you'll add more citizens to the crowd, or even end the round prematurely. Killing off the healthy can have similar negative effects. Each round begins by creating a crowd - a grid of citizens from the citizen deck. Players take turns performing one action at a time after resolving any consequences marked on their character sheet. Character actions are powerful effects (kill, quarantine, evacuate, etc) that interact spatially with the crowd (killing a row or column, evacuating one card and adjacent cards of your choice) and have stacking consequences. At the start of each turn, a player must resolve all their consequences from previous turns (flip citizens, add citizens, infect citizens, lose evacuated citizens, etc) before performing another action - and adding another consequence. Some consequences require players to draw Raxxon cards. Much like Crossroads cards from Dead of Winter, Raxxon cards feature stories relating to characters in play. Many have multiple parts with different outcomes depending on the choices players make. Often, the choices that make the game easier also grants power to the Raxxon corporation which can lead to defeat. Consequences don't clear until that player passes for the round. Once all players have passed, the citizen deck is rebuilt using remaining cards in the deck, the discard, new sick citizens, loosely quarantined citizens, and any cards still in the grid. The deck is shuffled and used to create a new crowd at the start of the next round. Players win when all healthy citizens are evacuated. Players lose if the infection deck runs out (the deck of only sick people added to the citizen deck each round) or Raxxon maxes out on power and takes over the city. Part of the Dead of Winter series. Two promos for Dead of Winter are included in the box: KD James and Meryl Wolfe.
Raxxon supports 1–4 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 listed playing time for Raxxon is 45–60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Raxxon for ages 14 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.
Raxxon has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light 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.
Raxxon belongs to these categories: Horror, Zombies, and Memory. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Push Your Luck, and Tile Placement. 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 Raxxon are: J. Arthur Ellis. 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 Raxxon 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.