A live unboxing of the hobby board game The Alpha. A three to six player boardgame from Bicycle Cards.

This is one of two “light strategy games” that were will be released in June 2020 by Bicycle, the company best known for making playing cards. Interestingly this tabletop game doesn’t have any cards in it.

Disclosure: I was provided a review copy of The Alpha by Bicycle games, no other compensation was provided.

A live unboxing video of The Alpha from Bicycle

In the Alpha, players control a wolf pack, leading wolves on a search for food. The Near Forest includes easier to catch, but lower value prey. The Far Forest has larger prey that are more difficult to attack, but if successful can result in great reward.

You will lead your wolves through four stages of the hunt:

STALK – Send your wolves to hunt in various regions of the forest and outnumber rival packs to become dominant in the area.
CHASE – Roll the dice for the region to determine the success of the hunt.
RESOLVE – Enter conflict and decide whether to fight or share food with other packs in the region.
ADVANCE – Move your wolf on the food track to indicate the amount of food secured during the hunt.
At the end of 5 weeks (rounds), the wolf pack with the most food will be declared The Alpha.

BECOME THE ALPHA: Lead your wolf pack on a hunt to become The Alpha pack in this fun and intense light strategy game.
HOW TO PLAY: Send your wolves to hunt in various regions of the forest and outnumber rival packs to become dominant in the area. Roll the dice for the region to determine the success of the hunt. But beware, if a rival pack is in the region you must decide to fight or share the food.
WIN by collecting the most food at the end of 5 rounds to be… The Alpha
STRATEGY AND PSYCHOLOGY: The Innovative prisoner’s dilemma mechanic of fighting or sharing food brings thrilling and heart pumping excitement to the game.
HIGH QUALITY COMPONENTS AND ART: Painted by a park ranger.
FUN FOR EVERYONE: Family or Friends: 3-6 players, Plays in 45 minutes, Ages 10+
Details:

Age: 10+
Players: 3-6
Time to Play: 45 Min
MSRP: 29.99
Release Date: 6/16/2020
Contents:

36 Beta Wolves
6 Alpha Pairs
11 Region Tiles
9 Dice
6 Conflict Tokens
6 Den Boards
1 Food Track
1 Weeks Left Token
1 Alpha Token
1 Instruction Booklet