STANDARD SETUP

Look through the cards for your character’s ID Card (Stella

Hoshiko in the standard game) and Vitality Tracker. Align the
ID Card over the Vitality Tracker so that the character’s Vitality
begins play at its BASELINE score. Shuffle the remaining cards to
create the Deck.

[1] Deck
[2] Corridor
[3] ID Card and
Vitality Tracker
[4] Arsenal
[5] Inventory
[6] Discard pile

If you are using Expansion Packs and have multiple

CHARACTERS/OBJECTIVES to choose from, set up according to
the instructions provided by the Expansion in play.
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 OBJECTIVE
In a standard Escape from Station 52 game you must press
forward through the Deck in search of the Backpack card, the
three Gear cards marked with A, and the Escape Pod card.
◥ You WIN the game when the Escape Pod OBJECTIVE card is in
play and its requirements are met.
◥ You LOSE the game when:
屒 Your Vitality reaches zero or lower. Game over, man!
屒 The Repair Kit and any Gear card marked with a A are
both in the Discard pile.
CARD HANDLING
◥ When you DRAW, you take a card from the top of the Deck.
◥ When you RETURN a card, place it at the bottom of the Deck.
If you must RETURN a set of multiple cards at once (e.g. an
entire CORRIDOR), shuffle them among themselves before
returning the set to the bottom of the Deck.
◥ All DISCARDED cards go to the top of the DISCARD pile, face
up. You can always examine the cards in the DISCARD pile, but
you can’t change their order.
◥ When you SCRAP a card, DISCARD it from either your play
area or the CORRIDOR, disregarding its EFFECTS.
◥ When you USE an EQUIPPED card, follow the instructions on
its EFFECTS and DISCARD it after.
◥ LOCKED cards are set aside in a new pile and considered
inaccessible until the card responsible for the LOCK is
DISCARDED by a further EFFECT.
◥ ELIMINATED cards are removed from play until the next game.

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CARD STRUCTURE

[1] TYPE ICON: Indicates the card’s type.

[2] NAME: Identifies it and can be evoked by certain EFFECTS.
[3] POWER: Featured by certain card types to indicate the
amount of DAMAGE or HEALING they provide. E.g. Use the Basic
MedKit Healing card with POWER 5 to restore your VITALITY score
by 5 points. Once RETURNED or DISCARDED, a card’s POWER
resets to its original amount, as printed on the card.
[4] EFFECT: Details special outcomes for when the card is
USED or based on a specific trigger, such as when the card
is RESOLVED, during a certain PHASE of the ROUND, once
DISCARDED, etc.
Cards with the ONGOING attribute have the described EFFECT
applied as long as they remain EQUIPPED.
When two or more copies of a card would trigger the same
EFFECT redundantly, apply that EFFECT only once. E.g. Multiple
Distortion Threats when Sneaking would require only one
shuffling of the Deck.
An EFFECT that forces a rules change takes precedence over that
rule. E.g. The Spectral Threat card says it must be DISCARDED to
the bottom of the DISCARD pile, as opposed to going to the top.
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 GAMEPLAY
Play in ROUNDS, each following three phases:
1. SCOUT
Draw 4 cards from the top of the Deck and line them up in any
order to form a CORRIDOR.
If you end up drawing 2 or more SITUATIONS, choose one to leave
in the CORRIDOR, RETURN the remaining and draw an equal
number of cards to replace them. Repeat that until you have no
more than 1 SITUATION card on the CORRIDOR.
2. SNEAK or PUSH THROUGH
Decide if you will SNEAK (if you haven’t done so in the previous
round) or PUSH THROUGH the current CORRIDOR.
2.1. SNEAK [Redraw the CORRIDOR]
Before you’re able to SNEAK, check if any cards in play have
EFFECTS that interfere with SNEAKING (e.g. changing its rules
or rendering the option invalid).
If valid, proceed by RETURNING the current CORRIDOR cards
together with the bottom-most THREAT from the DISCARD PILE
(if there is any) to the bottom of the Deck. Then begin a new
ROUND.
2.2. PUSH THROUGH [Resolve the CORRIDOR cards]
When you PUSH THROUGH the CORRIDOR you must RESOLVE
its cards.
If there is a SITUATION, you must RESOLVE it before you can
RESOLVE, USE, or SCRAP any other card either from your play
area or from the CORRIDOR itself.
Following that, RESOLVE the remaining cards one by one, in
any order.
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 Between RESOLVING cards from the CORRIDOR, you can USE
any number of EQUIPPED cards for their EFFECTS or SCRAP any
number of EQUIPPED cards to free up space for new cards to
be EQUIPPED.
3. MOVE ON
Once you have one LAST card left in the CORRIDOR, you must
RETURN it to the Deck. Right after that, a new ROUND begins.
RESOLVING CARDS
RESOLVE cards from the CORRIDOR according to their types:
◥ RESOLVE a SITUATION by following its EFFECT instructions.
DISCARD it after.
OBJECTIVES
If the SITUATION has the OBJECTIVE attribute, you must
leave the card for LAST. Before RETURNING it, check if its
requirements are met. If they are, you immediately WIN. If
they aren’t, proceed with RETURNING it. An OBJECTIVE is
never DISCARDED.
◥ THREAT cards must be CONFRONTED to be RESOLVED.
DISCARD it after.
◥ WEAPON, HEALING or GEAR cards must be either EQUIPPED
or SCRAPPED.
屒 To EQUIP a card, move it from the CORRIDOR to your
ARSENAL (if a WEAPON) or INVENTORY (if HEALING or
GEAR). It remains EQUIPPED until it’s USED or SCRAPPED.
The ARSENAL can hold only 1 card, while INVENTORY can
hold up to 2 cards at a time (this can be expanded to 4
when equipped with the Backpack GEAR).
屒 SCRAP a card that you have no interest in or if you lack
space to EQUIP it. THREATS can’t be RESOLVED this way.
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 CONFRONTING THREATS AND USING WEAPONS
◥ RESOLVE a THREAT by CONFRONTING it: you take an amount
of DAMAGE equal to the THREAT’S POWER. Subtract the
DAMAGE amount from your Vitality score.
◥ You can USE a WEAPON to reduce a target THREAT’S POWER
before CONFRONTING it. By doing so, you cause DAMAGE
to that THREAT—subtract the WEAPON’S POWER from
the THREAT’S POWER. You must immediately follow up to
CONFRONT the targeted THREAT:
屒 If the DAMAGE dealt by the WEAPON reduces the THREAT’S
POWER to zero or less, the THREAT causes no DAMAGE to
you during the CONFRONTATION. Any DAMAGE a WEAPON
inflicts beyond the THREAT’S POWER value is considered
RESIDUAL and is typically lost.
屒 Otherwise, you take an amount of DAMAGE equal to the
THREAT’S remaining POWER value.
◥ If you are forced to CONFRONT more than one THREAT
simultaneously, you can choose in which order to do so
unless noted otherwise by an EFFECT in play. E.g. The
Flamethrower Weapon card can DAMAGE multiple THREATS
with a single USE, triggering immediate CONFRONTATION
with any THREATS that PERSIST.
◥ DISCARD a THREAT after CONFRONTING it.
HEALING
USE a HEALING card to restore your VITALITY by the same
amount as the card’s POWER.
◥ You may only USE one HEALING card per ROUND.
◥ Your character’s Vitality can’t go over the highest value
present on their Vitality Tracker—any unused amount is lost.
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SCORING
When you escape from Station 52, your SCORE equals:
屒 Your remaining VITALITY SCORE;
屒 PLUS the highest POWER value of your EQUIPPED WEAPONS;
屒 PLUS 1 point for each THREAT card in the DISCARD pile and
under Sector Lockdown;
屒 MINUS the POWER value of the highest THREAT left in the Deck
Less than 10 points: Rookie | 10 to 19 points: Skilled
20 to 29 points: Veteran | 30+ points: Legend

ACHIEVEMENTS
◇ Reborn in chaos: Escaped with full Vitality.
◇ Strong survival instincts: Escaped with only 1 Vitality left.
◇ Running can cause accidents: Escaped without SNEAKING.
◇ On fire: Resolved more than one THREAT with the Flamethrower.
◇ Stay away from her: Confronted the Amalgam using the
Exoskeleton and survived.
◇ She is back: Confronted the Amalgam more than once.
◇ This place is a tomb: Eliminated the Amalgam by using the
Sector Lockdown SITUATION card.

SUBJECT-06 [ALTERNATIVE CHARACTER]

Flip both ID and Vitality Tracker cards

to their Subject-06 sides if you wish
to face a more challenging game. As
a result of being put through strange
experiments at Station 52, this character
has a bonus for using WEAPONS, but
penalties for using HEALING cards—
depending on their current Vitality score.
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 Escape from Station 52 is a solo card game where you
must escape from a doomed space station that was
taken over by threatening anomalies.
The game consists of 54 cards, each representing
the hazards and the threats that infest the station’s
corridors, as well as the weapons and equipment
needed to deal with them.

Writing, game and graphic designs: Emanoel Melo

Copy editing: Erik Sofge

Document version 1.2 (Nov/2022)

Theme inspired by the films Aliens, Pitch Black, Event
Horizon, and Pandorum; and the games Half-Life, Alien:
Isolation, and Dead Space. Mechanics inspired by Scoundrel
(Kurt Bieg and Zach Gage) and Card Crawl (Arnold Rauers).
Special thanks to everyone who played and provided
feedback, it’s been amazing!
PUBLISHED BY THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES
www.cabinetofcuriosities.games

COMPONENTS: 54 bridge sized cards

(1 ID card, 1 Vitality tracker, 21 Threats,
10 Weapons, 9 Healings, 7 Gears, 5
Situations) and one rules booklet.

SCAN THE CODE TO

DOWNLOAD THE DIGITAL
VERSION OF THIS RULEBOOK.
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