I, apparently, love map-laying survival horror card games.

Earlier this year I released The Mansion Incident,  a solo dungeon-crawling RPG inspired by the greatest zombie-themed survival horror video game franchise of all time. The Mansion Incident was a fluke. I'd played Escape from Demon Castle Dracula by Rob Hebert (nerdypapergames.itch.io) and simply couldn't get it out of my head. Rob's dungeon-making card-based map mechanic was just too enthralling. It possessed me – so, of course, I had to make a hack of it.

I dearly loved working on and playing The Mansion Incident, and I often thought of making a 2nd adaptation of Rob's base game – this time based on one of my other great horror inspirations: Ridley Scott's 1979 film, Alien.

It was daunting to think about! Especially so soon after pouring myself into The Mansion Incident.

But then I came across Peach Garden Game's Carta Jam. You might know them as the organizer behind the Solo But Not Alone bundle that wrapped in early March – that's where I first came across Rob's Escape, and dozens and dozens of other great, inventive games.

Carta is another brilliant approach to map-laying games and one that offered the opportunity for a tighter, faster-paced, more bounded experience. Something quicker to learn and faster to play.  A game that would let me feel the palpable tension of play, and the thrill of getting-got or just barely slipping away.

And thus came It's in the Vents! a solo Alien-inspired survival game that sees you sprinting through your ailing space ship as the last survivor of a crew decimated by an alien predator. The map is not a sprawling, labyrinthian dungeon, but a compact 4x6 grid. Movement is costly. Your main resource is slim. In fact, it may not show up in play at all.

Like The Mansion Incident, you are pursued by a relentless foe. This time, it's not right behind you just a room away. No... it's somewhere else.

Crawling, banging, slithering, and getting closer all the time.

It's in the Vents!