How To Play: Far Away

Far Away throws you and your crew into space with limited resources, tricky aliens, and strict communication rules. Winning means balancing your food and energy, sharing info wisely, and adapting to wild alien encounters. I’ve laughed, panicked, and barely survived with friends—here’s how to play Far Away smarter!

Far Away: Box Cover Front

Have you ever found yourself lost, hungry, and yelling at your best friend because they ate the last ration? Welcome to Far Away! This guide is packed with a simple outline of the game rules, plus the winning strategies my group cooked up after several frantic playthroughs. Yes, we argued over space food to bring you these tips.

Overview

What’s in the box

  • 1 Rulebook
  • 25 Hex Map Tiles
  • 2 Crew Boards
  • 2 Player Standees
  • 2 Player Reference Cards
  • 8 Mission Cards
  • 52 Alien Cards
  • 52 Event Cards
  • 16 Resource Tokens
  • 10 Damage Cubes
  • 40 Food Tokens
  • 40 Energy Tokens
  • 12 Status Tokens
  • 1 Round Marker
  • 1 Turn Marker
  • 2 Pencils

How To Play Far Away: Rules Summary

Setup
  1. Unfold the game board and arrange it on your table. If your cat claims the board, politely reclaim your space before continuing.
  2. Each player grabs a crew token, then chooses a color. No, you can’t both be blue. I’ve tried.
  3. Deal out mission cards, alien cards, and resource tokens. Place them within easy reach, unless you want to play an accidental long-distance variant.
  4. Hand out all starting equipment, food, and energy according to the mission sheet.

Now, you’re ready to begin! Try not to knock the table and send everything into orbit.

Gameplay
  1. Players take turns, moving their crew across the board. You can move, explore, collect resources, or run away from scary aliens. I recommend the last one if you value your sanity.
  2. Actions cost energy or food. When you run out, bad things happen. Hangry crewmates become cranky fast.
  3. When players get separated, you MUST communicate in writing. Whispering doesn’t count. My group learned this after an epic fail involving a misunderstood sandwich request.
  4. After every move, draw an event card and resolve its effect. Expect the unexpected, including meteor showers with surprisingly good aim.

Keep playing until you complete your mission or everyone is lost, hungry, and questioning their life choices.

Winning
  1. To win, both crew members must complete the mission objective and make it back to the ship alive. Easy, right? Well, not for me.
  2. If either crew member perishes or you run out of resources, you all lose together. Misery loves company in Far Away.

Work together, communicate a lot, and maybe—just maybe—you’ll pull off a win. I’ve only managed once. Still waiting for my trophy.

Special Rules & Conditions
  1. Aliens don’t follow human logic. Always check the alien behavior card before you assume anything. My crew learned this the hard way.
  2. Crew members who run out of food or energy start to panic and may act irrationally. Just like during a real family road trip.
  3. You must obey isolation rules: once separated, no more table talk. Use written notes only. They WILL come back to haunt you when you forget what you scribbled three turns ago.
  4. If both players enter the same space, you can talk until you part ways again. Enjoy it while it lasts!

That’s how to play Far Away. Have snacks on standby, lots of patience for your crew mate, and a sense of humor for when it all falls apart!

Best Far Away Strategies

The Secret Sauce of Resource Management in Far Away

I learned very fast that bad resource management ends in disaster. My crew almost starved to death in round three once. Avoid my mistakes by being smart from the start! Here are my best tactics for resource management. If you want to know How To Play far away, start by getting this right.

Plan Your Meals Ahead

  1. Track your food closely every round.
  2. Assign someone to be the ‘food cop.’
  3. Scavenge early before resources run dry.

Conserve Energy Reserves

  1. Use movement wisely—no endless wandering.
  2. Avoid fights unless desperate; they burn resources.

Share, Don’t Hoard

  1. Coordinate supplies with your crew—no lone wolves.
  2. Swap items to fill in what others lack.

I promise, these keep you alive longer than my pet space lizard did.

Talk It Out or Get Stuck: Crew Communication in Far Away

Start With a Game Plan

Right from the start, you need to say what you want to do. If you stay silent, you will both wander off like confused squirrels. Instead, talk out loud as you set goals. This will save you from awkward, hungry deaths.

  1. Share your plans before each turn.
  2. Ask what your crewmate needs right now.
  3. State your worries. Even if it’s just, “Don’t eat my cheese!”
Signal for Help

I lost my buddy in the slime woods once. Don’t do what I did! Come up with signals for danger or help. It sounds silly, but a howl means ‘HELP’ and a whistle means ‘SAFE.’ This way, you don’t waste time or die alone.

  1. Agree on basic signals before you split.
  2. Stay within earshot whenever possible.
Always Recap

I forget stuff all the time, especially after a snack break. So, check in after each round. Did you spot an alien? Did you find food? This info is gold. Sharing it makes the game smoother and gives you more chances to win.

  1. Pause after each round and recap what happened.
  2. Keep the crew focused on survival, not silly mistakes.

And yes, if you’re searching for How To Play far away and win, you can’t skip good communication. If you do, expect space squirrels to eat your socks.

Aliens and Trouble: Mastering Encounters in Far Away

Read the Alien Cards Carefully
  1. Check every ability and weakness before you start talking to your friends. Trust me, one missed keyword and you’ll regret it.
  2. Share the info—if you find out an alien really hates loud noises, make sure your pal with the megaphone knows.
Stay Flexible
  1. If an alien does something weird, don’t panic. Instead, change your plan fast—sometimes running is the best move!
  2. Keep an escape route open. One time, I got boxed in because I tried to befriend a space cow. Bad idea.
Work Together
  1. Plan distractions or decoys in advance. My group once argued so loud, the alien ran away from us.
  2. Take turns talking with the creature. If one of you fails, another might still charm it with snacks or shiny things.

Aliens in Far Away always act strange, and that keeps things interesting. If you keep cool, read the cards, and talk to your crew, you can survive anything. That’s the real “How To Play far away” secret: teamwork beats even the weirdest space beast.

Blast Off With Confidence (and Snacks)

So, that’s how to play Far Away without getting stuck in the cosmic mud! Between yelling across the table because the comms are down, or arguing over who ate the last food token, you’ll have stories to tell. The real secret? Keep an eye on those resources, talk (or mime wildly) with your buddy, and always check under the alien for surprises. After our fourth play, my friend Tim still tries to make friends with every space bug. Spoiler: It has not worked out. Embrace the chaos, have a laugh, and if you both make it home in one piece, treat yourselves to pizza. That’s victory. Happy adventuring, and remember: If lost, blame the person with the weird hat (it’s always Tim).

Want to know what we think of Far Away? Read our detailed review of Far Away here

Jamie in his proper element: With all of his board games
Jamie Hopkins

With years of dice-rolling, card-flipping, and strategic planning under my belt, I've transformed my passion into expertise. I thrive on dissecting the mechanics and social dynamics of board games, sharing insights from countless game nights with friends. I dive deep into gameplay mechanics, while emphasizing the social joys of gaming. While I appreciate themes and visuals, it's the strategy and camaraderie that truly capture my heart.