Starship Babel 2017

Starship Babel is a different kind of game than I expected, and that's what makes it stand out so well for me. Set in our Pocket Universe, you are all prisoners aboard the Babel trying to escape, but you don't speak the same language. You will use a single word (not in English!) to describe your actions or intentions on steering this ship to survival.

—description from the publisher

Starship Babel is a microgame in which players which speak different languages desperately try to steer a spaceship to safety.

The game consists of a spaceship card and 8 sector cards, numbered 5-12. One of these is flipped open, showing a dictionary of an alien language. The other cards are placed in a row, with the spaceship card between two other cards.

The players now discuss their plan, using only the words on the dictionary card. Afterwards, they simultaneously lift 1-5 fingers. If the overall number of fingers matches the number of the sector card before the ship, they advance by one position. If not, the last card of the row is removed. The ship escapes to safety when it reaches the front of the row and is destroyed when there are no cards behind it.