Nemesis: Retaliation · Board game rules
How do I determine if the players won the game?
Quick answer
A player wins if they Escape or Hibernate safely, fulfill their chosen Objective, and survive the Infection and Eclosion Procedures at End of Game.
Details
Each Character must meet three conditions to be considered a winner: 1) Escape the Facility or Hibernate — via the Lander in the Landing Zone, Hibernating in the Hibernatorium, or Escaping through the Escape Shuttle; 2) Fulfill one of their Objectives — each player has a Private and a Mission Objective and must choose one during the game to complete; 3) Survive the Infection and Eclosion Procedures, which check whether Characters die from Infection [p.7 — Winning and Losing].
The game itself ends either when Round 14 ends (all Characters who haven't Escaped/Hibernated are considered dead) or when all Characters have died or Escaped/Hibernated [p.7 — Endgame Overview].
At End of Game, resolve this sequence in order: (1) Each Character without a Larva draws all their Action/discard cards to hand and performs the Infection Procedure; (2) Each Character with a Larva gains 1 Contamination card, reshuffles their whole deck, and performs the Eclosion Procedure; (3) Each surviving Character reveals and checks their chosen Objective (choosing one now if they haven't already); (4) Each remaining Character who completed their Objective wins the game [p.39 — End of the Game].
The Infection Procedure involves scanning all Contamination cards in hand for the word "INFECTED" — if found, a Larva is placed on the Character board [p.38 — Procedures]. The Eclosion Procedure involves drawing 4 cards from the Action deck; if any is a Contamination card, the Character dies [p.38 — Procedures].
Watch out: Characters who Hibernated are NOT considered "Escaped" for Objectives that specifically require Escaping — only using the Lander or Escape Shuttle counts as Escaping the Facility [p.39 — Objectives and Mission Task].