# The Captain is Dead — Only YOU can save the crew! > Turn-based sci-fi survival strategy game commanding a spaceship crew. (iPhone/iPad app by Thunderbox Entertainment Ltd..) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-captain-is-dead/id1483950942 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Thunderbox Entertainment Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1480243519) - Category: Games, Entertainment, Board, Strategy - Price: $9.99 - Rating: 4.50/5 from 63 App Store ratings · 18 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 9+ - Requires: iOS 13.0 · 264 MB - Languages: American English, French (France), German (Germany), Italian, European Spanish - Released: 2021-01-31 - Data updated: 2026-08-27 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-captain-is-dead/id1483950942/reviews.md ## What is The Captain is Dead? It’s the last 10 minutes of your favorite sci-fi TV show… except that this time things have gone seriously wrong and The Captain Is Dead! Based on the frantic and fun board game, this turn-based, survival/strategy puts YOU in the Captain's chair... You must co-ordinate the crew to repair critical systems and fend off hostile aliens, or you'll share the captain’s fate. From the Chief Engineer, Weapons Officer, and visiting Admiral, all the way down to the Ensign and the ship’s Janitor, you must combine your unique talents to avoid utter annihilation in the cold depths of space! YOU HAVE THE CONN! Step into the Captain's chair and command the crew! Each team member has a very particular set of skills that you'll need to leverage to the full if you want to survive, including... ADMIRAL - A master of plans and evasion. CYBORG - Immune to the mysterious forces of deep space. CREWMAN - Gets killed very easily... good thing there is an infinite supply! COUNSELOR - Can manipulate skills for the best chance of success. ENSIGN - A fast learner, and even faster runner. CHIEF ENGINEER - Can fix the ship real quick. SOLDIER - An expert at taking out aliens. ...with more on the way! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE! Defend the ship against an unknown alien nemesis that will do everything they can to blast you to atoms! Fortunately you have state-of-the-art systems to help you out... BRIDGE - Scan for threats, repair shields and communicate with your crew. WAR ROOM - The Captain planned ahead, and left emergency dossiers to help you out. ARMORY - Destroy alien ships with torpedoes, and activate auto-turrets to repel boarders. CPU CORE - Power-up your crew with skills. CARGO HOLD - Bust open the cargo pods to grab lasers, scanners, and other helpful gear. INFIRMARY - He's dead, Jim! Oh wait... no... it's just a flesh wound. That can be fixed here. SCIENCE LAB - Upgrade the ship, and research spooky, sub-space anomalies. ENGINEERING - Fix the Jump Core to get the heck outta there! JUMP TO HYPERSPACE! If you can stay cool, repel the aliens, protect the crew, and keep the systems operational long enough to repair the Jump Core, then you can activate the engines and escape to Hyperspace! Or is it Warp Speed? I can never remember... ## Key features - Turn-based survival strategy - Command unique crew members - Repair critical ship systems - Defend against hostile aliens - Leverage ship systems - Escape to Hyperspace ## Chart rankings - #119 in Top Paid · Board (US App Store) ## Recent user reviews (10 of 18) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-captain-is-dead/id1483950942/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Years later, still great! *2026-05-02* This is a great game! Balanced perfectly and really feels like the ship is in danger! Props to the developer they delivered everything as promised. A full selection of 18 crew members. No lame micro transactions. No data collection. Just a good game. Recommend if you’d like to control a crew a perilously damaged ship, that is under increasing attacks, with no captain! ### 1/5 — Huge issue ruins game *2025-03-03* Will randomly start interpreting room taps as calling the options menu. Fix bug for better review. ### 4/5 — Give it a couple tries, then decide *2023-03-18* I heard JT Smith in an interview with Gabe Barrett describing the development of this game. I was afraid the frantic nature of the alerts would drive me crazy, but after playing several games I found that the whole game really fits together well (the characters and their abilities, the systems, the ways to try to keep ahead of the alerts). And it is very satisfying to feel that you understand your options, have a strategy, and are able to move in the direction you want, despite the alerts. I played the IOS game which is really a gem with very polished graphics and controls. The IOS version wasn’t clicking for me the first time through (even with its tutorial), but after reading the board game rule book, everything started to make sense, and I found myself playing game after game with harder difficulty levels. ### 3/5 — Challenging game but the interface is rough *2022-12-27* The game is very challenging which is fine. I have a lot of trouble with the interface. Many accidental teleports when I’m just trying to look at a room. With the margin of error so small in this game the accidental teleports usually mean I have to restart the game. ### 5/5 — Challenging! *2021-10-28* Don’t expect to win every time you play! ### 2/5 — Nice but *2021-07-30* Too hard even on easiest setting! I know people like it to be hard but that's why you have different difficulty settings!😭🙄 **Developer response:** Fair comment... give it a try with the following crew: Admiral, Chief Engineer, Soldier and Cyborg. Use the crew's special abilities to hoover up Battle Plans, Fix the Core, Fight Alien Ships & Soldiers and Research Anomalies respectively. The Admiral and Soldier are also handy for overriding Alerts. Join the Discord server for loads of cool strategy tips! ### 5/5 — Excellent port of board game *2021-06-06* This app works great and is an excellent representation of the board game. Rahdo’s Runthrough shows you how game operates. **Developer response:** Thanks for the rad review! You can also find a link to the board game instructions in the settings menu if you want to delve into the nitty-gritty of how the systems work and become a true TCID master! 🖖😎 ### 4/5 — Broken *2021-05-13* How are you supposed to play a game when the tutorial Is broken? Trying to learn in a quick game is worthless. It’s like it was dumped on the App Store and not touched since. No follow up. Stay away. Follow up. Switched from phone to iPad. Game works much better. Control is better. Today’s games are getting too advanced for the small screens. Maybe time to do a sub-rating on which platforms the games are optimized on. **Developer response:** Hi there. Sounds like you are encountering a bug caused by the latest iOS update. A fix is on the way and should be with you in a day or less. Please drop us a line so we can confirm that you are all sorted! http://thunderboxentertainment.com/sign-up/ ### 2/5 — I don’t know what to do *2021-04-14* So I try to start the tutorial and every time it gets stuck at the part where the alien ship comes out and I don’t know what to do. I tried just starting a normal game, that works but my goodness I have no idea what’s going on. It looks fun and I think I’d have a great time if I knew what I was doing. I’m running it on a XR. I really want to try this and for 7 bucks I get an app where I can’t enjoy it. It looks fun would be great if I could actually play it. **Developer response:** Hi there. The latest iOS update has broken the tutorial... a fix has been submitted and should be cleared in a day or less! Thanks. ### 5/5 — A solid game, but here’s a quick heads up. *2021-02-26* I had not played or had even heard the original board game until I came across the AppStore port. I’ve only played a few games so far, and but I think it’s very solid. I haven’t encountered any bugs yet, the animations, graphics, and voice acting capture the original art style and tone of the game very well. The tutorial is good for teaching you the base mechanics of the game but it leaves the exact specifics and team synergies for you to figure out, which is something I really like. I think it’s very good game, but Moving onto that little heads up notice: there currently only seven crew members available, with devs planning to add more in the coming months. The currently available crew members are: the Admiral, the Chief Engineer, the Crew Member, the Soldier, the Cyborg, the Ensign, and the Councilor. This limited choice was actually helpful for me, as it didn’t have the overwhelming selection of the full crew. Just a heads up. All in all, I think it’s a good game. **Developer response:** Thanks for the kind words - so glad we helped you discover this fantastic board game! Your are spot on with the tutorial... happy to hear you are down for experimentation once the training wheels are off! We are absolutely bringing new crew... there are currently 16 available, and we are on track for delivering the whole gang by the end of 2021! 🖖😎 ## Frequently asked questions about The Captain is Dead ### What is The Captain Is Dead? The Captain Is Dead is a turn-based survival strategy game where you command a spaceship crew. You must coordinate repairs to critical systems and defend against alien threats to escape destruction in space. ### What are the key features of this game? Key features include commanding a diverse crew with unique skills, repairing various ship systems like shields and the Jump Core, and fending off hostile alien attacks. The goal is to survive and escape to Hyperspace. ### How much does The Captain Is Dead cost? Based on the provided information, this application is a paid app. There are no mentions of in-app purchases or advertisements, indicating a one-time purchase model. ### What platforms is The Captain Is Dead available on? The description does not specify the platforms this application is available on. It is presented as a mobile application, so it is likely available on iOS and/or Android devices. ### What is the main objective of the game? The main objective is to survive the chaotic situation after the captain's demise. This involves coordinating your crew to repair essential ship systems, repel alien invaders, and ultimately escape the dangerous sector of space by reaching Hyperspace. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.52 — 2022-02-02 New in this update... - 1st Officer: the logical choice to save the ship, with his ability to divine the perfect plan at will. - Janitor: fixes stuff with duct tape... a regular space MacGuyver. - Maximum crew incresed to 7. - Tactical HUD, for those of you with big, high-def screens. - Leaderboards ... are you the top commander? - Eco Mode: less graphics... more battery. - Rule tweaks, bug fixes and more! ### 1.5 — 2022-02-02 New in this update... - 1st Officer: the logical choice to save the ship, with his ability to divine the perfect plan at will. - Janitor: fixes stuff with duct tape... a regular space MacGuyver. - Maximum crew incresed to 7. - Tactical HUD, for those of you with big, high-def screens. - Leaderboards ... are you the top commander? - Eco Mode: less graphics... more battery. - Rule tweaks, bug fixes and more! ### 1.4 — 2021-10-20 5 NEW CREW MEMBERS! - Weapons Officer: when you absolutely need to obliterate every last alien spaceship... he's your guy. - Medical Officer: he's a doctor, not a bricklayer! - Diplomat: a smooth talking woman of experience, who isn't afraid to lay down the law. - Telepath: absorbs other crew members skills through the power of his mind! - Science Officer: this mad genius keeps the freaky cosmic rays in check, and supes up the ship. ### 1.2 — 2021-06-23 New in this update! - The Hologram and Scholar have beamed aboard, and are ready for action. - Over thirty rock-hard achievements so your crew can win some sweet, sweet medals. - Big enhancements to animation and flow. - The usual bug fixes and quality improvements. ### 1.14 — 2021-05-13 A minor tweak to keep things running smoothly for the new iOS update. ## Apps similar to The Captain is Dead | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Star Trek Timelines](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-trek-timelines/id1001250333) | 4.5 (7,489) | Free | Games | | [ASTROKINGS: Galactic Survival](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astrokings-galactic-survival/id1447088015) | 4.3 (1,862) | Free | Games | | [Nova Empire: Space Wars MMO](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/nova-empire-space-wars-mmo/id1295555672) | 4.3 (5,056) | Free | Games | | [Star Trek Fleet Command](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-trek-fleet-command/id1427744264) | 4.3 (67,283) | Free | Games | | [Space Arena: Construct & Fight](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/space-arena-construct-and-fight/id1134614037) | 4.7 (18,259) | Free | Games | | [Infinite Galaxy](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/infinite-galaxy/id1465097065) | 4.5 (7,182) | Free | Games | ## More apps by Thunderbox Entertainment Ltd. - [Tsuro - The Game of the Path](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tsuro-the-game-of-the-path/id957124541) - [Roll For It!](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/roll-for-it/id1002886058) - [Hive Mind Timer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hive-mind-timer/id1166548178) - [Wordoku Timer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wordoku-timer/id1166549123) - [Station Master Scoreboard](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/station-master-scoreboard/id1487650289) All apps by Thunderbox Entertainment Ltd.: https://appshunter.io/developer/1480243519 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-27.*