This was Zocchi's revamped version of his Star Trek Battle Manual, without the (unlicensed) Star Trek references. The two games are very similar, although Alien Space Battle Manual includes 8 different ship types instead of the original 3, at least in later versions. The Alien Space Battle Manual is now considered to be a companion to the Star Fleet Battle Manual which was released in 1977 and marked a return to familiar Star Trek ships and races due to a loophole in the Star Trek IP ownership. The game is played on a large surface with cardboard counters marked with a ship picture and a compass circle. A piece of string is passed through these tiles and knots are made at the 3, 5 and 6 feet marks. A record sheet inserted in a clear holder shows ship characteristics and a grease marker is used to mark damage. Players physically move their ships by measuring distance with a ruler. During combat, player must estimate their firing angle. The string is pulled along that angle and the enemy ship is hit if the string passes over it.