Cosmic Tilt (2002)

Each player takes the role of an alien psychic and battles to be the last brain thinking. The magazine article included rules for the game, record sheets, and six special characters. Play also requires a standard deck of playing cards and some tokens.

The game was published October 18, 2002 in Pyramid Magazine and is still available to subscribers.
Sample: http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=3058

The game is played with a standard deck of playing cards, a special record sheet, and alien character cards. The sheet tracks damage to various parts of your alien's brain. There are six different aliens, each with a different special power.

Different ranks of cards allow for attacks of varying strength. The suit of the card determines which region of the target's brain is effected. For example, the 3 of Hearts can power an attack against the opponent's brain stem that does one pip of damage. Cards can also be used to defend against attacks.

If a region of the your alien's brain is disabled, you lose abilities. For example, you may no longer defend if the brain stem takes too much damage. If a second region is disabled, you lose the game.

Card management is important, because you don't automatically draw cards to replace ones that you've played. You may take a turn to 'focus' and refill your hand, but you don't get to attack.