Metamorphosis Alpha is the first science fiction roleplaying game ever published, beating both Ken St. Andre's Starfaring and Marc Miller's Traveller by less than a year. Metamorphosis Alpha also spawned the later and more popular Gamma World, and both games are ostensibly set in the same universe. The "Starship Warden", on which Metamorphosis Alpha is set, is a reference to the author's last name.

This entry refers to the first edition. A setting book covering Starship Warden was originally intended for Gamma World, but it was never published. However the name and concept were reused by TSR more than a decade later for the Amazing Engine supplement, Metamorphosis Alpha & Omega. The third edition was released in 2003 by Fast Forward Entertainment as James M. Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha Universe. Metamorphosis Alpha Fourth Edition was released by Mudpuppy Games in 2007.

From the back cover of the first edition:

In The Tradition Of
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA

Brings You An Exciting New Concept
In Fantastic Role-Playing Games

Have you ever encountered a moose with quills? Or a teleporting woodpecker with a double brain and a poison beak? How about a nearly invincible jaguar, complete with the ability to change its body density and emit a sonic shriek, but which fears birds? These are but a small sampling of the mutations which could inhabit the many worlds of METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA.

A vast starship, a virtual world in itself, carrying colonists, livestock, and the flora and fauna of Terra is struck by a cloud of an unknown form of radiation while enroute to a distant star. Chaos reigns when the radiation kills most of the crew, and in the ensuing madness the knowledge of what the ship is and where its destination lies is lost to the survivors -- and there are many survivors. Intelligent mutated animals and plants now populate the vessel, and these compete or perhaps cooperate with the humans aboard.

In METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA, you are aboard the stricken starship and struggling to survive, trying to gain knowledge of the strange devices and mechanical apparatus of the vessel, attempting to learn the secrets of the strange "world" you inhabit. As a player, you may be a human or mutant -- human or otherwise. Your course is up to your skill and imagination.

METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA is a role-playing game in the grand tradition of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. If you enjoy the worlds of medieval swords & sorcery, you will love what you find in the fantastic and fascinating worlds of science fiction!