Contents
Flatline Game Rules
Imagine a world where you and your friends have been tasked with saving lives in a fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled hospital. Welcome to Flatline, the exciting board game that puts you in the shoes of heroic medical professionals.
In Flatline, I take on the role of a skilled doctor in an emergency room, working against the clock to treat patients and prevent a crisis. The goal is to work together with other players, using our teamwork, strategic thinking, and medical expertise to keep patients alive and stabilize their conditions.
To start the game, we set up the game board, which represents the hospital emergency room. Each player chooses their doctor character and takes turns taking on different roles, like trauma team lead, diagnostician, or specialist. We have a deck of action cards that we can use to perform various actions, such as treating patients, restoring vitals, or obtaining supplies.
Throughout the game, patients will arrive at our ER and need urgent medical attention. It’s our job to assess their conditions, diagnose their illnesses, and provide the appropriate treatments. We have to prioritize our actions and make quick decisions to ensure the best outcomes.
Communication is key in Flatline. I’m constantly coordinating with my fellow doctors, sharing information, and working together to treat patients efficiently. The game can get intense as we race against the clock to provide the care needed.
At the end of each round, we assess our performance and receive points based on how well we’ve managed to stabilize our patients. We also face unexpected events that can complicate our tasks, like power outages or contagious infections. We have to adapt and think on our feet to overcome these challenges.
Overall, Flatline immerses me in the high-stakes world of emergency medicine. It challenges my problem-solving skills, teamwork abilities, and decision-making under pressure. With each playthrough, I become more familiar with the rules, strategies, and nuances of the game.
So, if you’re ready to step into the shoes of a doctor and experience the thrill of saving lives in a race against time, give Flatline a try. It’s a game that will keep you on the edge of your seat and make you appreciate the heroes working in real-life emergency rooms.
- The game includes a 5-Piece Interlocking Board, 1 Life Support Dial, 1 Plastic Connector, 40 Medic Dice (8 in each of the 5 player colors), 2 Emergency Dice, 20 Large Patient Cards, 29 Emergency Cards, 4 Double-Sided Power Meters, 20 Cleared Line Tiles, 10 Power Cubes, 4 Lock-Down Tiles, 1 Player Aid, and a Rulebook.
Let’s Get Started!
To win this game, we’ll have to work together as a team and make sure all the patients are treated before time runs out.
Getting Ready
Before we start playing, let’s set up the game board. First, take the Life Support Dial and attach it to the center of the board, just like the illustration shows. Once they’re together, they’ll stay that way.
Now, let’s build the rest of the board. Take the four Corner Board Pieces and attach them around the Life Support Dial in the center of the table. This will create the playing area for the game.
Next, we need to prepare the cards. Take the Emergency cards and shuffle them well. Then, place them face-down on the table next to the numbered area of the board, starting with number 1. Make sure to place the Emergency Dice just to the left of number 1.
Finally, it’s time to deal the Patient Cards. The number of cards you deal will depend on how many players there are and the difficulty level you’ve chosen. Deal the cards face-down, creating a stack in front of you and your fellow players. This stack will be the deck of cards we’ll draw from during the game.
I’m excited to share some important information with you about players, training, and expertise. Let’s break it down into four categories: Standard, Training, Players, and Expert. Take a look at the table below:
| Players | Training | Standard | Expert |
| 1-2 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 3 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 4 | 11 | 12 | 14 |
| 5 | 13 | 15 | 17 |
Now, let’s move on to the game setup. First, put the remaining Patient Cards aside since we won’t be using them. From the stack of cards you have, flip up the top four and place them face-up on the board’s designated spaces. The remaining tiles can be set aside for now.
Next, adjust the Life Support Dial. Rotate it so that the connection with the diamond lines up with the first space on any of the Patient Cards.
Finally, it’s time to place the Power Cubes. Put one cube on each of the Recharging spaces on the board.
Great work! You’re all set up and ready to start playing. Have fun saving lives and don’t forget to take breaks along the way. Good luck!
Alright, let’s get started! Here’s what you need to do:
1. Take the Power Meter. Make sure to pick the right one for the number of players in the game. You can choose to play on the standard (green) side or the expert (red) side. This decision will affect the number of Emergencies that will come up during the game. Place the Power Meter tile on the designated space on the board, with your chosen side facing up. If you have any extra Power Meters, you can put them back in the box for now.
2. Fill the Power Meter with the remaining eight Power Cubes. Put one Power Cube in each space on the meter.
3. Now, it’s time to choose a Chief Medical Officer. This player will be in charge of coordinating the medical team and making important decisions throughout the game. Usually, the person who knows the game best takes on this role. Since you’re reading these rules, that probably means you! Congratulations!
As the game starts, the Chief Medical Officer takes charge and oversees everything that happens. I’ll explain the gameplay in detail later. But for now, let’s pick someone to be the Intern. The Intern’s job is to sort and distribute the dice while the Chief Medical Officer handles other matters.
Each player gets to choose a color of dice and takes six of them to use. One die is put aside, and another one goes back in the box. Remember, if there are only two players, each player gets seven dice instead of six, and they each put one die aside.
Oh, and if you’re playing alone, choose two colors and set up the game just like you would for two players.
Lastly, place the Cleared Tiles on the table where the Chief Medical Officer can easily reach them. They’ll be needed later.
First things first, let’s set up the Lock-Down Tiles next to the board. Remember, these will only come into play if mentioned on a card. For more information, check out page 14.
How to Play
When it comes to playing FLATLINE, there are a few different phases to keep in mind. You can find all the details on the Chief Medical Officer’s player aid.
Hey there! I’m here to walk you through the steps as the Chief Medical Officer. Let’s get started, shall we?
Pre-countdown:
E Countdown
Resolution:
Heads up: So, this is a solitaire game, meaning you play as if there are two players, but it’s just you controlling both sets of dice. All the rules stay the same as in a two-player game.
I. Pre-countdown
A. Lose Power
First things first, I’ll take the left-most Power Cube from the Power Meter and remove it from the board. Easy peasy.
Just a heads up: This tracker will show you how many cards to draw in the next phase. Oh, and if you ever have to remove the last Power Cube from the Power Meter, uh-oh, you lose!
Add Emergencies
Right after removing the Power Cube, you’ll find a number. That number tells you how many Emergency Cards you need to reveal.
Take that many cards from the face-down deck and turn them face-up. Here’s what you do next:
- If the card you reveal has an ORANGE tab at the top, put it in the Stat area of the board. These emergencies are really serious and you have to deal with them this round.
Remember: If you don’t solve the emergencies in the Stat area, you’ll lose the game!
Hi there! Let me explain how to add the revealed card to the Emergency area on the board. If the card has a BLUE tab at the top, follow these rules:
First, always add the card next to the lowest number that has an open space. If the first 6 spaces are full, start a second row above the first one. But remember, if there are open spaces in both the first and second rows, add the cards to the first row. Only when the first row is full should you start adding cards to the second row. If both rows are full, which means 12 cards in total, any revealed cards (orange or blue tabs) are discarded permanently, out of the game.
By the way: If you ever need to draw Emergency Cards and there aren’t enough left in the draw pile, just shuffle the discard pile and create a new draw deck.
Now, let’s move on to Step C: Roll the Emergency Dice!
Hey there! Let’s get this game rolling, shall we?
First things first, grab those two Emergency Dice and pop ’em into the Emergency area on the board, matching the numbers. Boom! Now any Emergency Cards in those slots are in business. Pay attention, we’re gonna resolve those cards from left to right, starting with 1 and going all the way to 6.
Now, here’s a cool trick. If you got two cards in a slot – one in row one and another in row two – you gotta activate the one in row one first, and then move on to the card in row two.
Oh, and just a small detail: if you roll doubles, it only activates the cards in that space once. Good to know, right?
Now onto the planning phase.
Here’s where we get our heads together and come up with a strategy for this round. We gotta figure out our priorities and make an action plan. No rush, we’ve got all the time in the world here. But if you’re feeling a bit adventurous, you can set a timer and limit the discussion to just one minute. Adds a little spice to the game!
Alright, hold on tight. It’s time for the Countdown phase.
This is where the real magic happens. The Countdown phase keeps going until one minute passes or everyone has placed their dice – whichever comes first. It’s the heart and soul of the game, so get ready!
When you play this phase, your main goal is to save your patients, clear Emergency Cards, and earn extra rounds at the Recharge Stations. You accomplish these tasks by strategically placing your dice on different parts of the board.
Rescuing Patients
When you play the game, you’ll see Patient Cards showing different icons that you need to treat the patient. The icons on your dice match these icons, so you’ll put your dice on the corresponding spaces to treat the patients. Once everyone is ready, we start the timer and roll our dice. Now, we all need to work together to place our dice based on what the Patient Cards, Emergency Cards, and Recharging Stations require. Each Patient Card has three to five lines of icons that need to be completed. We can work on these lines in any order we want. To treat a line on a Patient Card, we simply put the required dice on the icons. There are different rules depending on the line: If it says “one player,” only one person can treat the line. If it says “exactly two players,” two people need to work together. If it says “more than one player,” we all need to work together. And if it says “ALL players,” everyone needs to put a die on the line. If a line is split, one player treats the left side, and another player treats the right side. And if a die space is split, we can put either die there.
Note: Once you place a die on a Patient Card, Card, or Recharging Station space, you can’t pick it up until the round ends. So, make sure you talk to your teammates and decide where to put the dice before placing them.
Clearing Emergency Cards
Emergency Cards are other emergencies that come into your medical bay. You don’t have to clear them to win, but the game will be much harder if you ignore them. You can clear Emergency Cards the same way you treat Patient Cards. Just put the required dice on the matching icons on the cards.
Note: Unless the Emergency card says otherwise, any combination of players can clear them. One player can even do it alone by placing all the needed dice.
Activating Recharging Stations
Hey there, let me tell you about the cool stuff in this game! We’ve got two recharging stations on the board. When you put your dice here, you get more time to take care of your patients. It’s like a bonus round that gives you an edge. And get this – anyone can put their dice here, whether they’re playing alone or with others. Teamwork makes the dream work!
Let’s Talk Re-Rolling
Now, I know that sometimes you don’t get the right numbers on your dice. But don’t worry, we’ve got a solution. There’s a re-roll track on the board. Here’s how it works: if you want to re-roll your dice, you’ve gotta sacrifice one of them. Don’t worry, it’s not gone forever. You just place it on the re-roll track. After that, you can re-roll as many of your dice as you want. Your sacrificed die will always go to the left-most open space on the track.
Once upon a time…
A long time ago, people made up a story about how things work. They called it “religion.” It helped them understand the world and gave them hope. But as time went on, some people started to question the story. They wondered if there might be another way to explain things. They started to look for answers in nature and science.
Are you curious about how the world works? Do you wonder why things happen the way they do? If you’re like me, you like to find out for yourself. You don’t just accept what people tell you. You want evidence. You want to see proof.
Choosing the right path can be hard. There are so many things to consider. You have to think about what you believe and why. You have to understand different viewpoints and question assumptions. It can feel overwhelming.
But don’t worry, I’m here to help! Let’s explore together and see what we can find out. Together, we can learn about the world and make our own choices. We’ll dig deep and uncover the truth.
So, grab your thinking cap and let’s get started!
There are a limited number of spaces in the re-roll track each round. The number of times you can activate re-rolls depends on the number of players. With 1, 2, or 3 players, you can activate re-rolls up to five times per round. With 4 players, it’s four times, and with 5 players, it’s three times.
For example, let’s say this is a game with five players, and Carrie just placed a die on the 3rd space of the re-roll track. After that, no more dice can be placed on the re-roll track for the rest of the round.
Let’s now move on to the next phase, which is the Resolution phase.
During the Resolution phase, we resolve the cards on the board. This phase starts as soon as the timer runs out. We begin by resolving the cards in the Stat area, and then we move on to the Emergency Area.
In the Stat Area, we resolve the cards.
If you didn’t clear a card (if you didn’t put the right dice on it), turn it face-down and put it next to the red side of the board, in the first available space. If there are too many cards in this area, you lose the game.
When you clear a card, you’ll need to place it face-up along the green edge of the board. Make sure to slide it partially under the board so that the dice icons can no longer be seen. This transformed card is now called a Triage Card. The Triage Card is a special benefit that you can use anytime you like – but only once.
Hey there, I’ve got an important note for you: You can use these Triage Cards whenever you want, but they’ll only work in the + area. Before you can activate them, you need an open slot in the + area (max: 4 cards). Once you’ve used a card, put it in the discard pile. If you need space for new cards, feel free to discard any cards from the + area. Remember: You can activate cards for the current round or save them for the next round, unless the card itself says otherwise. For example, you can activate a card during the resolution of the cards to get an extra die for the next round.
Emergency Area
G. Resolve Patient Cards
Let’s start with the Patient Card that has the diamond on the Life Support connection and move in a clockwise direction around the board, taking care of each Patient Card and then each Recharging Station.
To clear a line on a Patient Card, we need to treat the entire line during this round.
If a line doesn’t have all the dice needed to complete it, just give those dice back to the players. But if a line is correctly completed, we’ll place a Cleared Tile over it.
If I see this as the final line on the Patient Card, it means that the patient has been treated and is doing well.
When all the lines on the Patient Card are cleared and the treatment is successful, the trigger space at the bottom of the Patient Card, which is connected to the Life Support system, is activated.
And here’s what happens next – this effect is resolved right away.
If you’re like me, you might have trouble understanding why somebody would mess around with HTML code. It looks pretty confusing with all those tags and whatnot. But hey, I’m here to help break it down for you!
So let’s start with the basics. HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. Fancy name, right? But really, it’s just a way to structure and present content on the internet. Think of it like the skeleton that holds everything together.
When someone designs a website, they use HTML tags to define the different elements of the page. These tags act like instructions, telling the web browser how to display the content. They can be used to create headings, paragraphs, lists, links, and all sorts of other things.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Why can’t we just use plain text?” Well, that’s a good question. HTML allows us to add structure and meaning to our content. It also lets us include images, videos, and interactive elements. Without HTML, the web would be a pretty boring place!
But here’s the thing. HTML can be a bit tricky to learn at first. There are lots of different tags to remember, and it can take some time to get the hang of it. Luckily, there are plenty of resources out there to help you learn.
If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend checking out some online tutorials or taking a class. There are also lots of great books available that can walk you through the basics and help you get a better understanding of how HTML works.
And if you’re feeling really adventurous, you could even try creating your own website from scratch. It might seem like a daunting task, but trust me, it’s a lot of fun once you get the hang of it!
So whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, HTML is an essential skill for anyone looking to create content for the web. Don’t be intimidated by all those tags – once you start playing around with HTML, you’ll see just how powerful and versatile it can be.
When there’s a green light in the space, it’s a good thing for us players.
If the space has a red light, that means something else urgent has happened, but the patient will still receive treatment.
Once I deal with the triggering situation, I remove the Patient Card from the game and swap it with the next card in my deck, as long as I still have some left.
Recharging Stations for Extra Power
Hey there! Let’s talk about recharging stations and how they can give you a boost in the game. When you’re playing, you have a power meter that you want to fill up, right? Well, recharging stations are the way to do it!
Depending on how many players there are, you’ll need to fill up a certain number of spaces on the recharging station with dice. It’s like giving your power meter a recharge!
Now, here’s the cool part. If you manage to fill up all those spaces during the round, you get to take one of the power cubes from the recharging station and put it on the right-most open space on your power meter. It’s like a bonus round!
So, remember to keep an eye on those recharging stations during the game. They can give you that extra power you need to win! Have fun!
Example: Since there are three players in this game, you need to fill the top row and the left-most space in the bottom row.
The middle space at the bottom is for games with four or five players, and the rightmost space is only used in five player games.
Note: Just like with Emergency and Stat Cards, any player can put dice on the Recharging Stations, even if they are playing alone.
Note: When dealing with cards, Recharging Stations, or Patient Cards, the Chief Medical Officer will take away the dice and give them to the Intern. The Intern will organize the dice and return them to the appropriate players.
H. Turn the Life Support Dial
Once I finish resolving all the tasks on the board and give back the dice to everyone, it’s time to take care of the Life Support Dial. First, I need to rotate it one notch in a clockwise direction. The simplest method is to locate the part of the dial that’s linked with the diamond symbol and twist it so that it aligns with the initial position of the next patient in a clockwise sequence.
Once I turn the dial, the round comes to an end. If there are any Lock-Down Tiles on the board, I remove them. I need to make sure that everyone has the correct number of dice for the next round, and then I am ready to kick off the next round.
Remember: Any game effects caused by cards or other triggers only last for one round, and their influence fades as soon as the Life Support Dial is turned.
When the Game Ends
I win the game if I successfully treat all the required Patient Cards before time runs out.
I lose the game if any of the following happens:
Uh-oh! Looks like you’ve lost the last Power Cube from the Power Meter. Not to worry, though – we’ll figure out what to do next.
Imagine this: the board is set, the game is ready to begin. As I look at the X area, I notice something intriguing – there are not one, not two, but three face-down cards. It’s a perfect mystery waiting to be unraveled. And did you know that in a 1 or 2 player game, there are actually four face-down cards? Now that’s an extra twist to keep you on your toes.