INFILTRATION

Listen up! There’s this big corporation that’s been making some serious progress in Artificial Intelligence. And guess what? You and a group of agents, including me, have been recruited to infiltrate their top-secret research center. Our mission? Steal as much data as we can, or better yet, get our hands on one of their priceless prototypes. But here’s the catch: we can’t trust anyone, not even our fellow agents. They might just stab us in the back and leave us behind while they make a quick getaway before the cops show up. Sneaky, huh?

Infiltration is an exciting game that takes place in the futuristic Android Netrunner universe. Your goal is to infiltrate a building and steal valuable files. But be careful! Time is not on your side. The longer you stay in the building, the greater your chances of finding valuable files, but also the greater your chances of getting caught.

The game is played with a timer that progresses each turn, representing the advancing police forces. The closer they get, the more dangerous it becomes for you. If you are still in the building when the police arrive, you will be captured and eliminated.

Your ultimate objective is to secure as many files as possible. The player with the highest number of files at the end of the game is the winner.

GAME SETUP

Hey there! Let’s get started by setting up the game. First, we’ll shuffle the Room cards for the ground floor (they’re the ones with the blue light) and place six of them face down in a shifted line. Then, we’ll do the same with the Room cards for the first floor, but this time we’ll place them in a reverse shifted line. This way, we’ll form a cool V shape with the twelve Room cards. Exciting, right?

Next, it’s time to shuffle the Secret Room cards. We’ll draw one and place it face down in the center of our awesome V shape.

Now, let’s organize some tokens! Sort the Scientist and Lock tokens and place them near the Rooms. We’ll do the same with all the File tokens, but make sure to place them face down for a bit of mystery.

Oh, and don’t forget the NPC cards! We’ll keep them near the research center so we can easily access them when needed.

Last but not least, we need to deal out some cards to each player. Here’s what you’ll get:

• one Agent card and a cool Agent pawn to represent you
• 4 Action cards, each of a different type: Advance, Withdraw, Interface, Download
• 4 Item cards, randomly selected (the rest will form the draw pile)

Now we’re all set up and ready to dive into the game. Enjoy!

Alright, let’s get this party started. I’m going to reveal the first secret on the ground floor and everyone’s gonna put their Agent pawn on it. Oh, and if the room has any cool effects like an Intrusion or a Reveal, we’re gonna make it happen right away.

Now, who’s gonna go first? We’re gonna figure that out by pure luck. The lucky person gets the die and the super fancy Security monitor.

THE PLAY

Let me tell you about this game. It’s divided into different rounds, and each round has four phases:

1. Selection phase
2. Execution phase
3. NPC phase
4. Security phase

1. SELECTION PHASE

Here’s how it works: In this phase, I look at the cards in my hand. I’ve got Action cards and Item cards. From those, I choose one to play this turn.

Oh, and a quick note: If I’m Delayed, I can’t choose the Advance or Withdraw action card. Those options aren’t available to me.

2. EXECUTION PHASE

Now, things get interesting. Starting with the first player, we all get to execute the effects of the Action/Item cards we chose. It’s like putting our plans into action!

• The first action is Advance. When you choose this action, you move your agent further into the research center by one room. If the room your agent enters has an Intrusion effect, you have to deal with that effect right away. If the room hasn’t been revealed yet, you turn it over and apply its Revealed effect if it has one.
• The second action is Withdraw. If you choose this action, you move your agent back towards the entrance by one room. Again, if the room your agent enters has an Intrusion effect, you have to deal with it immediately. However, if your agent was on the entrance room when you played this card, he escapes the research center.
• The third action is Download. If you are the first player to play the Download action in the room where your agent is, your agent can steal up to two of the File tokens that are available. But if you’re not the first player, your agent can only take one File token.
• The fourth and final action is Interface. If you find yourself in a room that has an Interface effect and there’s at least one Interface token present, you can discard that token and activate the Interface effect.

When you play the game, each item card has a special effect. And guess what? The effect on the card actually overrules the normal game rules! Some item cards need to be played in the same room where your character is hanging out. Just put the item card on the room card, and it stays there until the effect is finished.

3. NPC PHASE

Oh, and don’t forget about the NPC cards! Those pop up in specific rooms as the game goes on. Some of them will be face up, and others will be face down. It all depends on what the NPC card says. Now, here’s the fun part. You go room by room, starting from the entrance, and take care of each NPC card that’s face up. If there’s more than one NPC in a room, you get to choose the order in which you deal with their effects. Pretty cool, right?

So, here’s the thing… when you use a special ability to destroy one of those Non-Player Character cards, it doesn’t matter if it’s face up or face down – the NPC gets destroyed either way. Talk about ruthless!

Now, let’s get into the good stuff – the Security Phase. This is where things really heat up. You see, there’s this Security monitor, and it basically shows how close the police forces are getting to the research center. No bueno.

Here’s how it works: the first player rolls the die (always keeping us on our toes) and adds the number they get to the Alarm display (you know, that thing at the top of the Security monitor). The total of those two becomes the new value for the Proximity display (yep, that’s the bottom part of the Security monitor). Oh, and there are two wheels on that bad boy – the left one for the tens and the right one for the units.

Now, here’s the kicker: if that sneaky Proximity display reaches 99, game over. I repeat, GAME. OVER. Gotta keep an eye on that, or it’s all gonna come crashing down.

EXPLORE THE ROOMS OF THE RESEARCH CENTER

Let me share with you the fascinating details about each room:

• Room Type: Simply look at the indicator light to determine the type of room. A blue light signifies a ground floor room, a yellow light indicates a first-floor room, and a red light means it’s a secret room.
• File Tokens: Inside every room, you’ll find a number of accessible Files for the agents. When a room is revealed, place the designated number of tokens on the room card.
• Intrusion Effect: This effect comes into play every time an agent enters a room. It adds an element of surprise and uncertainty.
• Revealed Effect: This effect only occurs once, when an agent enters the room for the very first time. It adds an extra layer of intrigue and excitement.

When you’re playing the game, you’ll come across a couple of special effects that can happen in the rooms. Let’s talk about two of them: the Interface effect and the Lock effect.

The Interface effect happens when you perform the Interface action in a room where there’s still an Interface token. You can do this using either an Interface action card or an Item card that provides the Interface action. Usually, you’ll need to take the Interface token from the room and put it back in the reserve. But once a room runs out of Interface tokens, you can’t trigger the Interface effect anymore.

Now let’s move on to the Lock effect. When there’s a Lock token in a room, it means that there’s important information that’s protected. To trigger the Lock effect and gain access to the information, you have to destroy the Lock. This is usually done with an Item card. Once the Lock is destroyed, you remove the Lock token and add some additional File tokens to the room, as indicated above the Lock slot.

These effects add an extra layer of strategy to the game. You’ll need to consider when and how to use them to your advantage. Keep an eye out for Interface and Lock tokens as you explore the rooms. Good luck!

As I enter certain rooms, I can see scientists working on important projects. When I destroy a Scientist token, I remove it and replace it with Files tokens. These tokens represent valuable information that I can collect.

There are also special effects that can be triggered when I take certain actions in a room. For example, when I advance in a room, there may be an automatic effect that is applied. And when I withdraw from a room, there may be another automatic effect that is triggered.

Now, let’s talk about revealing a room. When I enter a room that is still face down, I go through a series of steps. First, I turn the room card face up to see what’s inside. Then, I resolve any Revealed effects that are listed on the card. These effects can have a variety of outcomes. Finally, I resolve any Intrusion effects that are present on the room card. These effects can have both positive and negative consequences.

So, as I explore the facility, I must keep in mind the scientists, the special effects, and the process of revealing rooms. It’s a challenging mission, but one that is filled with excitement and discovery.

Hey there! So, let’s talk about how to navigate the mysterious Secret Room in the research center. It’s a pretty cool spot that holds some valuable information, but it’s not like any regular room, you know?

First things first, to access the Secret Room, you gotta be in a specific room and use the Advance action. Only certain rooms can get you there, so it’s not like you can just walk in from anywhere.

But hold up, getting out of the Secret Room is also a bit different. You can only leave through a Specific Room, and you gotta use the Withdraw action to do it. This means you can’t just find an exit wherever you want.

Now, here’s the thing – the entrance and exit rooms aren’t always guaranteed to be in the research center. It all depends on the Room cards that are drawn during the game setup. And even if they are there, they won’t be revealed until you actually want to use them to get into or out of the Secret Room.

Here’s something interesting – the Secret Room isn’t really considered ‘adjacent’ to any other room when it comes to game effects. So don’t expect the usual stuff to apply to it like it does to the rooms nearby.

GETTING HELD UP OR HURT

When I get hurt by something in the game, like when an NPC attacks me or another player plays a card, my Agent card flips to the red side. Once I’m wounded, I can’t get hurt again. That’s not all, being wounded also delays me if I try to Advance or Withdraw.

Being Delayed means I won’t be able to use either the Advance or Withdraw action on my next turn.

But don’t worry, there are some Item cards that can heal me. When I get healed, my agent card flips to the blue side.

EMERGING VICTORIOUS

The game comes to an end as soon as one of the following events happens:

• The Security monitor’s Proximity display reaches 99.
• All agents successfully escape the research center by choosing to Withdraw while in the entrance room or by using any other game feature that allows them to escape.

When the game concludes, each player tallies up the total number of Data Points displayed on their collected File tokens. If a player has acquired special cards that grant extra Data Points, they should add those points to their total score. The player with the highest overall score emerges as the winner. In the event of a tie, the tiebreaker is determined by comparing the following possessions in descending order of significance:

• Prototype card
• Number of File tokens
• Compromising File card

You know, when the Proximity display hits 99, any agent that didn’t escape is out. They don’t even count their total, unless they have the Compromising File card. With that card, they can exchange it to get released by the police. Now, if only one player makes it out, that player wins.

Variants

Speeding Up/Slowing Down the Game

Hey there! Did you know that you can adjust the length of the game by tinkering with the Alarm display value? Here’s how: if you set it to -1, you’ll enjoy a slightly longer game. But if you’re looking for a faster-paced experience, set it to 1 instead of 0 for a slightly shorter game. The choice is yours!

Collecting Information Differently

Oh, and here’s a fun twist for you. Instead of using the Download Action card, we can mix things up by dealing each player an Extract card during the game setup. Pretty cool, right?

Now, during the Execution phase, pay attention! If you played the Extract action, you’ll get a chance to snatch up to four File tokens in the room you’re in. The number of tokens you get depends on how many players in that room played the Extract action too:

• If you’re the only player in the room, you can grab 4 tokens all for yourself!
• If there are two players in the room, you both get 2 tokens each, if there are enough tokens to go around, of course.
• And if there are three or more players in the room, everyone gets 1 token each, as long as there are enough tokens to share.

Remember, you’ll take the tokens in the order of the turn, so keep an eye out for your chance to snag those valuable files!

A Game for Two Players

Hey there! I’m excited to tell you about this awesome two-player game! It’s super fun and easy to play. Let me walk you through the rules:

• Each player gets to control two agents instead of just one. You’ll have twice the chance to win!
• Make sure to keep your agents’ cards, file tokens, and other stuff separate from your opponent’s. You can’t trade anything during the game.
• During your turn, you can take actions with both of your agents in any order you want. It’s all up to you!
• When the game is over, it’s time to count up your Data Points. Add up the total collected by the agents who escaped. That will be your final score.

Awesome, right? Now you and your friend can have a blast playing this game together. Enjoy!