Card Descriptions
The cards in the game deck come in a variety of different flavors but tend to fall into a select few supersets.
- Leaders
- Events
- Items
- Allies
- Double Agents
- Countermeasures
Card Layout
Each card comes with a set of common characteristics which impact how each player’s turn is processed as well as how the game itself progresses.
Common elements include the Type, Cost, Name, Card description, and bona fide AI generated art. The AI art is probably the most impressive part of each card. A mixture of DALL-E and Midjourney, these prompt-driven Rembrandts bring the concepts of each card to life in a way that only machines can. I’m certainly not talented enough to draw this stuff.
Some cards also have Traits, which give them specific abilities or powers. These abilities need to be resolved before the abilities of any Bench cards at the start of your turn. Some cards have Prerequisites, meaning you must have at least one of the icons shown in your Backlog to purchase as well as use this card. This can complicate things, though each Prerequisite requires only one or more of the item shown, and in most cases this will not be an issue as it’s common to have items in your Backlog throughout the game.
Card Symbols
The following symbols can be found on certain cards within the game. They can make a huge difference in how card effects are enacted, so it’s best to be mindful of what they mean.
| Symbol | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Promotable | This card can be promoted to a spot on the Bench in place of an existing Leader. |
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Demotion | This card allows you to demote a current Leader on the Board and replace it with a Leader you have on the Bench. |
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Options | Just like stock options, it’s unclear when the best time to use them is. This indicates a special ability that can only be used once per game. |
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Poaching | Save the ivory! This allows you to take any one card from another player so long as it’s currently in play. |
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Double Agent | This indicates a card that carries a certain ability and belief system that can rather easily be swayed with the right card. |
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Competetive | This card should only be played during a competitive game setup. |
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Cooperative | This card should only be played during a cooperative game setup. |
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Feature | An intentional grouping of work items on your Backlog. If this appears next to the card cost, it means you must have at least one active Feature to purchase (and/or use) this card. |
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Bug | Something is awry—QA found some shit that doesn’t work as intended. If this appears next to the card cost, it means you must have at least one active Bug to purchase (and/or use) this card. |
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Unplanned Work | Either you didn’t find this in discovery, or someone dropped a hot load of scope creep on you. If this appears next to the card cost, it means you must have at least one active Unplanned Work item to purchase (and/or use) this card. |
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Company (Outage) | Only relevant to Outage cards. The impact of the Outage card is relegated to one player. |
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Regional (Outage) | Only relevant to Outage cards. The impact of the Outage card is relegated to players that have Leaders on the Board with specific Trait symbols. |
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Global (Outage) | Only relevant to Outage cards. This hits everyone. A real “fuck you all” kind of card. |
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The Bench | Cards with this icon showing on the right hand side have a specific effect when they are on the Bench. |
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The Board | Cards with this icon showing on the right hand side have a specific effect when they are on the Board. |
| Back - Example Round | Next - Traits |