Deckbuilding Mechanics
It’s a deckbuilder. You start with shit and have to pay your way to get better shit. No special treatment. Unlike other deckbuilders, there are no cards that permit or require cards to be exiled, banished, excommunicated, fired, laid off, or otherwise removed from play entirely. If the Event pile is depleted, you can simply shuffle the discarded events in the dead letter queue and start afresh.
Resource Mechanics
This game includes elements of resource management along with being a deckbuilder. Because why make things simple when you can overengineer them! The resources play a vital part in how you advance your Influence in the game, and ultimately position yourself to win. And no, “resources” does not refer to “people”. These refer to Features, Bugs, and Unplanned Work items.
Resource Management
Unlike other resource management games, the intent of having resources in this game is to eliminate all of them to trigger an end game scenario. Amassing more resources is a detriment and will make winning the game more complicated. Any way you can remove resources from your Backlog will benefit you.
Influence Meter
The Influence meter is an important part of the player’s resources because reaching its maximum score can trigger the end of the game. Certain cards will allow you to increase your own or decrease opposing players’ Influence. In some cases, the effect of the card can impact multiple players. See Special Conditions for more information.
Rounds
Depending on the number of players in the game, there is a set number of rounds the game is to take place over. It is suggested that for a single player game, no more than 12 rounds should be played. Refer to the Special Circumstances section for more information on solo play setup and mechanics. For 2-4 players, a maximum of 15 rounds can be played. For 5-6 players, a maximum of 20 rounds should be played. If no one achieves Digital Influence by the end of the final round in a competitive play format, the player with the highest resource total combined with Influence score and count of non-Frontliner cards will be declared the winner.
The Purchase Pool
The Purchase Pool is a theoretical construct allowing you to amass currency to “pay” for cards in the Event Stream. This pool is exhausted at the end of your turn, so utilize it wisely. Some cards can add units to your Purchase Pool once every round, while others only do so for the current round. For example, all cards in the starter deck allow you to collect units for the Purchase Pool during your turn. Some Leadership cards can affect how the Pool is managed, and other Promotable cards can give you recurring units for your Pool during every round they are in play.
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