You are a hacker trying to remotely install a nasty worm virus on Jack Thompson’s computer so you can go down in history as being the most l33t hacker ever.  However, other hackers are simultaneously trying to do the same thing!  Overwrite their data by using your own blocks of code, or hijack your opponents’ data and wreak havoc with it.  When the computer finally fails, the hacker who has the most intact chunk of virus data wins the game!

Parts Included
71 colored pieces — 6 special pieces — Envelope — Board — Instructions

Goal
Overwrite opponents’ data and have the largest connected data block at the end of the game.

Setup
Each player chooses one color.  Depending on the amount of players, gather either 1 or 2 sets of special pieces (system fail, anti-virus, encryption and defrag). Shuffle the colored pieces and the special pieces together and place them in the envelope.  Put unused color pieces and special pieces (if there are any) off to the side, out of play.

— 2 people: 6x6 board (innermost boundary), 1 set of special pieces (1 system fail, 1 anti-virus, 1 encryption, 1 defrag)
— 3-4 people: 8x8 board (middle boundary), 2 sets of special pieces (1 system fail, 2 anti-virus, 2 encryption, 2 defrag)
— 5-6 people: 10x10 board (entire board), 2 sets of special pieces (1 system fail, 2 anti-virus, 2 encryption, 2 defrag)

Community Bank
Randomly draw a piece out of the envelope - this color goes first.  Replace the piece in the envelope.  The player who goes first draws one piece out of the envelope at random and places it next to the board.  Continuing clockwise, each player randomly draws a piece out of the envelope and places it by the first piece.  This forms a community bank of pieces.  At the start of each turn, the bank should be equal to the number of players.

On Your Turn
Randomly draw a piece out of the envelope and place it in the community bank.  Select any of the pieces in the bank, whether it is your piece or an opponent’s piece, and play it on the board.  Your turn is over once you have placed your piece on the board and removed your hand.  The bright blue lines on the game board indicate the space where you can play, which varies depending on the number of players.  A piece may never be played so that it extends outside of the board boundary.

At the beginning of the game, the first piece played must be placed against one side of the board.  Subsequent pieces cannot overlap one another until a chain of pieces touches the opposing side of the board.  After the first layer of pieces has connected the board, players are allowed to stack any pieces they wish.

The game ends instantly when a player draws the system fail piece.  The player who has the largest connected chunk of blocks wins the game.  Only pieces with connecting edges count.  Corners or pieces that connect diagonally do not.

Personal Bank
On your turn, after drawing a piece and placing it in the community bank, you may choose to take a piece out of that bank and reserve it in your personal bank in front of you. If you reserve a piece in your personal bank, you do not play a piece on the board that turn.
— The piece must be your color and cannot be larger than 4 blocks.
— You may only have a max of 2 pieces in your bank at any time.
— Special pieces cannot be reserved in your bank.

If you want to play a piece from your bank, do not draw from the envelope on your turn.  If you still have pieces in your personal bank when the game ends, you are not allowed to play them.

Special Pieces
Special pieces do not have to be played on the turn they are drawn.  They may reside in the community bank just like normal colored pieces.
— Anti-virus: place the anti-virus on the board and remove any pieces that it shares an edge with.  Only top level pieces can be removed, meaning the piece cannot be covered in any way (including the anti-virus piece itself).  The anti-virus affects your own pieces as well, so be careful where you place it!  The used anti-virus and the pieces it removes from the board are permanently put out of play.
— Encrypted data: once this piece has been placed on the board, no other pieces may overlap it in any way.  Encrypted data cannot be manipulated by other special pieces.
— Defrag: choose one top level (completely uncovered) piece already played on the board and move it somewhere else.  Defrag is removed from play once used.

 

Board game created by: Gwendolyn Murrray, Tyler Hawley, Travis Rollins & Racquel Hamilton