Green Box of Games

In AD 2101, war was beginning… Build up your base and install the correct hardware and software on your defence stations to prepare for the oncoming attack. In this game for up to 6 players you play cards from your hand to perform one of three actions, and pass the cards you don’t need to the next player.

At a glance:

2-6 players

30 minutes

Complexity: High

Components used:

All cards (depending on number of players)

All cubes

All tiles (depending on number of players)

Setup:

Sort the tiles (Defence Stations) by symbol. Include a number of tiles with each symbol equal to one more than the number of players. So with 5-6 players you use all the tiles. Put the sorted stacks face up in the middle of the table.

Put all the cubes (Hardware) in a common draw pile beside the tiles.

Shuffle the deck and deal 10 cards to each player (or 9 in a 6-player game). See below for special rules for 2 (or 3) players.

Play:

In the beginning, play can be more or less simultaneous. Each turn each player will play two cards, select two cards to keep, and then pass the rest to the next player on the left.

Playing cards, each card can be used for one of three actions:

1: Build a Defence Station, by taking a tile with the same symbol as the card you played and placing it in front of you.

2: Install Hardware, by taking a cube of the same colour as the border of the card you played and placing it onto one of your Defence Stations. You can place several pieces of Hardware on one Station, but it must be placed immediately and may not be moved later.

3: Install Software, by placing the card directly in front of one of your Defence Stations, making sure the symbol on the card matches the Station. The colour of the card does not have to match the installed Hardware, although that will score you more points. You can upgrade the Software on a Station by discarding the previously placed card and placing a new one.

Hardware and software can be installed in any order. That means you can place a card before you place cubes and vice versa.

Play continues until the players have no more cards in hand. Note that in the final turns when each player has 4 or less cards in hand there will be no cards to send.

When everyone has played all their cards, the Phase ends and each player counts their score. Then *all* cards are returned to the deck, shuffled and dealt again for a new phase.

Winner

The game ends after three complete Phases have been played, and the winner is the player with the highest total score from all phases combined.

Scoring:

– Each piece of Software scores points equal to the number printed on the card

– Each piece of Hardware scores 3 points if, and only if, it matches the border colour of the Software card played on the same Station. A white card will match any and all pieces of Hardware, whereas a black card will never match any.

Special rules for 2 (or 3) players

During setup, deal only 6 cards to each player. Each turn, each player now plays two cards, keeps two, sends two to the next player, and then draws two new cards from the deck. A Phase still ends after 10 cards have been played by each player. The 3-player game can be played either like this or with the standard rules.

Advanced deck preparation for 2-4 players

Since not all cards will come into play, you can give the game a feeling of escalation by removing the highest valued cards from the first phase.

– In a 4-player game, remove all 5s and 6s. Then after the first Phase, take out 4 random cards from the starting deck and add in the six 5s. After Phase two, remove 6 more random cards and add in the six 6s.

– In a 3-player game, remove 4s as well. Add the 4s for the second Phase, removing 6 random cards. Then add the 5s and 6s, removing 12 more cards.

– In a 2-player game, remove the 3s as well. Add the 3s and 4s for Phase 2, removing 12 random cards. Add the 5s and 6s for Phase 3, removing 12 more random cards.

“How Are You, Gentlemen!! All Your Base Are Belong To Us!”

The phrase originates from an “engrish” translation of a japanese video game, and has been an internet phenomenon since 1998. See the full sequence and learn more at http://www.allyourbasearebelongtous.com/