Ada Lovelace: Legacy of the Analytical Engine
Ada Lovelace: Legacy of the Analytical Engine Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set Up
Print all the attached sheets. Colour is unnecessary in this game, so feel free to print everything in black-and-white. Notice that pages alternate between story pages and map pages — keep these in order!
The character sheet is used during every level. Grab a pen, some scissors, and some glue.
Place 6, 6-sided dice in the Reserve section in the Dice Manager, at the top-right of the Character Sheet.
Gameplay
Your objective is to draw polyominoes on the map of a crime scene so that you both surround pieces of evidence and fill labelled areas. By surrounding evidence, you will gain insight into the crime, granting you special abilities. You will use dice to place polyomino shapes and to activate special abilities.
Every level has a timer in the top-right of the sheet. Once you are out of time, your investigative skills are assessed on the next story page. You might earn special powers and upgrades, which are recorded, along with your progress, on your character sheet.
Rules
The rules to Ada Lovelace: Legacy of the Analytical Engine are very similar to Ada Lovelace: Consulting Mathematician and Ada Lovelace Saves Christmas. If you have played either of those, then you will only need to read the "Campaign" section of these rules. In addition, read the "Take a Polymino" section — it is now easier to take the small shapes from the middle of the shape wheel.
Turns
On each turn, take two dice from the Reserve section of the Dice Manager and roll them. Use each of them to either take a polyomino or to unlock an ability — both actions are detailed in the following sections. After you have used each die, place it into the "Used" section of the Dice Manager.
When you have used both of your dice, continue by taking two more dice from the Reserve, rolling and using them in the same manner.
If only one die remains in the Reserve section, roll it and use it as normal.
When there are no more dice left in the Reserve section, return all six dice from the Used section to the Reserve section. Then check off the top-most unchecked box on the Time Tracker. This is found on the upper right of the map sheet.
Example: the player has rolled six of their dice and moved them back to the reserve. They have marked off the first box on the Time Tracker (the Time Tracker lists 9:00am, 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm).
When the final box in the Time Tracker is checked, the level is immediately over. Calculate your score and see how you did by consulting the appropriate chapter conclusion page.
ACTION: Take a Polyomino
On the Shape Wheel, you will see that each die value is associated with two shapes. You can use a die to take one of its two associated shapes and draw that shape onto the map.
Alternatively, you can spend the die to take one of the smaller, more versatile, shapes in the middle circle.
When drawing a shape, you can flip (mirror) and rotate the chosen shape as you please, but it must be drawn in its entirety. It cannot overlap with other filled-in squares and cannot leave the boundary of the map. The shape can be placed through a door (black dashed line) but not through a wall (solid line).
Evidence squares (pre-shaded squares with icons) are considered filled and cannot be drawn in. If you completely surround a piece of evidence, you have collected it and must then circle it on the Abilities column. You will now earn points for that evidence and you can proceed to unlock its ability (see next section).
Example: the beach ball has been collected because it has been surrounded completely (including diagonal squares).
In later levels, you may encounter edge-cases with walls and doors in unusual configurations. When placing a shape around these, a wall cannot cut part-way into a shape.
Example: the 2x2 square shape is drawn passing through a door (permitted) but also with a wall cutting into it (not permitted), so the placement is illegal.
ACTION: Activate an Ability
Write the value of the die in one of the boxes next to a piece of evidence you have already collected. If you fill in the box/boxes appropriately, you activate the ability indicated.
Example: the player has collected the beach ball and lamp on the map, so they have circled them in the abilities column. The player has activated the beach ball ability by filling both boxes. They have begun to activate the lamp ability, but have not finished it yet. Maybe they'll finish it in a future turn.
Other Things
Wild Shapes
Some pieces of evidence give you access to wild shapes. If you use these abilities, you can take any shape from the shape wheel, including the small shapes in the middle.
Unlock Ability Requirements
- Spend two dice that have the same value (like all abilities, these dice do not have to come from the same roll).
- Spend two dice that have consecutive numbers (ie, 2 and 3). 1 and 6 are not consecutive.
- Spend two dice that add up to 2 or 3 (ie, two 1s).
- Spend two dice that add up to 7.
- Spend one die that shows a 4, 5 or 6.
- Spend two dice, with one showing a greater value than the other.
- Complete the grid in the same way that you complete the grid on the map. All squares must be completely shaded.
Ability Checkboxes
Most abilities happen immediately, but some can be triggered when it is most convenient to you. Tick the checkbox(es) on appropriate abilities to keep track.
Scoring
At the end of each chapter:
- Each piece of evidence is worth 2 points
- Each room is worth an amount of points if every empty square in it has been filled (investigated). The point value for each room is next to the room name.
- Some pieces of evidence give bonus points if their ability has been activated.
Add these values together for your final score. The chapter conclusion page will tell you how that score ranks.
Campaign
After you have completed each level, read the relevant chapter conclusion page, which continues the story. You will be instructed about which items to record on your character sheet. You will need to cut and glue things.
In subsequent levels, items on your character sheet may modify how you can investigate each level. Some levels also have unique rules, which are explained on the map sheet — ensure that you read the map sheet descriptions before beginning each level.
Even before starting the game, you might have earned a bonus ability — if that's the case, glue it on to your character sheet in one of the ability slots. Should you ever wish to take a 7th ability, you must replace an existing one.
After each level, you will need to record the evidence you have collected. Notice that evidence comes in sets — it benefits you to complete these sets when convenient, but it's not Earth-shattering, so don't sweat it too much.
Similarly, sometimes you will find ciphers in the game. Each comes with clues about how to crack them, but if you can't figure them out, don't lose hope — just move on.
Some campaign notes ask if you "investigated" a piece of evidence. This means to surround a piece of evidence — not necessarily to complete the ability associated with it.