Anomaly Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal
• Components
• Setup
  • Board Zones
  • Using Reminder Tokens
• Game Structure
  • Students
  • Anomaly
  • End of Round
    • Radiation Example
• End of Game
• Actions
  • Basic Actions for the Students
  • Special Actions for the Students
  • Attacking with Students
  • Fuel Sources
  • Basic Actions for the Anomaly
  • Special Actions for the Anomaly
  • Evolutions for the Anomaly
• Strategy Tips
  • Students
  • Anomaly
• Advanced 2-Player Variant

Goal

Anomaly is a hidden movement, deduction, and combat game for 2-4 players. Players in this game are divided into 2 teams. One player is the Anomaly, while the other players are the Students. The goal of each team is to eliminate the other by depleting their health pool. Students share a collective health pool.

Components

• 36 Action Cards
• 27 Tracking Cards (in 3 sets of 9 each)
• 1 Game Board
• 12 Radiation Tokens
• 1 Health Tracker (plus 2 Health Markers & 1 Zero Marker)
• 6 Fuel Source Tokens
• 3 Sensor Tokens
• 4 Player Mini-boards
• 4 Player Screens
• 8 Player Standees
• 6 Trap Tokens
• 8 Electricity Tokens
• 24 Reminder Pieces (12 black & 4 of each other color)
• 3 Action Point Tokens
• 6 Evolution Tokens

Setup

1. Place the game board in the middle of the table.
2. Shuffle the radiation tokens and place them face down in a stack in the center of the board.
3. Shuffle the action cards and place them in a face down pile near the board. Leave space for a discard pile.
4. Place the sensor, trap, electricity, reminder, and evolution tokens near the board.
5. Place the health tracker beside the game board. Place the 2 health markers on the health tracker: on the left (blue) end of the track for the Students, and the right (red) end for the Anomaly. Place the Zero marker on the space in the middle.
6. Distribute the 6 fuel source tokens onto the board: 2 in non-adjacent core zones, 2 in non-adjacent labs zones, and 2 in non-adjacent quarters zones.
7. Designate a player to be the Anomaly.
8. Give each player their mini-board, their player marker, and their screen. Screens should be placed so that players may not see each other's mini-boards.
9. Give the Anomaly the 3 action point tokens and 6 evolution tokens.
10. Give each Student a complete set of 9 tracking cards. They may keep them face up near their screen.
11. Give each Student a number of action cards: 7 if there is only 1 Student, 4 cards each if there are 2, and 3 cards each if there are 3. Students should keep their cards hidden from everyone else; cards should be revealed only when played.
12. All players must secretly choose their starting position on the map by placing their player marker in the zone of their choice on their mini-board.
13. Each Student must place in front of their screen a tracking card that shows a symbol associated with their starting position. The symbol on the card must match one of the 3 symbols in their location.

Board Zones

The board is split into 12 zones (numbered 1-12). Each zone has symbols that define what type of zone it is: Core, Labs, Quarters (zone type); Fire, Engineering, Physics (and similar); Cold, AI, Biology. The shuttle bays are the empty spaces located between the labs.

Using Reminder Tokens

Players may use reminder tokens to track each other. Here is how we suggest they be used: Students are responsible for tracking the Anomaly directly on the main board using the black reminder tokens; the Anomaly is responsible for tracking the Students on the main board using the reminder tokens in the Students' colors.

Game Structure

The game is divided into rounds. Starting with the Students, each team plays in turn, meaning a Student plays, the Anomaly plays, a Student plays, the Anomaly plays, etc. Both sides have a maximum number of actions they may perform in each round. The Anomaly may choose to skip its turn; Students may not do so until they have played all their actions. A round ends as soon as both sides have played all their available actions.

Students

• Students may perform actions until they collectively have 2 cards left in hand. A card must be discarded for every basic action a Student performs, or played and given to the Anomaly to perform a special action.
• Each card may be used to perform either a special action (indicated in the top half of the card) or a basic action (move or track). When a card is used for a special action it must be given to the Anomaly.
• There is no predefined order between the Students; every time a Student needs to play, they may decide who should perform the action.
• Students may not secretly show their cards to one another. They may speak freely but everything they say must be audible to the Anomaly.

Anomaly

• The Anomaly may perform actions until it does not have any action points (AP) left. By discarding 1 AP it may perform 1 basic action and/or 1 special action (in whichever order).
• The Anomaly's special actions are indicated on the reversed space of the action cards it receives from the Students. To perform a special action it must discard the relevant card(s): 2 evolve cards to evolve, 1 card for every other special action.
• If the Anomaly is in the same location as a Student or fuel source, it can spend 1 AP to feed. If it feeds on a student, the Zero marker moves 1 space to the left. If it feeds on a fuel source, the Anomaly gains 1 HP and its health marker moves 1 space to the right. If the Anomaly does not feed successfully over the course of a round, it loses 1 HP at the end of that round.

Survival Spirit: When either the Students' or the Anomaly's health token becomes adjacent to the zero token, they may immediately refill their hands (if Students) or take back their APs (if Anomaly). If they are already at maximum cards/APs, the opportunity is unfortunately lost. It is possible for this to happen more than once over the course of a game.

End of Round

• Card Refill: Each Student must refill their hand to 7 cards (1 Student), 4 cards (2 Students), or 3 cards (3 Students) from the action card pile. If there are no more cards left in the pile, the discard pile is shuffled and a new pile is formed.
• AP Refill: The Anomaly takes back its AP tokens.
• Radiation: Every player in an irradiated zone takes 1 damage. After that, a new radiation tile is drawn and placed in the lowest-numbered viable zone shown on the back of the tile. A viable zone is defined as a zone either adjacent to the reactor or to a previously-placed radiation tile. There may not be more than 1 radiation token per zone.

Radiation Example

1. Game start: Radiation tokens form a stack in the central core of the station.
2. End of round 1: The top radiation token is flipped. Radiation spreads to the section with the lowest number (1) adjacent to existing radiation.
3. End of round 2: The top radiation token is flipped. Radiation spreads to the section with the lowest number (7) adjacent to existing radiation.

End of Game

The game ends as soon as either the Students' or the Anomaly's health marker hits the zero marker.

Actions

In this section, actions for both the Students and the Anomaly are explained.

Basic Actions for the Students

Any card can be discarded to perform 1 of the 2 following actions:

• Move: Move to an adjacent zone by secretly moving your player marker on your mini-board. You must then place a tracking card associated with your current position in front of your player screen, to your right. When you move to a zone, move the card on the right of your player screen to the left, and flip it face down (ignore this for your first movement of the game). The previous leftmost card returns to your deck of tracking cards.
• Track: Designate 1 of the 2 tracking cards in front of your screen (at the beginning of the game you will have only 1). The Anomaly must confirm if it is in a zone associated with the symbol on the designated card.

Moving: When a Student or the Anomaly says they move, they may not decide to stay where they are; they really must move.

Special Actions for the Students

• Strike: Designate a zone at range 0-1 on the main board and deal 1 damage there.
• Double Strike: Strike twice. Each attack is made separately, and may hit different zones.
• Far Strike: Strike at range 0-2.
• Trap: Place a trap token in the zone you are occupying on your mini-board. At any time, you may activate your trap for free (even during the Anomaly's turn): designate the affected zone on the main board, deal 1 damage in that zone, then discard the trap.
• Bludgeon: Reveal your position and deal 2 damage in your zone.
• Stun Baton: Reveal your position and deal 3 damage in your zone.
• Sensor: Designate a zone at range 0-1 on the main board and place a sensor token there. Until the end of the game, if the Anomaly moves to that zone, it must reveal itself.
• Stims: Move to a zone at range 1-2. Place a tracking card based on your final destination only.
• Bait: Designate a zone at range 0-1 on the main board. Using its normal movement, the Anomaly must immediately move closer to the designated zone by the shortest path. The Anomaly does not spend any AP for that movement and does not need to reveal its position. If and only if the Anomaly is already in that zone, it may fake a movement as if it was going towards it.

Range 0 means in the same zone.

Attacking with Students

When the Students attack a zone, the Anomaly will take damage if it is in the designated zone. If other Students are in the same zone as the Anomaly, they will not take any damage. If the Anomaly is not in that zone and at least one other Student is, the Students take damage instead. The Students only take damage once, even if multiple students are in the zone. If neither the Anomaly nor any other students are in the zone, the attack has no effect.

Fuel Sources

Students can target fuel sources with any weapon to remove them from the board. However, exploding a fuel source causes everyone (Students and Anomaly) in that zone to take 1 damage, so it is preferable to target fuel with a ranged weapon. Even if there are multiple Students in the zone, they still only take 1 damage collectively. When the Anomaly feeds on a fuel source, it gains 1 HP and the fuel source is removed from the board.

Basic Actions for the Anomaly

When spending an AP, the Anomaly may always perform 1 of the 2 following actions in addition to performing a special action (provided it has the card to perform it):

• Feed: Reveal yourself. Any Students in your zone must also reveal themselves. If there is at least 1 Student, you feed on them, and the zero marker is moved 1 space to the left on the health tracker. If there are no Students but there is fuel, you feed on it instead and gain 1 HP; the fuel token is removed after feeding. The Anomaly cannot have more than its starting HP.
• Move: Move to an adjacent zone by secretly moving your player marker on your mini-board. Contrary to the Students, you do not need to show a tracking card when moving.

The Anomaly may perform basic and special actions in any order it chooses.

Special Actions for the Anomaly

• Evolve: Discard 2 cards with Evolve symbols to gain a new evolution of your choice. Evolutions are permanent passive abilities.
• Overload: Either place 2 electricity tokens in any zone on the main board (the tokens do not have to be in the same zone) or activate and discard all electricity tokens already on the board. Students in the same space as an electricity token take 1 damage per player when it is activated. Students do not need to reveal their exact location, but do need to state if they were electrocuted, thus narrowing down their location. The Anomaly is not affected by electricity.
• Possess: Reveal yourself. Any Students in your zone must also reveal themselves. Choose a Student in your zone, look at their hand of cards, and make that Student perform the action of your choice (following all the usual rules, as if that Student was performing the action normally).
• Scent: Designate any number of zones anywhere on the main board. Each Student must say if they are in one of the designated zones, though they do not have to specify exactly which one.
• Teleport: Move to any other zone on the board.

Evolutions for the Anomaly

• Adaptive: The Anomaly may discard X cards of any type as a replacement for the card of its choice. X depends on the card: Scent = 1; Lightning = 2; Evolve = 2; Possess = 3; Teleport = 4.
• Conduit: When the Anomaly activates the electricity tokens, it may gain 1 HP for each electricity that shocks its zone. This feeds the Anomaly. It does not need to reveal its position, only the amount of electricity that shocked its zone.
• Echolocation: Students must reveal their position when they use any action other than move, track, or trap.
• Morph: When the Anomaly is attacked, if there is a Student in its zone (other than the one who attacked), that Student (or Students) must reveal themselves and take damage, instead of the Anomaly. The amount of damage depends on the type of attack used. If there are multiple Students in the zone, they still only take damage once.
• Phasing: As part of its normal movement, the Anomaly may move across an adjacent shuttle bay to the zone on the other side. The shuttle bays are the empty spaces located between the labs.
• Reactive: Once per round, if a Student attacks the Anomaly while it does not have any AP left, the Anomaly gets an immediate (optional) free movement right after that Student's turn.

Strategy Tips

Students

• Be careful which cards you give to the Anomaly. Remember that moving and tracking allow you to discard cards without giving them to your opponent.
• When you can, prevent the Anomaly from feeding. Remember that it loses 1 HP at the end of a round if it fails to feed.
• If you have a feeling that the Anomaly might be in the same zone as you, do not hesitate to move! Unless, of course, you've got it right where you want it...

Anomaly

• Be very careful with your APs. Be patient. Do not move aimlessly. Don't automatically move if you take a hit; evaluate the situation first.
• If possible, do not use an AP without performing both a basic and a special action.
• If you can, try to feed every round, on Students if possible.
• Remember that feeding on a Student is equal to a 2-point differential AND prevents you from losing 1 HP at the end of the round. Being aggressive is often a good strategy!

Advanced 2-Player Variant

At 2 players, while the game may be played using all the aforementioned rules without any changes, it is suggested for advanced players to use this variant instead:

• The Student player controls 2 Students at the same time on their mini-board, using 2 different markers.
• The Student player must always specify with which Student they are performing an action.
• The Student player must show only 1 tracking card for each Student (the one linked to their current position). It must be clear which tracking card is linked to which Student.