Blockminers

Blockminers Rulebook

Table of Contents

Setup

All players pick 1 Character card and take the game piece with the matching color.
For each player, assemble a deck composed of the following 8 Office starter cards and shuffle it. Starter cards can be distinguished by the color on the starter banner, which corresponds to the color of a specific character.
- 1 A Convincing Presentation
- 1 Bare Minimum Work
- 2 Forgot My Coffee Mug
- 2 Infiltrate
- 1 Open the Archives
- 1 Prioritize
Repeat this process for the following 8 Basement starter cards.
- 2 Block Reward
- 2 Browse the Dark Web
- 1 Ignore Night Alarm
- 1 Overclock
- 1 Surveil
- 1 Transfer
Starter cards are marked with a banner in their top left corner.
Assemble a deck of all the non-starter Office cards and Basement cards and shuffle it.
Assemble a deck of all the Encounter cards and shuffle it.
Each player places their game piece on the "Employed" space of the CapitAll game board.
Put as many markers on the Rent area on the Basement game board as there are players.

The Game Board

1. The Basement Game Board

On the Basement game board you can see the current rent and your shared funds of Money and Blocks. You will keep track of your Money, Blocks and current rent by having markers in the corresponding areas.

2. The CapitAll Game Board

On the CapitAll game board players keep track of their current infiltration level with their game piece. When a player is Promoted or Demoted, their game piece is moved up or down respectively.

You also get abilities from the CapitAll game board. These are accumulative, meaning you have all the abilities from your current infiltration level and below. For example, if you are "Employed" you can draw Office cards, draw Basement cards and gain Money. If you are in "Jail" however, you can only draw Office cards and you cannot gain Money.

Once any player promotes to CEO, you win immediately.

There is a check banner on each infiltration level. This is the check players must beat when Infiltrating in order to Promote. Checks and Infiltration are described in more detail later in this rulebook.

3. The Dark Web

This deck consists of both Basement Cards and Office Cards, collectively known as Dark Web cards. You will be able to add these to your decks to make them stronger. You can gain cards from this deck in many ways, but most often it will be by playing the card "Browse the Dark Web".

4. Encounter Deck

These cards represent unwanted attention as a result of performing illegal activities. Playing other cards may force you to draw Encounter cards. Almost all Encounter cards have strictly negative effects, but there are often ways to circumvent or at least reduce the downside of Encounter cards.

5. The Dark Web Archive

The discard pile for the Dark Web. When Deleting Dark Web cards they are put in this pile.

If a player needs to draw a Dark Web card and the Dark Web deck is empty, they shuffle the Dark Web Archive to form a new deck and draw from it.

6. Encounter Card Archive

The discard pile for the Encounter card deck. During the End of Day phase, all played and Revealed Encounter cards go here. Encounter cards that are Escaped are also put here.

If a player needs to draw an Encounter card and the Encounter deck is empty, they shuffle the Encounter card Archive to form a new deck and draw from it.

7. Office Deck

Each player has their own Office deck. At the start of the game these contain only starter cards and are identical for all players.

Office cards are safer than Basement cards, but have a lower reward. They allow you to Infiltrate, earn Money, and deal with Encounter cards.

8. Character Card

These cards represent the characters you will play as. Each player will play as one character for the entire game. Characters have three stats, Mind, Voice and Will.

Characters with a high Voice stat are excellent social engineers, able to smooth talk themselves into places they should not be. Voice is used when you Infiltrate and when avoiding many Encounter cards.

Characters with a high Mind stat have a deep understanding of programming and are able to break into any system. Mind is used when you Browse the Dark Web, install Viruses and when avoiding some Encounter cards.

Characters with a high Will stat are driven and able to work harder. Will decides the number of cards drawn during the Start of Day phase.

9. Basement Deck

Each player also has their own Basement deck. At the start of the game these contain only starter cards and are identical for all players.

Basement cards are riskier than Office cards, but their reward is greater. They allow you to gain Blocks, turn blocks into Money, Browse the Dark Web, and install Viruses.

10. Office Discard Pile

Each player has their own Office discard pile. Whenever a player's Office card is discarded or cleaned up during the End of Day phase, it ends up their Office discard pile. If a player needs to draw an Office card and their Office deck is empty, they shuffle their Office discard pile to form a new deck and draw from it.

11. Basement Discard Pile

Each player also has their own Basement discard pile. Whenever a player's Basement card is discarded or cleaned up during the End of Day phase, it ends up in their Basement discard pile. If a player needs to draw a Basement card and their Basement deck is empty, they shuffle their Basement discard pile to form a new deck and draw from it.

12. Played Cards

These are the cards each player has played. They are referred to as "in play" or "played".

13. Revealed Encounter cards

Encounter cards that are Revealed are put in the center close to the Encounter deck. More on the keyword Reveal later in the rulebook.

14. Installed Viruses

Installed viruses are placed in the center of the board close to the CapitAll game board and Basement gameboard. More on viruses later in the rulebook.

Playing the Game

Each round consists of three phases. Start of Day, when you draw cards, Workday, when you play cards, and End of Day, when you pay rent.

Start of Day

Starting with the player who has the "Go First" token, players take turns drawing one Encounter card each. Then, in turn order, players draw from only one of their decks, their Office or Basement deck. They draw a number of cards equal to their character's Will stat. Then, the Workday phase begins.

Workday

The player who has the "Go First" token plays one card from their hand. Then the turn passes around the table, and each player plays one card on their turn. Players have the option to play either a Dark Web card or an Encounter card on their turn. Players without cards skip their turn.

A player with cards in their hand cannot pass their turn. However, a player with no Encounter cards in their hand may, instead of playing a card, choose to fold on their turn. To fold, they place the rest of their cards face down and end their Workday. The cards played face down have no effect and do not count as played cards. Once all players have finished playing cards, proceed to the End of Day phase.

End of Day

First, pay rent. Do this by removing markers from the Money area on the Basement game board equal to the current rent. Rent cannot be paid with Blocks. Rent is paid collectively as a group, not individually. If the group can't pay rent, all of you lose the game.

After paying rent, put all played and Revealed Encounter cards in the Encounter card Archive. Then each player puts their played and folded Basement cards in their Basement discard pile, and their played and folded Office cards in their Office discard pile. Installed Viruses remain on the table.

Lastly, the player with the "Go first" token gives it to the player on their left. Now the Start of Day phase begins again.

Game Mechanics

How to Play Cards

When playing cards, whether it's Dark Web cards or Encounter cards, play them sequentially from left to right in front of you. Cards will interact with what other cards have been played previously, so this arrangement makes resolving effects during gameplay much easier.

Reusing Decks

All decks have a discard pile next to them. If you are drawing from a deck for any reason and that deck is empty, you take the discard pile of that deck, shuffle it, turn it over, and draw from this pile instead. This pile is now the deck.

Card basics

Whenever a card uses the word "you", it always refers to the player that plays that card.

Unless otherwise stated, cards only have an effect when played.

Whenever a card gets played, the effects of that card happen paragraph by paragraph, from the top to the bottom. Each paragraph ends with a semicolon (;).

Crashing cards

If a paragraph cannot be performed for any reason, such as trying to remove more Blocks than there are in the shared funds, or trying to draw revealed encounter cards when there are none, the card Crashes and stops resolving. For example, if a card has two paragraphs and the first paragraph is "-1 Money", the card Crashes on that paragraph if there is no Money in the shared funds, and the second paragraph does not resolve.

Choice paragraphs

If a paragraph contains the word "or", the player who played the card decides on exactly one of the two options to resolve. If the chosen option cannot be performed, the card Crashes and stops resolving.

Conditional paragraphs

Some paragraphs contain a conditional statement and end with a colon (:). These are followed by indented paragraphs. The indented paragraphs only resolve if the conditional statement is met. For example, all indented paragraphs following "If you are manager or higher:" only resolve if the player playing the card is manager or higher.

Checks

For many reasons, playing a card may prompt you to perform a check. To perform a check, roll two dice. If it is a Voice check, add the Voice stat of your character. If it is a Mind check, add the Mind stat of your character. If the total is equal to or greater than the number stated in check, the check succeeds. Meets it, beats it.

Encounter Cards

Threat Level

The Threat level is equal to the number of Encounter cards in play.

Some Encounter cards have a yellow banner in their top left corner which says Threat X. These cards only resolve if the Threat level is equal to or greater than that number when the card is played, not counting the card itself. After the card is played, the Threat level increases.

Avoiding Encounter Cards

You can often play Encounter cards in ways that prevent their effects, such as by causing them to Crash. However, the Threat level still increases after the card is played.

Encounter Checks

Some Encounter cards have a check. When you play these cards, attempt the check. If it succeeds, put the Encounter card in the Encounter card Archive, it has no effect and does not increase the Threat level. If the check fails, the card resolves and the Threat level increases.

Keywords

This section of the rulebook is a list of all the keywords in alphabetical order. It is best used as reference while playing the game.

Browse the Dark Web

Draw a number of cards from The Dark Web equal to your character's Mind stat. You may keep one card, place the rest in the Dark Web Archive. If you keep a card, place it on top of your Office deck if it's an Office card, or on top of your Basement deck if it's a Basement card. If the respective deck is empty, place the card where that deck would be.

Delete

Dark Web cards that are Deleted are put in the Dark Web Archive. They are no longer part of your deck, and their effects no longer apply.

A deleted card is no longer considered "played today".

Demote

When Demoted, move your game piece down one infiltration level. You can be Demoted all the way to Jail. If you are already in Jail Demote does nothing, but it does not cause the card to Crash.

Distract X

Give up to X Encounter cards from your hand to another player. It can be a player that currently has no cards. You may Distract 0 cards, this does not cause the card to Crash.

Draw X office/basement/encounter cards

Draw X cards from the referenced deck. If the deck combined with its discard pile does not have enough cards to make it possible to draw the amount stated the card instead crashes, and you do not draw any cards.

Escape X

Put up to X Encounter cards from your hand into the Encounter card Archive. This does not increase the Threat level. You may Escape 0 cards, this does not cause the card to Crash.

Extract X

Take up to X cards from the Dark Web Archive and add it to your respective deck. If the Dark Web Archive is empty, there are no cards to Extract but this does not cause the card to Crash.

Infiltrate and Promote

Infiltrate lets you Promote at CapitAll. To Infiltrate, attempt the check for the level above your current infiltration level, which is marked by your game piece on the CapitAll game board. If the check succeeds, you promote and move your game piece up one level. If the check fails, nothing happens. Even if your current infiltration level is Jail, you can Promote by Infiltrating.

+X Infiltrating/+X Hacking

There are cards that make checks easier to perform. A card with the text "+X Infiltrating to you" means that for the rest of the day, the player that played this card has +X to any attempts to Infiltrate, both Mind and Voice checks.

A card with the text "+X Hacking to you" works the same but gives a bonus when installing Viruses. If the card instead adds "...to all players", the bonus affects all players for the rest of the day.

Bonuses remain in effect as long as the card that granted them is in play. Bonuses from CapitAll are always active.

+X Money/+X Blocks

When playing these cards, add the specified number of markers to the corresponding area on the Basement Game board.

If a player is not Employed or higher, paragraphs that state +X Money cause the card to Crash.

Reboot X

Discard up to X cards, then draw as many as you discarded follow the regular rules for drawing, including reshuffling the deck when it is empty. You may choose to Reboot 0 cards, this does not cause the card to Crash.

Reveal X

Put up to X Encounter cards from the Encounter deck on the table beside it. Any player that would draw an Encounter card may instead draw from the Revealed Encounter cards. You may Reveal 0 cards, this does not cause the card to Crash. If the Encounter deck is empty, shuffle the Encounter card Archive to form a new deck and continue revealing cards from it.

Revealing Encounter cards does not increase the Threat level. Several Encounter cards can be Revealed at the same time. All Revealed cards are put in the Encounter card Archive during the End of Day phase.

Transfer

Take any number of markers from the Blocks area of the Basement game board and put them in the Money area. You may transfer 0 markers, this does not cause the card to Crash.

Viruses

Installed Viruses stay as permanent effects for all players. They do not go into a discard pile during the End of Day phase.

To install a Virus, you must play the card and succeed the Mind check. If the check fails, the Virus is not installed. It goes to the Basement discard pile of the player who played it during the End of Day phase.

65 Office cards, whereof 40 are starting deck
70 Basement cards, whereof 40 are starting deck
35 Encounter cards
5 Character cards
1 CapitAll game board
1 Basement game board
5 game pieces
25 markers
2 dice
1 "Go First" token