Silicon Valley Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• Setting Up the Game
• Gameplay Overview
  • Game Currencies and Points
  • Instant versus Ongoing
  • Open versus Closed Information
• Round Phase 1: Companies Take 3 Actions
  • Action: Hire an employee
  • Action: Poach an employee
  • Action: Expand HQ
  • Action: Acquire VC funding
  • Action: Outsource
  • Action: Launch a product
    • Innovator - First to Launch a Product
    • Second Mover - Second to Launch a Product
    • Innovator versus Second Mover
  • Action: Sunsetting products
  • Action: Perform layoffs
• Round Phase 2: Companies Operate
  • Step 1: Players collect ongoing benefits
  • Step 2: Players pay upkeep
    • Involuntary Layoffs and Product Sunsets
• The End of the Game
• Solo Variant: Chasing the Unicorn
  • Setting up the solo game
  • Gameplay
  • Playing a round
    • Moving a pawn and taking an action
    • Action: Landing on a Product card
    • Action: Landing on an HQ card
    • Action: Landing on a VC card
    • Action: Landing on an Employee card
    • Collect the blocks of code
    • Personality actions
  • Companies operate

Game Contents

• Game Board
• 24 Product Cards: 8 Starting Products, 16 Advanced Products
• 48 Launch Tiles: 16 Starting Launch Tiles, 32 Advanced Launch Tiles (each product has an Innovator Tile with an A side and a B side, and a 2nd Mover Tile)
• 45 Employee Cards: 9 Founders, 36 Employees
• 27 HQ Cards
• 27 VC Cards
• 140 Blocks of Code
• 1 Round Tracker
• 2 Decision Pawns
• 96 Money Tokens
• In each player color: 1 Company Screen, 1 Starting HQ Mat, 1 R&D Mat, 1 Valuation Token, 1 Turn Order Token
• For the solo game: 1 Rival Board, 18 Personality Cards, 18 Decision Cards (Blue and Red), 5 Attribute Trackers

Setting Up the Game

1. Place the game board in the middle of the table.
2. Shuffle the Employee cards (not including the Founders). Place the deck face-down in the designated spot. Place 5 employees face-up in the slots shown on the board.
3. Shuffle the Starting Product cards and place a number of them face-up in the product section of the game board. (You place 4/5/6 for 2/3/4 players.) a. Beneath each Starting Product card, place the matching two Launch tiles. There should be an 'Innovator' Launch tile and a 'Second Mover' Launch tile. The Innovator tile should have the 'A' side up. b. Place the rest of the Starting Product cards and Launch tiles back into the box.
4. Shuffle the Advanced Product cards and place them face-down in a stack to the side of the board next to the Product section.
5. Sort and place the Code Blocks into their slots on the board.
6. Shuffle the HQ cards. Place one in each of the HQ slots on the board. Place the deck face-down next to the board in its designated space.
7. Shuffle the VC cards. Place one in each of the VC slots on the board. Place the deck face-down next to the board in its designated space.
8. Give each player a Starting HQ mat in their color.
9. Give each player a R&D Mat and company screen in their color. Place the R&D mat behind the screen.
10. Give each player their valuation token and turn order token. a. Stack the valuation tokens on the starting space of the valuation track with the oldest on the bottom and going to the youngest on top. b. Place their token on the turn order track, starting with the top-most token in the 1st spot, the 2nd spot for the 2nd token down, etc.
11. Place the Advanced Product Launch tiles aside in a pile.
12. Sort the money tokens into stacks next to the board area.
13. The players will start the game in the order from the topmost down. Each player will get their starting money based on their turn order. Place the money behind their company screen. a. 1st player: $30 b. 2nd player: $35 c. 3rd player: $40 d. 4th player: $45
14. Shuffle the Founders. Deal 2 to each player. Each player selects one and discards the other. a. Each player should collect the code blocks shown on their founder's card in the '!' section. Place these code blocks behind your company screen.

You are now ready to begin the game!

Note that in a 3-player game one extra Starting Product (and its corresponding Launch Tiles) is placed on the board, and in a 4-player game, 2 extra Starting Products begin the game on the board.

Note that setting up for a solo game is a little different and explained later in the rule book.

The company screen and anything in front of it is visible to all players; everything behind the player screen is hidden from other players.

Gameplay Overview

The game takes place over the course of a series of rounds. Each round will have the same two phases:

1. Companies take 3 Actions.
2. Companies Operate.

In the first phase, players will take actions to hire employees, solicit VC funding, launch products, and manage their companies in other ways. In the second phase, players will operate their company by generating technology, gaining money and valuation, and also paying their upkeep costs.

A player's goal is to increase the value of their company as high as possible by the end of the game. The end of the game will be triggered once a player reaches a $1 Billion valuation, and the player who has the highest valuation wins.

Game Currencies and Points

During the game, you will be managing several different kinds of resources: money, valuation, and code blocks.

A Company's Valuation: The V in a circle indicates an increase in a company's valuation. In Silicon Valley your valuation is everything! When a player increases the valuation of their company, they will move their marker along the track. Each space is a unit of valuation. You'll notice the actual value increases exponentially, which signifies the rapid growth tech companies can experience. However, when moving your marker there is no difference between moving your marker between $1M and $2M, or $800M and $900M. Each of these steps is a single increase in valuation. A player's valuation may go back to the start space, but never goes below it. If a player lands their valuation token on the same space as another player's, the player should place the token on top of the token already on the track. This is an important step for turn order.

This will continue until a player's company has reached $1 Billion in value.

Money: During the game you will gain cash, which is used to hire employees, increase your HQ, and pay upkeep costs. The money is not related to your valuation, and instead represents your operating costs. Money is kept hidden during the game behind your screen.

Code Blocks: During the game, your employees will develop new technology for you in the form of blocks of code. These shapes are used to build products, as well as maintain products. The shape of the blocks is important for building product, but the blocks can also be used as a currency to gain VC funding and pay product upkeep costs. When blocks of code are used to pay for VC funding or upkeep, the size of the block of code in number of spaces it fills is its value. So, a 2x2 block is worth 4 code.

For example, to pay a product's upkeep of 2 code, an orange 2x1 code block (or any larger block of code) could be used as it has two code spaces (squares) within its shape.

If the code blocks run out, then players are able to grab a code block of the same value (a 2x2 is worth the same as a 1x4 block, as they both have a value of 4). If there are none of the same value, you may grab one of a smaller value, if there are any available.

Instant versus Ongoing

A recurring concept as players gain employees, VC funding, and launch products is the difference between the 'instant' benefits and 'ongoing' benefits. Instant benefits are noted with a "!" and normally on the left side of the card. The ongoing benefits are noted with a "∞" and on the right side of the card.

Instant benefits are gained the moment a player acquires the item, whether it be VC funding, employees, product tiles, etc. The ongoing benefits are gained at the end of every round during the Companies Operate step.

For example, on an employee card the instant benefit may be an orange 2x1 block, and the ongoing benefit a green 2x2 square block.

A key part of the players' strategies will be weighing the short term benefits of the instant gains versus the long term benefits of the ongoing ones.

Open versus Closed Information

During the game, players will invest in lots of different items to add to their company. Almost all of this is open information to the other players, except their blocks of code and money. The blocks and money are kept behind the company screen and do not have to be reported to other players. Other players may ask how much is gained when the blocks or money are gained, but they cannot ask about the total quantity your company has.

Round Phase 1: Companies Take 3 Actions

The first thing players do at the start of each round, before they start taking actions, is setting the turn order. Turn order is set by the lowest company valuation and going upwards. So, the player with the lowest company valuation will go first. If two players are on the same space on the Valuation track, then the topmost token goes first. Arrange the markers on the turn order track accordingly. (At the start of the game turn order was not based on valuation so do this from the second round of play onwards.)

After turn order has been established, each player will then take their turn. They may take up to 3 actions on their turn, but are not required to take all 3. On a turn, players may take 3 different actions or the same action more than once. The actions a player can do are summarized on the reverse of each Player Screen, and are listed here:

• Hire or Poach an employee
• Expand HQ
• Acquire VC Funding
• Outsource
• Launch a Product
• Sunset a Product
• Perform Layoffs

After a player takes all 3 of their actions, or ends their turn, it is the next player's turn. Once all players have completed their actions, then move onto the next phase of the round - when companies operate.

A player is limited to a number of employees based on the size of their HQ. Your HQ mat allows a player to have 3 employees at the start of the game. If a player wants more, they will need to expand their HQ. An employee cannot be hired if the player does not have room in their HQ. To make more room you will need to perform the Layoff action. (Symbols on the HQ show how many employees you can hold.)

Action: Hire an employee

Hiring an employee costs $5 to $9. When hiring an employee, the player must pay the cost underneath the card on the board. The player then takes the card and adds it to their company tableau in front of them. Then, slide all the cards towards the lower values, filling in the gaps. Then, refill the display with a new card.

When hiring an employee, the player gains any blocks of code the employee has as an 'instant' benefit and adds it behind their company screen. This symbolizes the new ideas the new employee brings to the company when they first start.

If employees are interested in a player's company, the employee may also be able to be recruited for a cheaper cost. Some employees have orange symbols on their cards. This shows their company preferences ("wants"), and the symbols show different cultural values or tech development your company might have. Each matching symbol on an employee's card discounts their recruitment by $1. Each symbol must match one in the player's company 1:1 (if an employee has 1 symbol and the player's company has 2 of the same kind, or vice versa, the discount is still only $1). Symbols for discounts come from a player's HQ and products and are a blue color.

Example: the player has the Extended Vacation Time icon in their HQ and it matches the employee. So, there would be a $1 discount to hire that employee.

Action: Poach an employee

This action is similar to hiring an employee, but instead of taking an employee from the row a player steals it from another player. Poaching an employee costs $15 and is paid to the bank. A player cannot stop another player from poaching their employees.

When a player poaches an employee they still gain any discounts from their company symbols. They also gain the instant benefit as if they hired that employee from the normal display.

A poached employee may be poached again by another player, even during the same round.

Action: Expand HQ

When a player Expands their HQ, they pay $5 for the first HQ Card they take in the game, $10 for the second, and an extra $5 for each card after that. So, if a player added a fourth card to their HQ it would cost $20.

After the player pays, they select one of the face-up available HQ Cards from the board. Then immediately replace that open spot on the board with an HQ Card from the deck.

Place the HQ Card to the right of the player's existing HQ. A player's existing HQ may consist of just the starting HQ mat, or a HQ mat and other cards.

Expanding a player's HQ will give them additional company symbols, which helps get discounts for employees and makes it easier to acquire VC funding. It also gives the player more room to place products in, and allows them to hold more employees.

Example: the new HQ card is added to the right, which forms a new Product slot. The player will now be able to hold an additional 2 employees, but will pay another $3 in upkeep (explained later).

Action: Acquire VC funding

Acquiring VC funding will give a player an influx of cash to help keep their company running, and may also help increase your valuation. Each VC Funding card has an amount of code that must be spent in order to acquire it. Thematically, a company spends these blocks to use internal resources to put on an impressive demo and get more funding!

Each block of code is worth a different amount of 'code'. It's worth the number of squares that it takes up. So, a 2x2 tile is worth 4 code.

VC card detail: Instant Reward (cash, and possibly valuation), Tech Cost, VC Name, Wants (company symbols), VC Special Ability.

A player may also get a discount based on company symbols. These function the same as an employee, and discount the cost by 1 code (1 square) for each matching symbol. Similar to the employees, symbols must have a 1:1 match in order to give the discount.

VC funds do not have ongoing benefits. However, each one does have a special power that is activated when it is purchased. This is typically in the form of a special action you can take. Thematically, this represents the strategic partnerships that VCs have within the valley. This is activated when you collect the VC card and must be applied instantly.

Collect the instant cash, and possibly a valuation gain or a special power, and then discard the card. Then, replace the VC card with one from the deck.

Action: Outsource

For this action, a player may purchase a block of code from the general supply. They may buy only one token. The costs are shown on the player's company screens.

Action: Launch a product

The core of the game revolves around the action of launching a product. The products are shown in the product cards. There are two different ways to launch a product: A player can be the 'Innovator' or the 'Second Mover'.

Product card detail: product name and icon (the icon will help you find the product's matching Launch Tiles); the tech grid (the lighter area must be filled with code to launch the product).

Note that there are two launch tiles on the product that correspond to each of these methods of launching a product.

Launch tile detail: Instant benefit (!); Ongoing benefit (∞); A or B side (Innovator Tiles only); Company symbols; Upkeep cost.

Innovator - First to Launch a Product

The first player to launch a particular product is the Innovator. They will take the Innovator tile and add it to their company. To do this you must take these steps:

1. The player must have blocks of code that can fill the product design requirements. This is a grid on the product card that must be completely filled with the blocks. During the game, players can plan these out using their R&D mat. They can use any combinations of blocks they wish, but they must fill the requirements completely and without overlaps.

2. The player places the blocks of code they use on the product card to show how they've designed the product. A player cannot partially design a product.

3. The player takes the Innovator tile and adds it to their HQ. The player must have room in their HQ. They may not discard an existing product to make room for a new product.

When this is done, the player gets any instant benefits, and will gain any ongoing benefits later in the round.

Second Mover - Second to Launch a Product

The second player to launch the same product as a previous player is the Second Mover. Launching a product for the second time is very similar to being the Innovator, but has some unique changes:

1. When a player builds the product, they must match the innovator's design on the Product Card exactly. They must use the same code blocks. There are no substitutions.

2. They collect the Second Mover Tile and add it to their HQ. Like the Innovator, they must have room in their HQ.

3. When the Second Mover Tile is collected, three things happen: a. The Product Card is discarded. The blocks of code on the tile are returned to the supply. b. Replace the old Product Card with a new one from the face-down deck. Place the matching Innovator and Second Mover Tiles beneath the new Product Card. The Innovator Tile should be placed on the 'A' side. c. The Innovator, if they still have the product launch tile, must flip their tile from the A side to the B side.

Note: A player may not launch a Second Mover product the same round another player has Innovated it.

Innovator versus Second Mover

Players should note that the Innovator Tile and the Second Mover Tile are different. The Innovator Tile, in general, will have fewer instant benefits but strong ongoing benefits. This represents the benefits the company will have by having the only product in that class in the market. For the Second Mover, the company will get an advantage by learning from the mistakes of the first company. So they will get a lot of instant benefit, but less of an ongoing benefit because the market for that product is stabilized.

Also, when the Second Mover Tile gets brought into play the Innovator Tile is flipped over to its 'B' side, which has fewer benefits. The B side continues to have any cash bonuses in its ongoing benefits, but loses any valuation benefits. The B side has no instant benefit.

There are several things the players should consider when launching products: First, the benefits of being the Innovator and the Second Mover are different. Second, only two people can launch a product - a third company will have no room in the market to compete. Third, a player can leap ahead if they have an unopposed Innovator product. Players may launch a Second Mover product just to halt a monopoly another player might have.

Action: Sunsetting products

During the game, a player may want to remove products from their tableau that are too costly, don't add enough value, or are taking up valuable room in their lineup. To sunset products, the player removes the product tiles from the game. This costs one valuation per product sunsetted.

Action: Perform layoffs

During the game, a player may want to remove employees that they no longer want to pay for or no longer add value to their current product lines. This is done through the layoff action.

To perform a layoff, the player removes any number of employees from their company that they wish. However, this costs 1 valuation in total to perform this action.

When all players have taken their 3 actions for the round, proceed to Phase 2: Companies Operate.

Special Event: Salary increases

When a player reaches a certain point on their valuation track, all of their existing employees will be expected to benefit. These are marked on the score tracker with a salary marker. When this space is reached or crossed, add a salary token to each employee in your company.

When you must pay salaries, those salary tokens count as if they were on the card. If the employee is poached, the salary token goes with them. (Adding a $1 token to their current employees when a salary increase occurs helps the player remember that their employees will need to be paid extra each round. The employee card shows the base salary for that employee, to be paid each round in the Companies Operate phase.)

Note: If a player loses enough Valuation that their valuation marker must retreat to a space before an "add a Salary token" icon, the player must remove one Salary token from each of their employees (if they have them).

Round Phase 2: Companies Operate

After all players have completed their 3 actions for the round, companies will operate. This takes place over two steps:

1. Players collect ongoing benefits.
2. Players pay upkeep.

Confident players can perform these tasks simultaneously, and do not need to take turns during this phase.

Step 1: Players collect ongoing benefits

Players first collect the ongoing benefits from all parts of their company. Employees will typically give ongoing code benefits, while products give a combination of cash and valuation. Everything in your company with the ongoing symbol will now earn you the depicted benefits (cash, valuation and code blocks).

Step 2: Players pay upkeep

After players have collected their benefits, they must pay to maintain their staff, products, and HQ.

Employees and HQs both have money symbols on them. This shows how much they cost to maintain every round. You must pay $1 for each symbol on your Employee or HQ cards, as well as for all your Salary markers you may have added to your employees when your salaries increase.

You must pay for your HQ first, then you pay for your Employees. If you cannot pay for your employees, then you have involuntary layoffs, which is described below. Want symbols do not provide any benefit when paying salary - they only give discounts for hiring.

Products have a code requirement. This is used to maintain the product in the marketplace. You pay the code value similar to as you would pay code to get VC funding. (A 2x1 block is worth 2 code, for example.) You cannot make change. If you cannot pay for a product, you must sunset it involuntarily. This process is described below.

Involuntary Layoffs and Product Sunsets

If a player is unable to pay for all of their items during the upkeep stage, they must discard some items. There is a penalty for doing so, similar to when you take an action to do so. The penalty for doing so now is DOUBLE what the penalty would be for taking the normal, corresponding actions. So, instead of losing one valuation for laying off any number of employees, it's now two. And, a single product costs two valuation to sunset instead of one. If you have discarded all of your employees and products and still cannot pay, then you must pay what you can. You cannot ever remove your HQ. Thematically, an angel investor will bail you out for the rest to keep your company afloat.

The End of the Game

The game finishes at the end of a round when one or more players' companies is valued at $1B or more. Be sure to complete the operation step in its entirety, including players having to pay upkeep costs, before declaring the game over.

At this point, the player with the highest valuation is the winner. If there is a tie, the tied player with the most money is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tied player with the most code blocks is the winner. If it is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.

Solo Variant: Chasing the Unicorn

You were supposed to be co-founders! Each of you put your life savings into a shared little startup, which went bankrupt within weeks in a blaze of un-glory. In those ashes, you both began a new startup together - only this one was met with success! You found yourselves being interviewed by tech magazines, courted by venture capitalists, and flooded with resumes...

But just as you are about to move into your new office you are informed that you've been ousted - from the very company you helped form! Your co-founder has stabbed you in the back, with an army of lawyers helping him aim the knife. Welcome to Silicon Valley! Now you are left with nothing but that first heap of a startup, with little banking and no product. It's time to build up again, but this time it's personal. Can you reach a $1B valuation before your ex-co-founder does?

Terminology: In these rules, the automated opponent is referred to as "The Rival."

Setting up the solo game

Set up the game as for 2 players, with the following changes:

1. The Rival does not need: a. R&D Mat b. Player Screen c. Starting Money d. Turn Order or Valuation Tokens
2. Set the Rival Board in the play area where it can be easily reached. a. Shuffle the Blue Personality Cards and the Red Personality Cards into separate decks. b. Draw a number of cards from each deck to determine the difficulty: i. Beginner - 4 Blue / 1 Red ii. Easy - 3 Blue / 2 Red iii. Medium - 2 Blue / 3 Red iv. Hard - 1 Blue / 4 Red c. Shuffle these 5 cards together, and randomly place them face-up on the Rival Board. Place one in each slot next to an attribute. Place the extras in the box. d. Place an Attribute token on the first (green) space of each of the attribute tracks on the Rival board. e. Place the Round Marker on the "1" spot.
3. Deal the Rival a Starting HQ mat. For each attribute shown on the card, move the matching attribute token down 1 space. Then discard the mat, as it will no longer be used.
4. Deal the Rival a Founder card. For each block of code shown in the instant AND ongoing sections, add it to the tech row on the Rival Mat. This is filled from left to right.
5. Place the white Decision pawn to the left of the Product cards.
6. Place the gray Decision pawn to the right of the Product cards.
7. Shuffle the 18 Decision cards and place them in a face-down deck.

Note: there is a reference on the rival board to show the distribution of pawn movement within the deck.

Gameplay

The game is played over a series of rounds like in the base game, but in the solo version there is a limit of 7 rounds. The goal for the player is to reach a $1B valuation before the 7 rounds end. If the player has a $1B valuation at the end of a round - after the operation step is complete - then they win the game! If, at the end of the 7th round they have not gained a $1B valuation, then the player loses to the Rival!

Playing a round

Both the player and the Rival will take a turn before companies operate. Deciding turn order is no longer needed. The player will always go first, followed by the Rival.

A player's turn: The player will resolve their three actions as in a normal game.

The Rival's turn: The Rival is driven by the Decision deck. On the Rival's turn, flip over a Decision card and resolve the card as shown. There are four steps the Rival will take each turn:

1. Move the white pawn and take an action.
2. Move the gray pawn and take an action.
3. Collect the blocks of code shown on the card.
4. Resolve personality actions.

Moving a pawn and taking an action

The Decision card will show how many spaces a pawn moves. Movement is always clockwise, and the pawns move from card to card. During the first movement, the pawn will be off a card. From then on it will only count card/tile spaces without a pawn on it. (It will simply skip over the other pawn if they cross one another). The pawn will always finish its movement on a card or a Product card, which it will then resolve as its action.

As an example of pawn movement, if a Rival Decision Card was played at the start of the game showing white 6 and gray 3, the white pawn would move 6 spaces (cards) along the path, ending on the card on the space with the white triangle. The gray pawn would move 3 spaces to the card on the space with the gray pentagon.

When the pawn lands on a space, it then takes an action depending on what card or tile it landed on.

Action: Landing on a Product card

The Rival will resolve its action differently depending on whether it will be the innovator or the second mover.

Innovator: If it is the Innovator (a pawn lands on a Product Card before the player has released the product), then the Rival will first fill out the product design requirements. The Rival does not worry about the shape, but only the number of squares shown. This is the code requirement it must meet. The Rival must pull blocks of code from its tech row until it reaches the code requirement (or exceeds it - change is not given). Blocks of code are pulled from the left side of the row, one at a time. The Rival places these blocks of code onto the Product Card, and then slides any remaining code blocks in its row to the left.

Example: for a product whose code requirement is 10, the Rival will pull the first four blocks of code and place them on the card. (The total amount of code used in this instance will be 11.) Any remaining code blocks on the Rival's board will be moved to the left for next time.

If the Rival does not have enough blocks of code in its tech row, it will take blocks of code from the bank. It will first take the leftmost block of code shown on its current Decision card, then will go right as needed. If it has taken all the blocks of code shown on the card and still has not gotten enough, then it will repeat the row of code shown on the Decision card.

The Rival will then take the Innovator tile and place it in its play area. On later turns, the player can gain the Second Mover tile by paying the same blocks of code as the Rival placed on the card.

The Rival does not collect HQ cards, so it does not care whether it can fit the new product into its play area. It is always able to get a new product.

Second Mover: If the Product Card the Rival lands on only has the Second Mover available, then it takes the Second Mover tile. It does not have to pay for it. The player must then flip their Innovator tile. The Product card is then removed from the board, and the Rival's Decision pawn is left in that open space. The Rival will NOT take a Second Mover tile for a product it already owns. If it lands on a Product it is the Innovator of, it will move to the next card following the movement path. If it lands on another product that it owns, it will move again.

Action: Landing on an HQ card

The Rival will take the HQ card. Remove the card from the board, and place the Decision pawn in the empty space. For each attribute on the card, move the Rival's matching attribute tracker down one space. (For example, the matching trackers of the depicted blue icons will move down one space.)

If an attribute marker has moved to the "!" on a Personality card, then it cannot move forward any more. Later in the round, the card will be resolved.

After the Rival's attribute markers have been moved, discard the HQ card.

Action: Landing on a VC card

The Rival will take the VC Firm card. Remove the card from the board, and place the Decision pawn in the empty space.

Similar to an HQ card, move the attribute markers down one space for each attribute shown on the card. On these cards, the attributes are shown in the 'want' section. It will still move them down, regardless of the icon color.

After the Rival's attribute markers have been moved, discard the VC card.

Action: Landing on an Employee card

Similar to when landing on HQ and VC cards, the Rival will take an Employee card and move the attribute markers on the Rival board that are depicted as "wants" on the Employee card.

However, with the Employee cards the Rival will also collect technology. The blocks of code shown on the Employee card are added to the Rival's tech row. Blocks of code are added to the right of any blocks already there.

Example: collecting blocks of code from an employee. Don't forget to also adjust the Rival's attribute tracker for the Technology Wants icon (in this instance)!

After the blocks of code are collected from the employee, the Employee card is placed next to the Rival board. Employee cards will remain there until the end of the game, but will not generate tech blocks for the Rival again. Employee cards of the Rival can be poached by the player.

Collect the blocks of code

After the Rival has moved both Decision pawns, it will then collect the blocks of code depicted on the current Decision card. These are taken in the same manner as if they came from an employee.

Personality actions

After the Rival has moved both pawns, and taken the code on the Decision card, it will then resolve any personality actions it has. It will resolve a personality action if the attribute marker is on the "!" space on a Personality card. If there are multiple actions that will be triggered, they will come into effect from left to right.

To resolve a personality action, perform the action listed on the card. Then, return the Attribute marker to the top of its track.

Example: in this case, the player will have to immediately pay all of their employees' salaries to resolve the action. If the player cannot afford to do so, they will have to lay off staff.

Refill any empty card or tile spaces left open by moving Decision pawns. Do not refill an item in a space that still has a pawn on it.

Companies operate

The Rival will not take any actions during the Companies Operate phase. The Rival does not collect code blocks from its employees, nor pay upkeep or salary.

Winning and losing

If, at the end of the 7th round (or earlier), the player's company has earned a $1 Billion valuation, then the player has won! If they have failed to reach $1B by the end of the game, the Rival has won!

Once you have mastered the solo game, be sure to raise the difficulty of the Rival by adding more red Personality cards (as explained in the setup guidelines).