Techlandia

Techlandia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Component list

Inside this brightly colored, yet unsettling, box, you'll find:

30 Gear cards
20 Encounter cards
10 Investigation cards
8 Enemy cards
6 Lore cards
11 Location cards
1 Doomsday Clock
4 Player Dashboards
4 Player standees
6 Tech Cultist standees
1 Executive Cultist standee
12 Room hex tiles
4 QR Code location markers
60 Marker Cubes
4 QR Code cards
1 six-sided die

Initial Setup

Shuffle the Gear cards, Encounter cards, Investigation cards and Enemy cards into four separate facedown decks.
Place a marker at 20 on the Doomsday Clock.
Set aside the Press Room, Security, Elevator and Welcome Center (purple) hex tiles. Shuffle remaining tiles (red and blue) and set aside, face down.
Stack the Lore cards facedown in descending order. The card for 20 on top, followed by 15, 10, and so on. Place these next to the Doomsday Clock.
Shuffle the four QR Code cards and put aside, face down. You won't need those until later.
Each player chooses a blogger standee and a Dashboard card.
Choose one of the three skills at the bottom of the Dashboard and place a red marker on it. This is your bonus combat skill, so choose wisely.

Gear Cards

Each player starts by drawing five (5) cards from the shuffled Gear deck. These can be kept face up or face down and can be played as allowed during your turn.

Gear cards can be very powerful, so don't waste 'em. There are opportunities to gain new Gear cards during the game, but you can only hold a maximum of seven (7) at once. If you end up with more, immediately choose which one(s) to discard to get back down to seven.

Prepare the map

What does the inside of Techlandia HQ look like? Who knows? You've never been invited before. You haven't actually been invited this time either, not that it's going to stop you.

Place the Welcome Center room tile face up on the table. Place the Security tile immediately above it, the Press Room above that, and the Elevator at the top, so all four are in a single vertical column.

One player draws the top four hex-shaped room tiles from the remaining face-down pile and places them face up on the play area, as indicated by the diagram. These form rooms 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the map.

Each room has a corresponding Location card that provides a description. Put the (4) Location cards for rooms that were not chosen as part of the map aside for the remainder of the game, then shuffle the remaining (7) Location cards into a facedown deck. (Note there is no location card for the Elevator room.)

Each player should now have a blogger, Dashboard and Gear cards, and there should be a total of eight live hex tiles (with four unused hex tiles returned to the box).

Objective

The objective is to gain entry to the invite-only Techlandia TX-1 smartphone unveiling, held in a subterranean auditorium under the Silicon Valley headquarters of the Techlandia corporation.

You've heard of mysterious disappearances and dark doings surrounding the company. Getting a scoop on what's really going down would be a career-making move. So guess what? We're sneaking in!

In order to do that, you must get past the security checkpoint, which will allow access to the elevators leading down to the event level.

In order to do that, you must scan the proper QR code invitation.

In order to do that, you'll need to collect four QR code fragments, then present the correct final code at the security desk.

In order to do that, you'll need to investigate rooms in the building for clues, discovering where the QR code fragments can be found and collecting them before anyone else does.

Techlandia Campus map (diagram): The Elevator sits at the top of the column, with the Press Room below it and the Security room below that. The Welcome Center sits at the bottom of the column. Rooms 2 and 3 are placed to the upper left and upper right of the Press Room and Security tiles, and rooms 1 and 4 are placed to the lower left and lower right of the Security and Welcome Center tiles.

Example card layout: The game's decks are the Gear deck, Encounter deck, Location deck, Investigation deck, Enemy deck, Lore deck and Doomsday Clock.

But it's not going to be easy. By fighting and defeating cultish Techlandia public relations employees, known as Tech Cultists, you'll be able to decipher the four QR code fragments and present the proper code at the security desk to gain access to the elevator.

Fail at any of these tasks and you're likely to be arrested for trespassing. And the world might end, too. But we're getting ahead of ourselves...

Game objectives: the tl;dr version

(Infographic, read top to bottom:)

Successfully investigate rooms 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Collect four QR code fragments.
Collect decryption keys by defeating enemies.
Present the correct QR code at the Security room.
Get to the elevator before the Doomsday Clock hits 0.

Gameplay

The game can be played solo, or by up to four players. Special rules for solo play are noted where applicable. By now, all players should have:

Collected their starting Gear decks
Chosen a blogger and placed it on the Welcome Center tile
Taken a Dashboard and selected a skill by placing a marker on it
A marker should be on the 20 on Doomsday Clock

One player reads aloud the campaign setup text at the beginning of this guide (in a cool movie trailer guy voice, please) and all players start their bloggers in the Welcome Center tile (or "room"). Another player flips over the top Lore card (the one that says: "Read this card when the Doomsday Clock is set to 20") and reads the text out loud.

Pick a starting player in whatever freaky way appeals to you, I don't judge. Player order not change during the game.

Turns and Actions

A turn consists of a player taking up to two actions. A round consists of every player taking a turn, and ends with the Doomsday Clock counting down one number. A single action can include:

Moving from one room to another directly connected to it.
Investigating a room for clues.
Picking up a QR code from a room.
Fighting a Tech Cultist or other enemy.
Reloading your Gear deck from the Press Room (once per turn).
Submitting your QR code to the security scanner.

The following are not counted against your two-actions-per-turn limit:

Moving or performing an action as the direct result of instructions on a Gear or Encounter card.
Using a Gear card during your turn and resolving its effects. (Yes, that's a freebie.)

Move [action]

Each room at Techlandia HQ is connected to one or more rooms. As long as you're chill about it, you should be able to pass between them without attracting too much attention, as the building is filled with many journalists and industry types (who were all presumably invited, unlike you).

Moving from one room to an adjacent one counts as one action. Moving to a second room counts as your second action.

Purple rooms can not be investigated and are always in the same location. Rooms with blue tiles are considered safer to investigate. Rooms with red tiles are Secure rooms more closely watched by security, so you'll have a harder time investigating them. The results of a failed investigation in a Secure room are more severe (see below).

Investigate [action]

To find the four QR Code fragments needed to get past the security scanner, each player must visit and perform an investigation action in each of the four rooms with either red or blue tiles.

To investigate, take the top card from the face-down Investigation deck. The card will declare a success or failure, and give further instructions.

A success card will always spawn a QR code, either at your location or at a random location determined by drawing a Location card. An enemy may spawn as well, again either at your location or at a random location determined by drawing a Location card.

Gear cards can also affect the outcome of your investigation, such as granting an automatic success or eliminating an enemy. If you're out of useful Gear cards, new ones can be found in the Press Room.

Remember that investigating a room tile with a red tile means security cams are watching your every move, so the stakes are higher.

Success

You've discovered a clue to the location of a QR code fragment.
Place a marker on the that room # on your dashboard (1, 2, 3 or 4).
For each QR code or enemy, draw one location card and spawn in that room, unless the Investigation card says to spawn at your current location.
Return any location cards to the Location deck and reshuffle.

Failure

Your investigation game is weak, brah.
The Investigation card will tell you to draw and resolve an Encounter card, or another negative outcome.
The effects of failure in a Red room are more severe, follow those instructions on the card as well.
If you have an action remaining, you may try again.

Once all Investigation cards are drawn, reshuffle the deck.

Encounter Cards

These usually (but not always) give the player a negative effect or cause the loss on an item. Discard the Encounter card after resolving it.

Example: Johnny McBlogger uses the first action of his turn to land on a blue room. For his second action, he investigates the room by drawing an Investigation card. The card indicates a success.

Johnny places a marker on the corresponding dashboard room number to show he has successfully investigated that room.
The card reads: "Success: Spawn one QR code and one Enemy via the Location deck."
He draws the top two cards from the Location deck and flips both over. The first is the Gift Shop, the second is the Conference Room.
Johnny places a QR token on the Gift Shop map tile, and places an enemy on the Conference Room map tile.
That completes this action. The QR code token on the Gift Shop map tile is now fair game for anyone to pick up. Johnny can get it during his next turn, or someone else might beat him to it.

Note: Each player must investigate rooms 1, 2, 3 and 4 once (and only once). You can't move to the next phase without all four Investigation spots and all four QR code spots on your dashboard marked. See diagram on page 18.

Collect QR code [action]

Once the QR code location is revealed, its token can be picked up by any player. Picking up a QR code fragment counts as one action. If there are any enemies in the same room as a QR token, they must be defeated before the token can be collected.

When a code is picked up, the QR token is removed from the board. The successful player places a marker on one of the four QR Code spaces on their dashboard, and the physical QR token returns to the token pool.

Reload Gear Cards [action]

Located on Techlandia campus is the Press Room. Unlike most press rooms, this one is relatively clean, well-equipped, and doesn't smell like the last day of a Star Trek convention. You can spend one action, once per turn, to draw a new Gear card from the deck.

If your shiny new card will give you a total of seven or fewer Gear cards, carry on! If you already have seven, you may still draw a new Gear card, but must discard one or more to end up at seven.

In all the Gear cards have been drawn, reshuffle any discarded ones into a new deck. If there are no discarded Gear cards, guess you're out of luck.

Fight [action]

The army of Techlandia public relations experts (we call 'em Tech Cultists) are there to ensure your harmonious enjoyment of fine Techlandia products and services. And also to destroy your mind if you get too close to the truth.

Each has a unique backstory and combat stats. The game controls when these enemies appear and where, so follow any instructions on cards to spawn or move them.

Example enemy card: "The Old-Timer" (Skill: Spyware). Flavour text: "His unlined face shows no evidence of advanced years. You joke that he must have an aging portrait in an attic somewhere. He smiles politely, but you notice an unconscious twitch in his left eye."

Combat

When to fight

Anytime you occupy the same room as an enemy with at least one action remaining in your turn...it's on. If you land on a room with an enemy and have no actions left, wait until your next turn. If a card effect or another player causes that enemy to move or be defeated in the meantime, you lucked out.

You cannot leave a room or perform any other actions in that room until all enemies in the same room have been dispatched, either through combat or using a Gear card. If two players are occupying the same room with a Tech Cultist, the player whose turn comes up first does the fighting.

How to fight

In most fights, an enemy will already be in the same hex tile as you, but their identity will be unknown. Draw one card from the facedown Enemy deck to see which dastardly Tech Cultist you're facing.

Read the short bio and look at the Combat Rating and Skill. The Combat Rating is a number circled in the upper right hand side of the card.

You must roll one die and get that number or higher to defeat the enemy. Of course, it's not always that simple. Each enemy also has an expertise in one or more of three skill areas:

Spyware: the ability to hack phone, peek at your webcam, etc.

Disinformation: a.k.a., Fake News, and how to spread it far and wide.

Memes: Few can challenge a meme-master dedicated to evil.

At the beginning of the game, each player chose one of these skills as well. Here's where that pays off. If you have the same skill as the enemy, your roll gets a +1.

Example 1: Johnny McBlogger must fight the Tech Cultist called The Old-Timer. Johnny has the Spyware skill marked on his Dashboard, while the Old-Timer's card also lists the Spyware skill.

The enemy's Combat Rating is 4, which means you must roll a 4, 5 or 6 to defeat them. In this case, Johnny adds a +1 to his roll. because he and the Old-Timer both specialize in Spyware.

Example 2: Jane Blogsworthy must fight the Tech Cultist called The Jargon Gorgon. Jane has the Memes skill, while the Jargon Gorgon has the Spyware skill and a combat Rating of 5.

Jane must roll a 5 or 6 to defeat the enemy, if Jane rolls a 1, 2, 3 or 4, she'll lose the fight. Because Jane does not have the matching skill, she does not get a +1 bonus.

But it's not all bad news. Playing a Gear card before or after a fight may change the odds or outcome. You may play as many Gear cards as you want during a fight.

Winning a fight

Roll the required number or higher, or play an eligible Gear card, and you win. Stay where you are and the Tech Cultist is removed from the board. The Enemy card is returned to the bottom of the deck.

Defeating a Tech Cultist also gives you one Decryption Code. This will be important later. Place a marker on one of the three Decryption Code spaces on your Dashboard.

Note you can only hold a maximum of three Decryption Codes, so any further fights after that will yield no tangible reward. Unless you're just into fighting, in which case, seek help.

Losing a fight

Roll a number below the enemy's Combat Rating, without a bonus or Gear card that can change the outcome, and the Tech Cultist wins. You take one Reality Distortion hit to your Objectivity (by placing a marker in an Objectivity space on your dashboard) and return to the Welcome Center. If you have an action left in your turn, you may still take it.

Wait, what's this Reality Distortion thing?

Have you ever noticed that some tech products are criticized for certain features or design decisions (like a missing headphone jack or a notched screen), while others are praised for exactly the same reasons? Or how you'll line up outside in the rain for one brand of phone but not another?

That's the reality distortion field at work, and only a master manipulator like Dexter Ward can play the public so perfectly. That's how he's won countless environmental awards while tearing up thousands of square miles of nature in search of rare earth elements to power his products. Or how he's lauded as a great humanitarian, while selling phone-tracking location data to repressive governments.

You're not falling for any of those tricks. You have a precious, and rare, commodity called "Objectivity." But if the Tech Cultists get their clammy hands on you and the whole combat thing doesn't go your way, you place a marker on one of the Objectivity spaces on your dashboard. Think of Objectivity as Hit Points.

Fill up all three spaces and your objectivity goes out the door. A strange feeling of peace comes over you as you bask in the welcoming glow of Techlandia. You are now a Fanboy. A mere ghost of a human, who lives only to start Reddit fights in support of the all-glorious company.

Fanboy status

Get ready to lose some social media followers. Here's what gonna happen once you take three Reality Distortion hits to your Objectivity.

Return to the Welcome Center.
Set aside your dashboard, keeping progress intact.
Discard any Gear cards you have.

Until the Doomsday Clock countdown hits its next red marker, you are a zombified Fanboy, actively working against any other players. Move up to one space per turn and attempt to land on the same space as another player. If you do, get all up in their face and defend Techlandia's honor!

Any time a fanboy occupies the same space as another player, that player must spend one action to move the fanboy back to the Welcome Center. That's the thing about fanboys, they're not particularly dangerous, they're just really, really annoying.

Don't worry, you won't be under the fanboy spell forever. When the Doomsday Clock hits the next red number, do the following before the next Lore card is read:

Return to the Welcome Center
Reclaim your dashboard, keeping all your progress intact
Reset your Objectivity, clearing any Reality Distortion markers
Draw one Gear card as a little pick-me-up
Continue the game as normal. If the Lore card requires players to draw an Encounter card, do so as well.

Note: If playing solo and you become a fanboy, simply advance the Doomsday Clock to the next red number, reset your blogger as detailed above, and continue the game. The Doomsday Clock, red numbers and Lore Cards are further explained in the next section.

End of turn/end of round

After completing two actions, and resolving any further instructions from cards or encounters, your turn ends. Play moves to the next person. After each player has taken a turn, the round ends.

At the end of every round, move the marker forward one space on the Doomsday Clock. We're exaggerating, it's just the countdown to when the Techlandia TX-1 press conference begins, definitely not some sort of world-ending Doomsday Clock. But it's more fun to call it that, so just play along.

When the marker lands on a countdown space highlighted in red, something's about to go down. It's probably not going to be good, so don't say you weren't warned. Flip the next Lore card and follow its instructions.

Those instructions usually involve having each player draw an Encounter card. If asked to spawn an Executive Monster, use the included enemy with the really crazy-looking head. You'll know it when you see it. As with Tech Cultists, draw a random location card to determine location.

Fighting the Executive monster

For the purposes of combat, the Executive Monster possesses a Combat Rating of 5, and he is immune to any skill-based bonuses. Gear cards can be used on him just like any enemy.

If he wins a fight, he deals objectivity damage but also steals one Decryption Code from you (if you have one). The Executive drops a Decryption Code when defeated, just like a standard enemy.

Running out of time

Remember that when the clock hits 0, after 20 game turns, Techlandia CEO Dexter Ward hits the stage to unveil the TX-1. If you're not through the security checkpoint and in the underground auditorium by then, the game ends and team human takes the loss.

Decrypting the QR code and winning the game

Got all four QR code fragments? Nice job, I didn't believe what they were saying about you anyway. Make your way as quickly as you can back to the Security room and present your credentials for entry to the TX-1 unveiling.

But wait, how do these four QR code fragments fit together? Looking at the data, it seems like there are four possible ways to arrange them. But, which combination is the right one?

Good thing you snagged those Decryption Codes from the Tech Cultists after all those fights. Each one lets you eliminate one potential incorrect QR code. When it's you turn, spend one action to do the following:

Take the top card from the shuffled facedown QR Code deck. Using your phone and your favorite QR code scanner (usually just the native camera app on your phone), scan the code and refer to the results on your phone's screen.
If the code is accepted, the security guard waves you through to the elevators, to descend into the subterranean event space where the TX-1 is waiting. And probably some crazy demons or something. Note that you still have to get to the Elevator tile before time runs out.
If the code is not accepted, you're busted. The security guard grabs you and leads you away into a small windowless room with blindingly white walls. A circular symbol of some kind is traced on the floor in what looks like black ash. You're shoved into the middle of the circle and can only think, "That's not a good sign," before ice-cold tentacles wrap around your mind, while very warm, very real tentacles embrace your body...

Man, that's a tough break, sorry. Oh wait! You picked up some Decryption Codes along the way, right? For each one, you get to scan another of the four QR Code cards. Trying as many QR codes as you can only counts as one action, so don't be shy.

Strategy Note: Once you have all four QR Code fragments, you can proceed to the Security room right away. If you also have three Decryption Codes, there's no reason to hang back, you have everything you need.

But if you have fewer than three Decryption Codes, you have a tough choice to make: Find and fight more enemies to gain new Decryption Codes, or head for the Security room and try your luck. The number of spaces left on the Doomsday Clock and the progress of other players will help you make that decision.

Once you hit the correct code, use actions during your turn move to the Elevator room tile before time runs out. Accomplish this and you win, no mind tentacles for you. At least, not on this floor of the Techlandia complex.

The end of the beginning

At the end of a game session, one of two things will have happened.

One player will have scanned the correct QR code and made it to the elevator in time, winning the game in the process.
Or, no one has done that by the time the Doomsday Clock hits zero. The last Lore card is read, and everyone can sit back and blame each other as the end of humanity is set in motion by insane tech company CEO Dexter Ward and his equally insane plan to open the portal to a lost dimension filled with eldritch horrors.

But, that's not the end of the experience. Further scenarios await, set both before and after this dark day. For the latest news and updates, and the most recent version of this rulebook, visit: TechlandiaGame.com or search for Techlandia on BoardGameGeek.com

Solo and variant rules

Techlandia is designed as a hybrid cooperative/competitive game, or a "co-oppetative" experience. Players are fighting a common enemy, but also racing to see who completes the scenario first. After all, tech blogging is a cutthroat world.

But the game was also built from the ground up to work as a great solo experience.

Solo

Special rules for solo play are noted in the main body, but the key differences to keep in mind are:

Giving or trading a card or asset to another player usually means discarding instead, as noted on the card.
If you are turned into a dreaded fanboy, discard all remaining gear cards, move the Doomsday Clock to the next red number, grant yourself one new Gear card, and continue the game.

Low-tech rules

No phone signal? Still rocking an old flip phone? Then scanning QR codes is going to be hard. Here's a simple alternative:

Instead of scanning a QR code card, use the four unused room tiles.
Choose one of the tiles as the "winning" one, and make sure all players know what it is.
Flip the four tiles face down and shuffle. Turn over the top tile to see if you got the right one. If not, spend a Decryption Code to turn over the next tile, and so on.
Honestly, it's more fun with the QR codes. Maybe it's time to get a new phone.

Super-hard mode

Want to go hardcore?

Start with zero Gear cards, they can only be obtained from the Press Room.
Taking three objectivity hits ends the game.
Playing a Gear card costs one action.

Frequently Asked Questions

What cards form the Location Deck?

After setting up the map tiles, remove the four Location cards representing the four map tiles not being used in the game. Those four tiles and their corresponding Location cards, are not used. Any cards drawn from the Location deck are shuffled back into it at the end of your turn.

When do I have to fight a Tech Cultist?

Any time you are in the same room as a Tech Cultist, with at least one action left in your turn. You may not perform any non-combat actions while in the same room as a Tech Cultist, but you can play a Gear card.

What does each player have to collect to start scanning QR code cards?

Successfully investigate rooms 1, 2, 3 and 4, marking each on your dashboard. Acquire four QR codes, marking each on your dashboard.

Do I need to use one action each time I scan a QR code card?

No. Once you have completed the tasks above and proceed to the Security room, spending one action allows you to scan a QR code card, and also scan one additional QR code card for each Decryption code marked on your dashboard.

What happens to Enemy cards after they are used in combat?

If an Enemy is defeated, its card goes on the bottom of the Enemy deck. If the Enemy is not defeated, its card is placed near the room it occupies and is used the next time that enemy is engaged in combat.

Do I lose all my progress when I become a Fanboy?

No. You discard all Gear cards to the Gear card discard pile, and set your dashboard aside, with its progress still intact until the Doomsday Clock hits the next red number. When that happens, reclaim your dashboard, and draw one new Gear card.

What happens when a deck runs out of cards?

When you run out of Gear, Encounter or Investigation cards, shuffle the discarded cards into a new deck as needed.

The Smartphone Dashboard

Before the game begins, choose one Skill and place a marker cube on it. When fighting Enemies with the same skill, gain a +1 to your die roll.
Each time a room is successfully investigated, place a marker on its corresponding room number (see layout map on p. 5).
Each time a player picks up a QR code, place a marker on one of the four QR code spots.
Each time a player defeats an Enemy, place a marker on a Decryption code spot.
Each time a player loses a fight with an Enemy, place a marker in an Objectivity spot.

The dashboard diagram shows these spaces: QR Codes (four spaces), Decryption Codes (three spaces), Rooms Investigated (rooms 1, 2, 3 and 4), Objectivity (three spaces), and Skills (Spyware, Disinfo and Memes).

TL;DR Quick Reference Guide

Player turn

A player's turn consists of two actions. Actions include:

Moving from a room on the board to another directly connected room.
Investigating a room for clues by drawing from the Investigation deck.
Picking up a QR code from a room you occupy.
Fighting a Tech Cultist or other enemy.
Sending a Fanboy back to the Welcome Center.
Reloading your Gear deck at the Press Room (once per turn).
Submitting your QR code(s) to the security scanner.

Using a Gear card does not count as an action. Moving or acting based on a Gear or Encounter card does not count as an action.

Combat

Combat starts anytime a player occupies the same room as an enemy and has at least one action left in their turn.

Draw an Enemy card from the deck.
Match or beat the enemy's combat rating with a die roll.
Match the enemy's chosen skill and get a +1 to your die roll.
Win: Remove enemy from board, gain one Decryption Code.
Lose: Take one Objectivity hit and move to the Welcome Center.

Investigating

Each player must investigate rooms 1-4 once each.

Draw one Investigation card.
For a success, mark the room number on your dashboard.
For both success and failure cards, follow the additional instructions, which can vary for Blue and Red tiles.

End of round

After every player has taken a turn, move the Doomsday Clock forward one step.

Most important rule of Tech Blogging

Never read the comments.