Android: Mainframe cover
2016BGG rank #3,304

Android: Mainframe

by Jordi Gené · Fantasy Flight Games

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Players2–4
Time15–30m
ComplexityLight
Age12+

About the game

What is Android: Mainframe?

Description from the publisher: Run fast, score big! Android: Mainframe is a fast-paced strategy game set in the not-too-distant future of the Android universe! In the game, you and up to three opponents are elite cybercriminals known as runners who are competing for control of a vulnerable bank's various accounts. At the beginning of the game, you mark your arrival by the placement of your first access point. Then, each turn, you get to take a single action: establish another access point, execute a program, or pass. Your goal is to use the programs at your disposal to secure your access points so that they control as many of Titan's vulnerable accounts as possible. Most of the generic programs write pathways between Titan's various nodes, allowing you to place a blue partition between the nodes on the board. Whenever your partitions seal off a section of the board containing only your access point or access points, they are "secured" and flipped face down. They are no longer vulnerable to your opponents' programs, and you will score the accounts they control at the end of the game. Android: Mainframe differs from its predecessor Bauhaus in a number of ways, such as each player having a hand of cards and the game including six runners who each have five distinctive programs.

How it plays

Mechanics

EnclosureOpen DraftingTake ThatVariable Player Powers

On the shelf

Categories

Abstract Strategy

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

  • How do setup and the first turn work in Android: Mainframe?
  • When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
  • How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?