# ${content.worldCopy.title}
## A strategy game about institutions turning reliable AI capability into contested public authority as they build, deploy, regulate, and make rival claims on ${terms.systems.agi}

**Players:** ${game.playerRange} · **Suggested player count:** ${game.suggestedPlayerRange}

Use the browser **First Game Guide** for a guided introduction.

This rulebook contains setup, map instructions, component usage, and inventory.
Keep the printed cards, boards, and player aids beside it during play.

## How to Play

### Object of the Game

Institutions race across four Eras to build infrastructure, deploy automated services, conduct research, and secure public authority. The institution with the most ${terms.playerTracks.mandate} wins. Qualifying institutions may score recognized ${terms.systems.agi} before the final Audit. Resolve the institutional winner and shared World Ending separately. Follow the numbered sections in order.

### Turn Overview: ReAct

Each Era consists of three action cycles with simultaneous selection followed by resolution in Initiative order:

- **Before selection:** Reveal a Headline and finish its instructions.
- **Reason:** Everyone secretly chooses an available Core Action, then reveals.
- **Act:** In Initiative order, each player may make the permitted resource exchange, assigns one Agent, and resolves the selected action. Apply discounts, payments, rewards, and penalties at their specified times.
- **Observe:** Inspect the changed board and exhaust the action. After everyone resolves, pass Initiative.

After three action cycles, players resolve Era Production, optional AGI recognition (Era IV only), the Public Audit, and Era Mandate scoring.

## 1. Setup

1. Unfold the Governance Board. Build the nineteen-tile map in its wells as described in **Modular hex board**:
   ${terms.locations.frontier} in the center, the shuffled six-tile operational ring around it,
   and the shuffled twelve-tile public ring around the complete outer edge.
2. Separate the twenty-four ${terms.systems.headline} cards by Era. Shuffle
   each deck into its printed Era panel's Headline well. Each Era uses three
   ${terms.systems.headlines}. Place the Current Era chip in its Start bay.
3. Shuffle the Training deck. Separate the twelve Era ${terms.playerTracks.mandate} cards into
   four three-card Era decks. Shuffle each deck and place it beside its Era
   panel.
4. Stage the shared supplies. Ordinary Power contracts are printed on the
   Energy tiles. Each faction takes its three personal project chips, Available
   side up; no shared project reference or unique Fusion supply is needed.
5. Set each faction's track cubes to its printed starts. Put its Trust milestone
   cube at the highest threshold already awarded by starting Mandate, its AGI
   recognition cube at No, and its objective cube at zero.
6. Place two Agents per player at ${terms.locations.frontier}. Keep the other two Agents in
   supply. Keep all four Facilities and the Generator in supply; no Facility
   begins on the board. Facilities must be constructed in printed number order:
   Facility 1 first, then 2, 3, and 4. Facility 1 carries that Faction's
   integrated starting-grid identifier. Set each Faction’s ${terms.resources.runway}, ${terms.resources.compute}, ${terms.playerTracks.capability}, ${terms.playerTracks.customers}, ${terms.playerTracks.trust}. Set each to its printed starting value.
7. Place each Faction’s already-earned public ${terms.playerTracks.mandate} on the shared track as
   printed on its Faction board. Put every player’s ten ${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny}
   cubes outside the bag; the bag begins empty.
8. Keep participating faction boards visible: their printed starting Trust
   determines Setup Collective Trust when resolving the World Ending.
9. Choose Initiative randomly and give that player the Initiative chip.
   Begin Era I.

### Modular hex board

The board is one jurisdiction whose districts represent physical and
operational proximity rather than ordinary distance. The shuffled map
remains fixed for all four Eras. Rival pieces coexist; there is no combat
or player elimination.

<!-- map:start -->
### Build the jurisdiction

Use nineteen tiles in a complete radius-two hexagon:

- One ${terms.locations.frontier}
- Three ${terms.locations.research}
- Three ${terms.locations.cloud}
- Two each of ${terms.locations.consumer}, ${terms.locations.media},
  ${terms.locations.government}, and ${terms.locations.renewable}
- One each of ${terms.locations.chip}, ${terms.locations.capital},
  ${terms.locations.talent}, and ${terms.locations.grid}

Place ${terms.locations.frontier} at the center. Six operational districts form
the complete inner ring. Twelve public districts form the complete outer ring.
Every outer district touches its two outer neighbors and either one or two
inner districts according to the printed wells. Adjacency governs infrastructure;
Agent assignments do not trace paths.

Shuffle this operational ring around ${terms.locations.frontier}:

- One ${terms.locations.research}
- One ${terms.locations.cloud}
- One ${terms.locations.chip}
- One ${terms.locations.capital}
- One ${terms.locations.talent}
- The ${terms.locations.grid}

Shuffle this public ring among the twelve outer positions:

- Two ${terms.locations.research}
- Two ${terms.locations.cloud}
- Two ${terms.locations.consumer}
- Two ${terms.locations.media}
- Two ${terms.locations.government}
- Two ${terms.locations.renewable}

These ring pools are fixed; shuffle tiles only within their listed ring.
All copies of one named district are mechanically identical. Names, art, and
flavor may distinguish copies, but visit effects, production, Facility spaces,
and contract icons must remain identical.

Every piece placed on the board during setup begins at ${terms.locations.frontier}, the jurisdiction’s
standing civic exception rather than property to be controlled. Agents may be reassigned directly to any district.

Every non-${terms.locations.frontier} hex has a visit bonus, two Facility spaces, Facility
production, and a control value used by Headlines and Mandates. ${terms.locations.frontier} has
no Facility spaces and is never controlled. It is not a category for the hex-category
Mandate. Once pieces leave it, positioning, Agents, local Power, and negotiated adjacency
matter.

### Presence and control

- Agent or Facility: one presence

The player with the most presence controls each non-${terms.locations.frontier} hex. Ties mean
nobody controls it. ${terms.locations.frontier} has no controller regardless of presence.

### District effects

| Location | Visit bonus | Facility production | Contract icon |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.0.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.0.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.0.production} | None |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.1.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.1.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.1.production} | ${terms.resources.compute} |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.2.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.2.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.2.production} | ${terms.resources.compute} |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.3.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.3.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.3.production} | ${terms.resources.runway} |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.4.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.4.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.4.production} | ${terms.resources.compute} |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.5.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.5.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.5.production} | ${terms.resources.runway} |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.6.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.6.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.6.production} | ${terms.resources.runway} |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.7.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.7.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.7.production} | ${terms.resources.runway} |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.8.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.8.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.8.production} | ${terms.resources.runway} |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.9.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.9.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.9.production} | ${terms.resources.compute} |
| ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.10.name} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.10.visit} | ${content.gameConfig.board.tiles.10.production} | ${terms.resources.runway} |

Resolve ${terms.locations.frontier}’s optional ${terms.resources.runway} after the Action, once per acting player
assigned there. It does not modify the Action or create production
or ${terms.playerTracks.mandate}.

The two Energy-tile visit boxes are the complete ordinary Generator contracts.
No separate Power Source reference cards are used. Each player may construct
only one ordinary Generator. A Fusion-upgraded Facility is also a local Power source;
its chip explains the effect.
<!-- map:end -->

## 2. Resources

### ${terms.resources.runway}, ${terms.resources.compute}, and ${terms.playerTracks.capability}

- **${terms.resources.runway}:** money available to your institution.
- **${terms.resources.compute}:** processing capacity spent on Research, Deployment, and projects.
- **${terms.infrastructure.power}:** electricity supply that keeps Facilities operating; it is a local connection condition, never currency.
- **${terms.playerTracks.capability}:** performance your institution has established and can
  deploy or present as evidence. Some gains reflect better systems; others reflect
  results accepted before their limitations become clear. Banked Capability stays
  on your track and unlocks Deployments and ${terms.systems.agi}; spend it only when instructed.

### ${terms.playerTracks.customers}

Each ${terms.playerTracks.customer} produces one ${terms.resources.runway} during Production. Customers #1–3 immediately score two public ${terms.playerTracks.mandate}; Customers #4–5 score one each. Customers also increase public exposure.

### ${terms.playerTracks.trust}

A zero-to-six track that earns permanent Mandate at printed thresholds, meets
Headline and recognized AGI requirements, breaks final-score ties, absorbs
penalties when Runway is empty, and contributes to whether the shared World
Ending is Open. Zero ${terms.playerTracks.trust} does not
eliminate a player.

**${terms.playerTracks.mandate}** is the score used to determine the winner (victory points).
It is the public authority you have gained to define outcomes.
It represents the recognized right to shape the future: credibility in Progress,
capacity in Capacity, authority in Authority, and historical legitimacy in
Continuity.

${terms.playerTracks.mandate} is normally scored immediately on one public track:

- Two when ${terms.playerTracks.customer} #1, #2, or #3 is gained; one when #4 or #5 is gained.
- Two the first time ${terms.playerTracks.capability} reaches three, six, nine, and twelve.
- Two the first time ${terms.playerTracks.trust} reaches two, four, and six.
- Printed ${terms.playerTracks.mandate} from ${terms.systems.headlines}, Era Mandates and faction abilities.

Threshold awards are permanent; later losses do not reverse them. Move the Trust
milestone cube forward when a new threshold scores, never backward. Regaining a
threshold at or below that cube scores nothing. Its starting position includes
thresholds already awarded in starting Mandate.

There is no hidden or deferred conversion of Facilities, controlled hexes,
stored resources, or unused cards into ${terms.playerTracks.mandate}. If an effect scores ${terms.playerTracks.mandate}, move
the Mandate cube when that effect resolves.

### Universal costs and caps

Apply resource caps immediately after any gain or trade:

- ${terms.resources.runway}: twelve
- ${terms.resources.compute}: ten

Return excess. A trade cannot move resources through a player above a cap.

When effects change a cost, apply replacements and waivers first, then
surcharges, then discounts. The final cost cannot fall below zero.

## 3. Central loop

Each player has six Core Action cards but takes only three turns per Era.
Once played, a Core Action remains exhausted until the next Era:

- ${terms.actions.fund}
- ${terms.actions.research}
- ${terms.actions.build}
- ${terms.actions.organize}
- ${terms.actions.deploy}
- ${terms.actions.influence}

Choose three of six Actions each Era, in any order. The other three remain
unused until the next Era.

### The complete ordinary turn: ReAct — Reason → Act → Observe

1. Reveal one ${terms.systems.headline} and finish all its instructions and choices before selection.
2. **Reason:** everyone secretly selects an available, unlocked Core Action. Check card availability and
   Era unlocks only; costs and targets need not be legal yet.
3. Reveal selections simultaneously and resolve clockwise from Initiative.
4. **Act:** after the optional permitted trade, assign one of your Agents to
   any district, or leave it where it is. Choose the selected Action's mode,
   target, and payment using the current board, and resolve it there.
5. **Observe:** apply and inspect the consequences, then exhaust the Core Action. After all players resolve, pass Initiative
   clockwise and begin the next cycle using the changed world.

### Agents as persistent assignments

An Agent represents committed presence and influence, remaining until reassigned.
Rival Agents may coexist. Agents have no paths, movement allowance, or exhaustion rule.
Any Agent can act on later turns. Recruiting expands presence, never actions.

Each faction starts with two Agents and has four in total. The CEO is a character
on the faction board, with no separate playing piece or executive powers.
Facilities and Generators cannot act; their placement and local connections still apply.

### Effect precedence

The Era panel states which systems are unlocked. Resolve the Headline completely
before selection. During an action, apply its effect, the destination bonus, and
your faction's single permanent ability when applicable. No effect readies or
resolves another Core Action. Build's two construction steps are one action.

### What an Era teaches

Systems are inactive before their printed Era panel lists them under **New this Era**.
Read that strip aloud before revealing the Mandate. All Era panels, personal project chips,
and Faction abilities are open information.

Era I (Progress) covers baseline actions; Era II (Capacity) unlocks Generators
and Mega-Clusters; Era III (Authority) unlocks Joint Ventures and Fusion; Era IV
(Continuity) unlocks Quantum and optional public AGI recognition. Unlocked systems
remain active.

### Universal tie rule

Whenever an effect targets the player with the lowest, highest, or most of
something and multiple players tie, target the tied player nearest Initiative
clockwise. An effect that explicitly applies to everyone, or explicitly awards
all tied players, overrides this rule.

Initiative is an order, not a resource. Passing it after each cycle changes who
resolves first and who wins unresolved ties; it cannot be traded or retained.

### A committed Action that becomes blocked

Selection commits only the Action. At resolution, choose a legal Agent,
district, mode, target, and payment after the optional pre-resolution trade.
The selected card cannot be replaced. An earlier player may consume the space,
contract pair, or other target you expected to use; adapt within the same Action.

If no legal effect remains, assign an Agent normally and exhaust the Action
without effect or compensation. A speculative selection
may therefore become only an assignment; it still consumes one of the Era's
three action selections.

## 4. Core Actions

### ${terms.actions.fund}

Choose:

- **Conservative funding:** gain two ${terms.resources.runway}.
- **Venture funding:** gain four ${terms.resources.runway} and add two ${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny}.

${terms.locations.capital} provides one additional ${terms.resources.runway}.

### ${terms.actions.research}

Spend one ${terms.resources.compute} and conduct a ${terms.systems.trainingRun}.

The Training deck contains seven data domains:

- Code
- Science
- Web
- Books
- Images
- Video
- Synthetic

${terms.playerTracks.capability} earned during ${terms.actions.research} is **provisional until banked**:

1. Begin with zero provisional ${terms.playerTracks.capability} and no revealed domains.
2. Draw and fully resolve one card at a time.
3. The first card from each ordinary domain adds one provisional ${terms.playerTracks.capability}.
4. After resolving any non-duplicate card, either stop and bank or continue.
5. Banking adds all provisional ${terms.playerTracks.capability} to the player’s permanent
   ${terms.playerTracks.capability} track and ends the run.
6. A duplicate crashes the run. Lose all provisional ${terms.playerTracks.capability},
   add one ${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny}, and end the run.

${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny}, ${terms.playerTracks.trust}, and ${terms.resources.runway} changes resolved before a crash are not reversed.
All revealed cards enter the discard pile after the run.

A repeated domain represents a run that has become too narrowly concentrated
to support its claimed progress.
Mirevanta's printed Scientific Method may pay Runway to bank a duplicate instead;
charge only when that exception is used. Orisonix retains one revealed provisional
Capability on a crash. A Research district grants one additional Capability on a
successful bank, including Human Evaluation or Scientific Method banking; it
grants none on a crash.

Special cards:

- **Curated Corpus:** choose one ordinary domain not yet revealed this run. It
  counts as that domain and adds one provisional ${terms.playerTracks.capability}. If every ordinary
  domain is already present, it is a duplicate.
- **Benchmark Leak:** add two provisional ${terms.playerTracks.capability} and one ${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny}. It is
  not a domain. Its ${terms.playerTracks.capability} is lost if the run later crashes.
- **Human Evaluation:** gain one ${terms.playerTracks.trust}, immediately bank all provisional
  ${terms.playerTracks.capability}, and end the run.

When a Mandate, Faction ability, or Headline counts **unique domains**, count
only the seven ordinary domains listed above that were banked successfully.
Benchmark Leak and Human Evaluation never count unless an effect names them
explicitly.

### ${terms.actions.build}

<!-- construction:start -->
Construct up to one Facility, then up to one unlocked infrastructure project,
paying each cost. Both use the acting Agent's district. A project is an ordinary
Generator, Mega-Cluster, Fusion, or Quantum. Recheck requirements after placing the
Facility. You may omit either step; resolve at least one construction if able.
Exhaust Build once after completing both steps. There is no extra action,
assignment, trade, or destination bonus between them.

Facility spaces, Generator slots, numbered Facility order, unlocked Eras,
connected personal hosts, and ordinary Generator slots still apply. Choose a
plan you can fully afford when Build resolves. A newly built connected Facility
may receive its first unlocked upgrade in that same Build.
<!-- construction:end -->

#### ${terms.infrastructure.power} connections and delivery

All local Power in Mandate 2038 is positional, spatial, and immediate. There are no power points, transmission budgets, or allocation tokens. No Power is assigned, spent, or marked. A Facility is either connected (powered) or offline based on the current board state:

1. **Facility 1 (Starting Grid):** Facility 1 carries an integrated civic connection and is **always powered**, including after relocation.
2. **Generators:** Each player may construct one ordinary Generator (unlocks in Era II on an Energy hex). A Generator powers all Facilities you own on its own district and on all directly adjacent districts. Rival Generators never power your Facilities.
3. **Fusion Demonstrator:** In Era III, attaching the Fusion upgrade turns that host Facility into an independent local power source. It powers itself and your Facilities in the same or adjacent districts, without consuming a Generator slot.
4. **Adjacency and Relocation:** Power status is checked continuously on the current board whenever an action, Production, Headline, Joint Venture, Mega-Cluster, or scoring effect refers to “powered” or “connected.” Relocating a Facility into or out of an energy corridor changes its connection status immediately. Only Fusion-upgraded Facilities transmit Power; other Facilities do not.

**Worked placement example:**
Suppose you own an emergency Generator on the Grid district:
- **Connected:** Facility 2 placed on Grid (same hex) or on any adjacent district is **connected** and produces during Production.
- **Offline:** Facility 3 two hexes away (not touching your Generator or Fusion host) is **offline**, producing nothing and unable to host a Mega-Cluster.
- **Relocation:** If Organize relocates Facility 3 into an adjacent district, it becomes **connected immediately** for all subsequent actions, Production, and scoring.

A Mega-Cluster operates only while its host Facility remains connected. Joint Ventures require both partner hosts to remain currently connected.

#### Construct a Facility

Pay two ${terms.resources.runway} and place your lowest-numbered unbuilt Facility on the acting
piece’s hex. Facility 1 must be built first, followed by Facilities 2, 3, and 4.
It produces while connected by the local Power rule. Each non-${terms.locations.frontier} hex has only two Facility spaces;
${terms.locations.frontier} has none and is never a legal Facility destination. Facilities cannot
be destroyed by rivals.

#### Construct a Generator

The acting piece must be on an Energy hex. Each player may construct one
ordinary Generator. On ${terms.locations.grid}, pay one ${terms.resources.runway} and place it as
${terms.technology.emergencyInfrastructure}. On ${terms.locations.renewable}, pay two
${terms.resources.runway} and place it as ${terms.technology.cleanInfrastructure}. The Energy
location determines the source; there is no separate source choice. This mode unlocks in Era II.
Each Energy hex has three Generator slots shared by all players. A Generator
does not use a Facility space, but it cannot be built when all three Generator
slots on that Energy hex are occupied.

<!-- power-contracts:start -->
The two ordinary contracts are printed at their point of use. The
${terms.locations.grid} tile always constructs
${terms.technology.emergencyInfrastructure}; the ${terms.locations.renewable}
tile always constructs ${terms.technology.cleanInfrastructure}. Fusion's effect is printed on its personal chip. No separate Power Source
cards are used. Each player has one ordinary Generator, and each Energy hex
still has three shared slots.
<!-- power-contracts:end -->

##### ${terms.technology.cleanInfrastructure}

- Location: ${terms.locations.renewable}
- Cost: two ${terms.resources.runway}
- Connection: your Facilities on this hex or an adjacent hex
- Gain one ${terms.playerTracks.trust} when constructed
- No recurring penalty

##### ${terms.technology.emergencyInfrastructure}

- Location: ${terms.locations.grid}
- Cost: one ${terms.resources.runway}
- Connection: your Facilities on this hex or an adjacent hex
- Add one ${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny} at Production only when serving at least one of your Facilities

#### Personal infrastructure upgrades

${content.projects.constructionRule}

| Project | Unlock | Operating benefit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ${content.projects.byId.mega_cluster.name} | Era II | ${content.projects.byId.mega_cluster.backText} |
| ${content.projects.byId.fusion_demonstrator.name} | Era III | ${content.projects.byId.fusion_demonstrator.backText} |
| ${content.projects.byId.quantum.name} | Era IV | ${content.projects.byId.quantum.backText} |

A Facility built earlier in the same Build can qualify. Distinct upgrades may
share one host. Recheck cost, connection, ownership, unlock, and personal chip
availability at resolution. Each project can be built once per institution;
its Built chip remains attached through Audit or an outage. Move every attached
chip when its Facility relocates. Fusion has no global limit, fixed location,
Generator slot, or owner inscription. No project requires another project.

### ${terms.actions.organize}

After assigning an Agent, choose one mode:

- **Recruit:** pay two Runway to deploy one Agent from supply to the acting
  Agent's district. Recruiting in Talent costs one less Runway. You may have no
  more than four deployed Agents. Recruitment grants no extra action or assignment.
- **Relocate:** move one of your Facilities from the acting Agent's district to
  an adjacent non-Frontier district with a legal open Facility space. It keeps
  its attachments and starting-grid designation. Recheck connections and contracts
  immediately. This mode costs no Runway.

Agents have no additional movement procedure.

### ${terms.actions.deploy}

The next ${terms.playerTracks.customer} requires:

| ${terms.playerTracks.customer} | ${terms.playerTracks.capability} required |
| ---: | ---: |
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 8 |
| 5 | 10 |

Spend one ${terms.resources.compute} and gain one ${terms.playerTracks.customer}. ${terms.locations.consumer} waives the ${terms.resources.compute} cost.
Every ${terms.actions.deploy} adds one ${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny}.

### ${terms.actions.influence}

Assign an Agent, then choose one legal effect:

- On ${terms.locations.media}, ${terms.locations.government}, or ${terms.locations.capital}, gain one
  ${terms.playerTracks.trust} or remove one ${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny}. ${terms.locations.media}
  removes one additional ${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny}; ${terms.locations.government} gains one
  additional ${terms.playerTracks.trust}.
- At one of your Facilities, create a Joint Venture using that Facility and an
  eligible rival Facility, or terminate one named Joint Venture you share.

Political control uses Agents and Facilities already on the board.
The ${terms.actions.influence} Action creates no separate presence piece.


#### Contract hosts

Joint Ventures use shared matched chip pairs, one numbered half on each host.
Each pair shows its construction Era by orienting the printed I–IV edge toward
the host label. This preserves the current-Era objective without writing.
A Facility may host multiple Joint Ventures, including between the same two
Facilities, and any of its owner's personal upgrades. Each venture resolves
independently; the shared Joint Venture pair supply remains its limit.

A contract remains owned but is active only while its fixed hosts meet its
requirements. Tokens travel with their Facilities.

Every cross-player contract or jointly funded project requires the explicit
consent of every participant. Facilities sharing one hex are **co-located**.
Adjacent host Facilities occupy hexes that share an edge.

Consent applies to the named project only. It does not grant control of a host,
create a general trading right, or authorize another contract. A contract’s
matched number preserves its identity when a host moves.

#### Joint Venture

${terms.actions.influence} may create a Joint Venture between two adjacent Facilities owned by
different players, unless a Faction ability explicitly changes that range.
Both host Facilities must be powered during Production for the contract to
produce.

Each partner gains the resource shown by the **contract icon on the other
host tile**. Do not copy full tile production or multiply it with Facility
effects.

During ${terms.actions.influence}, make one complete proposal naming both eligible hosts and
the partner. Acceptance creates it. Rejection, pass, or no response uses that
effect; do not choose another partner or ${terms.actions.influence} effect.

Either participant may instead use ${terms.actions.influence} to terminate one shared Joint
Venture. Return its pair. Termination cannot be combined with another
${terms.actions.influence} effect.

## 5. Era sequence

### A. Begin the Era

- Move the Current Era chip to Era I; in later Eras, advance one panel.
- Read that Era’s **New this Era** strip aloud. Those systems are now active.
- Reveal one ${terms.playerTracks.mandate} from the current Era’s three-card deck. Return the other
  two cards in that deck to the box unseen.
- Keep the Mandate visible. Set its cube record to the printed starting resource
  value when requested, otherwise zero. Update only the named historical value;
  evaluate current-state objectives directly from the board at scoring.
- Ready all six Core Actions.

### B. Three action cycles

At the beginning of each cycle:

1. Reveal a ${terms.systems.headline}, resolve all its instructions and choices, and place it in the current Era’s ${terms.systems.futureTimeline} row. Its effect is finished.
2. **Reason:** everyone secretly selects one available, unlocked Core Action. Reveal simultaneously.
3. **Act:** resolve clockwise from Initiative. After the optional immediate trade, assign one Agent to any district or leave it in place. Choose legal targets and pay costs using the current board, then resolve the selected action.
4. **Observe:** apply the consequences and exhaust the action, even if no legal effect was possible. Observation adds no separate decision or reward.
5. After everyone has acted, pass Initiative clockwise.

#### Resource exchange: fixed one-for-one

Immediately before resolving the selected Action, the active player may make
one offer to one rival: give exactly one ${terms.resources.runway} for one
${terms.resources.compute}, or one ${terms.resources.compute} for one
${terms.resources.runway}. The named rival accepts or rejects. Gifts, bundles,
same-resource exchanges, unequal amounts, counteroffers, redirects, and
third-party claims are not legal. Adjust both players' track cubes
immediately after acceptance.

The selected Action remains committed whether the offer is accepted or rejected.
Check affordability and targets after the trade; a successful trade may make a speculative selection resolvable. The exchange is permitted even if the selected Action remains blocked and resolves only as an Agent assignment. There is no post-action trade window.

Resource exchanges require no ${terms.actions.influence} Action. ${terms.actions.influence}
offers lobbying effects and is the only Core Action that creates persistent
Joint Ventures. Other actions and Headlines can also change ${terms.playerTracks.trust}.

### Negotiation and paced play

Discussion creates no game state, obligation, or Action. Promises about later
turns remain non-binding. Apply formal choices only in their printed windows;
missing responses are rejection or pass.

**Paced Play** is an optional table rule. Before play, the group may assign one
shared sand timer to each negotiation window. When it expires, discussion ends
and the normal rejection or pass fallback applies. Expiry never
creates consent or forces a deal.

### C. Production

Apply any permanent faction Production ability first.
Use the current board's visible connections; no allocation choices or Power cubes
are needed. Resolve each step for all players before continuing, in Initiative
order unless specified otherwise:

1. Apply recurring Scrutiny for each emergency Generator serving at least one
   Facility.
2. Produce each connected Facility, then Customer income, then active
   connected personal upgrades. Apply caps after each gain.
3. Produce active Joint Ventures in ascending contract-number order.

An Era Mandate counting Compute produced counts printed output before the cap,
including Facilities, personal upgrades, and Joint Ventures. Immediate Facility
production outside this sequence does not count toward that Production total.

When Talent produces, reassign one of your Agents using the normal assignment
rule: choose any district or leave it in place. Update presence immediately.
This resolves no Action or visit bonus and exhausts nothing. A Joint Venture
still grants only its host's printed contract icon, not that host's full production.

### D. Optional AGI recognition, Era IV only

Offer the public qualification and payment described under **Recognized AGI** to
every institution. Add declaration Scrutiny before the final Audit. In Eras I–III,
continue directly to the Audit; there is no end-of-Era AGI bookkeeping.

### E. ${terms.systems.publicAudit}

Risky actions add player-colored ${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny} to the opaque Audit bag. Each
player has ten cubes. For each required cube when all ten are already in the
bag, immediately lose one ${terms.resources.runway}; if none remains, lose one
${terms.playerTracks.trust}. If neither remains, suffer no further loss.

The four-player base draws are two, three, four, and five. For other player
counts, calculate each Era’s draw count as:

> round(base draws × player count ÷ 4), minimum one

Round halves upward. The resulting Audit profiles are:

| Era | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | 5 players |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| I | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| II | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| III | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| IV | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

Draw the listed number of cubes or stop when the bag is empty.

In every Era, each colored cube makes its owner lose one
${terms.resources.runway}; if none remains, lose one ${terms.playerTracks.trust}.
If neither remains, suffer no further loss. This is automatic, not a choice.

Drawn player-colored cubes return to the owner’s supply; undrawn cubes remain
in the bag.

${terms.locations.media} Facilities may remove cubes before the draw. A drawn black Systemic
Risk cube gives every player with at least three ${terms.playerTracks.customers} the current Era’s
penalty, then returns to supply. Black cubes
remaining at game end are unresolved Systemic Risk.

### F. Score the ${terms.playerTracks.mandate}

<!-- mandate-scoring:start -->
Each Era ${terms.playerTracks.mandate} has a minimum qualification. If nobody qualifies, nobody
scores it. Otherwise the qualifying leader scores two ${terms.playerTracks.mandate}; tied qualifying
leaders score one ${terms.playerTracks.mandate} each.

Compare only the revealed Mandate’s printed criterion. Resources, control, and
public score do not break its tie. Leave the scored card beside its Era as part
of the table’s public history. Reset the objective cube when the next Mandate
is revealed. A starting-resource record stays fixed: compare the final resource
with that starting value. Other history records track the named total, best run,
or Yes/No status. For new active Joint Ventures, inspect their printed Era edges
and current connections during Production; no additional record is needed.

The revealed Mandate card is the exact qualification and scoring authority.
<!-- mandate-scoring:end -->

## 6. Four-Era progression

### Era I — ${terms.eras.demo}

- Three turns per player
- Only Core Actions
- Beneficial or mildly disruptive ${terms.systems.headlines}

Era I activates Agent assignment, Core Actions, Training, the starting grid,
Facilities, Customers, and Scrutiny.

### Era II — ${terms.eras.scale}

Build now also permits:

- Generators
- Mega-Clusters

### Era III — ${terms.eras.narrative}

Joint Ventures and Fusion now enter play. Previously unlocked infrastructure remains available.

### Era IV — ${terms.eras.claim}

Build may construct Quantum. Earlier projects remain available. Public AGI recognition is offered after Production.
All factions retain the same permanent ability they had at setup.

#### Recognized ${terms.systems.agi}

After Era IV Production, before the final Audit, each institution with at least
${content.gameConfig.agiAchievement.capability} Capability,
${content.gameConfig.agiAchievement.poweredFacilities} currently powered Facilities,
and ${content.gameConfig.agiAchievement.trust} Trust may pay
${content.gameConfig.agiAchievement.computeCost} Compute to declare recognized AGI.
It immediately gains ${content.gameConfig.agiAchievement.mandate} Mandate and adds
${content.gameConfig.agiAchievement.scrutiny} Scrutiny before the Audit.

Every qualifying institution may declare once, in Initiative order, or decline.
This uses no Action and creates no deferred payment. Recognition remains recorded
if the subsequent Audit reduces Trust. The fixed award does not vary by Headline.

“Recognized AGI” means the world accepts an institutional claim under the game's
public criteria. It does not decide whether general intelligence metaphysically
exists. Recognition sets one axis of the separate World Ending.

## 7. Final scoring

Earned Mandate, including any AGI award, is already on the public track. Do not
score it again. After the final Audit and Era Mandate:

1. Read the twelve Headlines in the Future Timeline, Era by Era.
2. Lose one Mandate per currently offline Facility, to a minimum score of zero.
3. The institution with the most final Mandate wins. Break ties by higher Trust,
   then more Customers, then more Compute. A complete tie is a joint victory.
4. Determine and read the separate shared World Ending.

There is no second winner procedure. Facilities and control give no additional
endgame score unless a printed effect already awarded it.

### The shared World Ending

Use two independent public results:

- **Recognized AGI:** at least one institution paid for AGI recognition after
  Era IV Production. Audit losses do not revoke it.
- **Open continuity:** final Collective Trust is at least Setup Collective Trust
  plus the player count, and unresolved Systemic Risk after the final Audit is
  strictly lower than the player count. Both conditions must hold.

If either continuity condition fails, the ending is Closed. Recognition does
not itself make continuity Open. The four endings describe accepted claims and
institutional continuity, not a hidden verdict on whether intelligence exists.

| | Open | Closed |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AGI recognized | **The Singularity** | **The Closed Loop** |
| No AGI recognized | **The Plural Future** | **Assured Continuity** |

The institutional winner and the civilization's outcome are distinct.

## Rules Reference

## 8. Printed card authorities

<!-- card-authority:start -->
Faction boards, Governance Board Era panels, map-tile Power contracts, Core
Action cards, personal project chips, Mandate cards, Training cards, player aids, and
Headline cards are rules components. Resolve the text printed on the matching
card, board, or player aid. Printed text changes only the field or timing it
names; it does not create an unprinted phase or additional Action.
Each Faction has one permanent ability available from setup.
<!-- card-authority:end -->

All Factions and CEOs are fictional and imply no real-world claim or
endorsement. Every Faction has one persistent institutional identity and one
signature ability. It modifies one familiar action or Production. It requires
no separate use marker, frequency record, or refresh. Every faction uses the
same public Mandate scoring.

During setup, use each Faction board’s printed starts and place its already
earned public ${terms.playerTracks.mandate}. Award that ${terms.playerTracks.mandate} once; never score it
again. The Faction board is authoritative if a summary elsewhere differs.

A Headline is revealed before secret action selection. Finish every printed
instruction and choice, including any immediate production, before selecting
actions. Resolve choices in Initiative order unless the card says otherwise.
Then leave it face up in its Era row as history, with no continuing rules effect.
Three per Era form the twelve-card **${terms.systems.futureTimeline}**.

When a Headline resolves a Facility's printed production, resolve only that
currently connected Facility. Talent uses its normal immediate Agent reassignment.
Do not produce Customers, Generators, personal upgrades, Joint Ventures, or faction
Production income unless explicitly instructed. No Core Action resolves.

<!-- era-panels:start -->
These four panels are printed on the Governance Board. Move the Current Era
chip between them; no separate Era cards are used. The board prints the
Era name, epigraph, rules, and unlock text.
<!-- era-panels:end -->

<!-- player-aids:start -->
Each player receives one foldout containing the following three panels: the turn sequence, local Power, and public Mandate.
<!-- player-aids:end -->

<!-- headline-selection:start -->
Use all twenty-four Headlines in their printed Era decks. Resolve the listed procedure and rules text.
<!-- headline-selection:end -->

## 9. Map and component reference

The following sections list the supported inventory, deck contracts, and
component states. Exact effects appear on the cards and boards.

<!-- components:start -->
<!-- inventory:start -->
Pack three component families in the labelled trays and Era packets:

| Family | Job |
| --- | --- |
| Cards, including flat chips | Explain rules; identify infrastructure and projects |
| Agent position tokens | Locate assignments; one shape in each faction colour |
| Cubes | Mark numerical tracks; supply individual Audit draws |

Chips are small durable cards. Maps and boards are printed surfaces; the bag
is an accessory. Trust milestones and AGI recognition use cubes; projects flip.

### Shared Governance Board

The box includes one rigid folding Governance Board. It is the public table
organizer and modular-map frame, not a fixed printed map.

It provides:

- one center well, six inner-ring wells, and twelve outer-ring wells for the
  nineteen district tiles;
- four printed Era panels, Headline wells, Mandate wells, a Current Era path,
  and twelve Future Timeline positions;
- a shared Mandate track, Initiative position, and reusable objective tracks;
- printed AGI recognition spaces and the World Ending comparison;
- six numbered Joint Venture pair bays; and
- staging for the Audit bag, Scrutiny, Systemic Risk, and unused contract pairs.

The Grid and Renewable tiles print ordinary Power contracts. Fusion's effect is printed on each personal chip. Tile wells retain pieces but create no
extra rules state.

### One prepacked faction tray per player

Each of the six trays contains:

- 1 faction board with five numbered tracks: Runway, Compute, Capability,
  Customers, and Trust; a highest-Trust-milestone track, objective track, and AGI recognition spaces
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.factionBoardTrackCubes} faction-coloured track cubes, one per numbered faction track
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.agents} Agents (position tokens)
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.facilities} Facilities as flat chips, numbered 1–${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.facilities}
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.generators} Generator chip
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.startingGridIdentifiers} integrated starting-grid identifier on Facility 1; Facilities are
  constructed in number order
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.scrutinyCubes} ${terms.playerTracks.scrutiny} cubes
- 1 Mandate cube
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.trustMilestoneCubes} Trust milestone cube
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.objectiveProgressCubes} objective progress cube
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.agiRecognitionCubes} AGI recognition cube
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.projectChips} two-sided personal project chips: Mega-Cluster, Fusion, Quantum
- ${content.gameConfig.playerSupply.coreActionCards} Core Action cards
- 1 three-panel foldout player aid

Generators do not count against the Facility limit.

### Shared components

- ${content.gameConfig.sharedSupply.governanceBoards} Governance Board
- ${content.gameConfig.board.selectedTileCount} district tiles: Frontier, six operational, and twelve public
- ${content.gameConfig.sharedSupply.currentEraMarkers} Current Era chip
- 24 Headline cards; reveal 12 per game
- 12 Mandate cards; reveal 4 per game
- 40 Training cards
- ${content.gameConfig.sharedSupply.jointVenturePairs} matched Joint Venture chip pairs
- ${content.gameConfig.sharedSupply.systemicRiskCubes} Systemic Risk cubes, tactually identical to Scrutiny while concealed
- 1 opaque Audit bag
- 1 Initiative chip

The six faction trays supply six Mandate cubes and six player aids.
Choose two through five factions for a game; leave every unchosen tray in the box.

Each institution has its own projects. Only Joint Ventures draw from a shared
pair supply. Personal project chips are never reserved for another institution.

### Setup packaging

The insert provides six labelled faction trays, four labelled Era packets, one
Training well and one shared contract well. Era packets
contain `6 / 6 / 6 / 6` Headlines plus three Mandates each.

### Standard cards and foldout count

The game contains 112 standard cards plus 6 foldout player aids:

- 36 Core Actions
- 24 Headlines
- 12 Mandates
- 40 Training cards
- 6 foldout player aids

The chip quantities are listed in the faction and shared inventories above;
chips are not additional standard deck cards. Printed Era panels and Power
contracts are part of the Governance Board, tiles, and personal project chips.

### Excluded deferred content

The supported box does not require Tactics, Secret Objectives, Specialists, or
Patrons.

### Production form

Use one cube per numbered resource or score track, never in the Audit bag.
Scrutiny and Systemic Risk retain individual cubes to preserve draw probabilities.

Facilities and Generators use separate flat chips with distinct symbols and
faction identities. Read Power from Generator adjacency and Facility 1's
starting-grid identifier; no Power cubes, allocation surface, or powered/unpowered
flipping is required.
Board dimensions, fold pattern, material and retention
tolerances remain manufacturing decisions.

<!-- inventory:end -->

### Deck contracts

#### Training deck: 40 cards

- Four copies of each of seven domains: 28
- Four Curated Corpus
- Four Benchmark Leak
- Four Human Evaluation

Discard every revealed card after a run. If the deck empties, resolve the
current card, shuffle the discard, and continue.

#### Headline decks

Each Era deck contains every card for that Era. Reveal three each Era. Leave every resolved card face
up in its Era row to form the twelve-card ${terms.systems.futureTimeline}.

#### Personal project chips

Keep unbuilt personal chips Available side up. Build flips one to Built and
attaches it to its host. Requirements are common; costs and benefits are printed
on the two faces. The eighteen chips are three per faction, not shuffled cards.

### Defined markers and effects

- **Remove Scrutiny:** return up to the stated number of your cubes from the Audit bag.
- **Connected/powered:** ${content.gameConfig.board.startingGridConnection.rule} Evaluate connections on the current board.
- **Current Mandate:** keep the objective card visible. For a history-dependent objective, reset and use its printed cube record. Evaluate current-state objectives directly from visible pieces.
- **Recognized AGI:** move that institution’s recognition cube to Recognized after payment. It remains there through Audit.
- **Offline recovery:** an infrastructure change can immediately reconnect a Facility. Facilities never flip.

<!-- components:end -->

## Document record

**Rules version:** ${game.rulesVersion}
**Design-baseline date:** July 26, 2026
**Status:** Controlled playtest candidate; synchronized with executable game ${game.executableVersion}
**Provisional time:** ${game.physicalTestDuration} at four players; three- and five-player durations require their own blind tests
**Standard game:** ${facts.shared.roundsWord | capitalize} Eras, ${facts.shared.cyclesPerRoundWord} turns per player per Era