Hi guys.

I'm going to get this game once it'll be translated (I'm from Italy...)...

I'd like to know something about the game...A general description of features, concepts and game situations.

I've read the rulebook a little bit, but what I need is a "player" point of view.

Thanks a lot in advance.

DB

DB_Cooper said:

It may take time before ANDROID gets translated into any other language. The game may not end up being one of FFG's top sellers. Unless the company identifies a huge demand for this genre of game in Italy, it won't be translated.

ANDROID is a game set in a near-future science-fiction setting. This is "cyberpunk" science-fiction, which is where high technology meets low morals. Cyberpunk movies include BLADE RUNNER (the flying cars in this game, where you can jump from point to point without bothering with streets, are like the "spinners" in the movie), JOHNNY MNEMONIC, FREEJACK, MINORITY REPORT, and the TEK WAR television series and movies.

In this game, 3 to 5 players each control a detective working for the New Angeles police. The map consists of places in the city of New Angeles as well as the Heinlein Moon base which the city operates. The only ways to get to and from the Moon are to get on to the "beanstalk" and then a space shuttle ride (which takes a few Time actions) or by using a Dropship Pass which can get you to any location either on the Earth or the Moon (one Time action). Players move around with aircars and use special crescent-shaped pieces to determine how far they can go on the map in one Time action. The diameters of these crescents are DIFFERENT; some detectives have faster cars than others.

Some locations are Restricted and require Warrants (police permission that lets you enter private residences or companies) to enter in one Time action. You can place up to 2 Warrants on the board to allow you to enter. If not, you need to spend 3 Time actions there.

Players start with 6 Time actions per day which they must spread carefully on movement, working on evidence, drawing or using Light cards.

The map also has a 5 by 5 Conspiracy Puzzle area in the corner, with one piece in the center already glued on. The "eye" represents the Conspiracy, and the goal in this section is to "link" this Conspiracy to 8 known power-groups.

In this game, a murder has occurred at a particular location. Players get points in 3 possible ways: collecting evidence to support their belief or impression (hunch) about who is guilty or innocent; using evidence instead to gain a piece of the Conspiracy Puzzle and earn points by linking groups to the Conspiracy; and working on their "personal demons" (personal problems which occur with the Plot Cards for each character).

Please note that the murder is abstract. This is not like the game CLUE, where the murderer card goes in an envelope and at the end of the game this card is taken out and shows the true murderer. Things are more uncertain in cyberpunk fiction. You are either gathering good evidence that links a suspect to the murder, or "planting" evidence on an innocent suspect to favor your hunches. You can also plant evidence (points and alibis) to make a suspect appear more innocent. Evidence points are placed face-down on a suspect and are revealed at the end of the game. You will not know if a player is working to make a suspect more guilty or more innocent, but some cards let you reveal the evidence points which have been placed. If the players keep track of who placed what evidence, you can gain a clue about which suspect is the player's Guilty Hunch or Innocent Hunch. You can even work to have that suspect killed, so that hunches against the suspect are useless!

You also will not find out why a corporation wanted to kill the murder-victim, but you get approval from your superiors (and points) for making links on the Conspiracy Puzzle.

Each player controls a detective which is very different from the rest. Each detective has 3 contacts who represent useful people who may do them favors. There are descriptions of a detective's relation to these people, and also a card describing strategy and how a detective can best deal with the other players. Each character has special cards as well which track the state of their life (for example, Rachel is concerned with having enough money and this is tracked on her Money Card.)

The game lasts over two game weeks, acting during 6 days per week. Each week, a player draws a Plot Card which can have a good and a less good outcome. At the halfway mark (3 days), based on player decisions and events (which translate into "good baggage" and "bad baggage"), the outcome of the card is decided, and this leads to one of two other cards. After 3 more days, the outcome of THAT card is determined, so there are 4 possible endings to the plot. Happy endings may give as much as +14 Victory Points, but sad endings may give as much as -10 VP.

Play is influenced by Twilight Cards: Light Cards and Dark Cards. Each player has their own Light Deck and Dark Deck, and to be able to pay for Light Cards (good things to happen), you must look for opportunities to play Dark Cards (bad things) on some other player. The points spent on cards is tracked on your character card with a Twilight Marker. You can only play Light Cards on your turn (unless written on the card) and Dark Cards on somebody else's turn. Most of these cards can only be "triggered" when something happens (e.g. when a detective walks into a certain kind of location).

The Twilight Track only goes two spaces from the center space in each direction (5 spaces in all). A curved arrow on the top of the card shows you the points and what direction you must move on the track. Many cards cost more than 4 points, so often you will not have enough spaces to move to pay for cards. You can gain +1 point to play a card if you DISCARD either a Light or Dark Card. Discarded cards go on the bottom of a deck but face-up. If all the cards in a deck are used and you see a face-up card, reshuffle the deck and put them face down to make a deck to draw from. I found this difficult as I had to give up some good cards to be able to play better cards.

Also, if a card you play is the same color as the player's current plot (your plot for a Light Card; another detective's color if you want to play a Dark Card), you can decrease OR increase the card cost by +1. Although it seems strange, sometimes you want to INCREASE your cost for a small card so that you can spend 1 more point playing a card of the opposite kind later. In other words, you deliberately pay more so you can move one more space, so that the swing of the pendulum is greater the other way for your next card of the opposite kind.

As I said, the murder aspect is abstract but lets you build points through Evidence on Suspects, or Evidence of the Conspiracy. The Plot points are more clear and personal, so you care about the personal story of your detective. Caprice, Blaine and Raymond have to deal with love affairs. Rachel has to worry about money, and mending the relationship with her father. Floyd is a bioroid working as a detective but also struggling to become more human. He also attempts to rebel against the Haas Bioroid company, his creator, so that he no longer has to follow Haas Bioroid's influence (one of the suspects in the game is the son of the company president, and they order Floyd NOT to put down guilty evidence on him!) There are 3 plot issues per detective except for Raymond, who has only two. In the 2nd week, Caprice's plot MUST be about retaining her sanity, since her psychic abilities may have nasty side-effects.

There is a large variety ot cards and tokens in this game. There are also General Event cards which are drawn at the end of some of the days, and a Murder-Specific card which should be drawn at the BEGINNING of Week 2 (not the end of the 1st day of Week 2 as originally printed in the rules). These cards can vary the board and affect detectives.

Players can gain Favor tokens (Corporate, Political, Society (the wealthy and powerful) or Street (the poor and criminal element)) which do not contain points in themselves but may be worth extra points based on the outcome of the Conspiracy Puzzle. Certain locations let you spend Favor tokens, but you may decide to keep them until the end of the game depending on what the Conspiracy Puzzle shows.

In conclusion, in this game you have to be careful to balance your strategy and take care of the 3 areas Evidence on Suspects, Evidence of the Conspiracy, and Plots to be successful. The only way you have to act against the other players is with cards. You should pay attention to the other detectives' abilities and stories and play Dark Cards and other things to interfere with them at the right time. You may also find out about what evidence a player placed on a suspect, and use that knowledge against the player (suspects can be killed with 3 Hit Tokens, and this makes hunches on that suspect useless since he will not be there at the end of the game.)

It really is a fidly game, although I can't say anything else than it definitely IS a game which I like, and which I think is good. You have to accept this fidly aspect (sorry, dunno how to spell the word), the idea that everything is based on many tiny tokens and all, but, hey, if you're no stranger with FFG games, after one game you'll be ok. Come on...

It is a fascinating game, just because of the feeling there are many things happening at the same time, and that every player deals with it his own way ; his personnal story, or the town locations, or the conspiracy... it is very rich. You know, you pick up your detective, then when it is your turn, ure like "ok, so i spend one time (it is a unit) leaving the supermarket, taking my car and flying over this ritzy bar, wherer i spend one time again to gain one society favor (it is a token that gives you other stuff, valuable ones), then I spend one time again to go over this building where I spend one time again to investigate this physical lead (something related to the murder) and then I place an evidence token on this suspect (which is a guy I have to make guilty because some hidden card in my hand say so and if in the end he IS guilty that will get me fifteen victory points) ; and then I don't have any time left, it is your turn, man"

then your friend goes the same "ok so I spend one time to go over this seedy place where..." STOP another of your friends yell "since you ve entered there, I play this dark card from my hands on you, which costs me two dark shifts (something related to your detective sheet that allows your or not to play this kind of cards) and which says blablabla papers administration and all you are delayed OH what a shame you lost two times (the very precious unit that allows you to perform actions, you know) and then the game goes on.

That is the idea ; the "get into the game atmosphere" feeling actually comes from the texts written everywhere ; there is a lot of it ; and that is why, as I always do here in these forums (huhuhu) I recommend you forget about the italian version and buy the original one ; there is no way I would wait for the french version (wait... is it out in france ? I don't even know ! hey ! i don't even care ! muahahah) because if the translation sucks (and admit it ; it often, very often does) you'll miss something big ; but then again, if you don't know english much, or if your friends don't, you'll miss something too.

Man, I didnt plan to write that much to help you out... I let myself get into the vibe ! Anyway. Just buy, come on, it is FFG dope, man, so it is good one. You shall buy, we love FFG and so say we all dammit. Cheers.

Ahahah, and I thought I had written a lot... Draconian is like a writting demi god compared to the simple being I am

Hem said:

It's okay! We both decided to waste time on Sunday afternoon talking about games!

What helps me is that I have a mad typing speed. But your impressions, long or short, will also help this guy out!

It is true that the game can be "fiddly"; you may never be sure where you stand in the points with these 3 different point mechanisms going on. The most you can do is work in each of the 3 areas to gain points, avoid losses, and dump on other players with Dark Cards, Bad Baggage, Trauma (physical violence that counts as negative Victory Points) and even putting Hit Tokens on suspects you think they are interested in.

I used to be a tabletop role-player so big rulebooks don't scare me. I practiced and managed to hold in all the rules to ANDROID in my poor brain at once. Many rules are easy to understand because they promote game balance. For example, you can only use the special ability of a location once per turn (day). These are made clear on the last pages of the rules.

To help you play the game, study the Frequently Asked Question file (FAQ) offered by the company. Also make a large chart of the Suspect sheets and position the Evidence markers in neat rows, then write down who positioned what token on what suspect. Players have ways to reveal evidence during the game. You will also find many useful player aids on the ANDROID section of boardgamegeek.com .

alot of info here. thanx alot for the replies!

HEM and DRACONIAN: Thanks a LOT!!! You did something great (I should say: "**** it! Now I've to buy it...Right now!!).

Just to explain...I've not any problem with english understanding (I'm a roleplayer too, and one of the worst I've ever met ;-) ). I play different FFG games (AGOT LCG on top) and I usually buy stuff in orginal language, just for the flavour...

And HEM, you're right...Most of the times, translation sucks!

I was waiting mostly for my play group, but with your ULTIMATE answers, I guess I'll get it once I'll get the money ;-)

So...I'll ask something more, maybe, while waiting for bucks ;-)

Now, let's talk about "re-playing". Is it a "re-playable" game, or it becomes "old" after a couple of games. I know LOTS of wonderful games that after a bunch of nights become boring and repetitive...

Just to know ;-)

P.S. I like some Cyberpunk features, even if it's not my favourite ambient for roleplaying.

I prefer some "horror-gothic" or Steampunk stuff (Vampires, Kult, Eberron)...But Androids seems to fit my general tastes pretty well (the idea of "investigation" is almost what I need to lose my mind and spend the rest of the year on this game ;-)).

P.S. No. 2 No problems about spending Sunday Afternoon/Night on games-discussion...Here are 5.00 am (italian hour) and I just came back from an entire day spent around an Agot demo (made by me) and an Arcane Legions demo (as player)...That's all we need, sometimes, baby! ;-)

DB_Cooper said:

REPLAY VALUE:

I haven't replayed this game long enough to say it has replay value. BUT consider that you can switch around among the 5 detectives and they are vastly different in abilities and flaws. If you successfully drove Caprice insane last game, see if you can do better when YOU control Caprice!

There are also 6 Murder Sheets. You are encouraged to start with "Evil at the Estates". The other murder cards again are abstract, but introduce special conditions to play. For example, "Murder on the Midway" gives you faster travel across from the Earth to the Moon, but hackers are hiding data and so the "leads" or evidence pieces you follow bounce around from the Earth to the Moon each time a Lead is followed that game.

Characters each have 40-44 Twilight Cards as well, so that's a variety of good or bad situations to put them in. Not all will be played every game, because players are powering their own cards with a few discard bonuses.

You might want to buy a plastic tray with 20 compartments for all the types of tokens in the game. I found it greatly organized things.

INVESTIGATION:

Remember, the murder is abstract so you don't get much of a hands-on investigation. Leads are either Testimony Leads (one of the 6 suspects talks), Document Leads (a camera icon representing recorded video, audio, papers) or Physical Lead (forensic, genetic, ballistic evidence). But when you land on a space with one, it is kicked around like a football somewhere else by the player on your right (i.e. the one who will take the longest after you to move, since the player on your LEFT is next). This player can't put the clue in his own district, and has to move it to the same location type as where it was found (yellow = religious, green = civic, red = residential, blue = business, purple = nightlife). It doesn't have to be the same location quality: ritzy (high-class), regular or seedy (run-down, low-class).

Once you have landed on an area with a Lead and have "Followed Up" the lead (takes 1 Time unit), you get to pick a blue Evidence Token that's face-down, and you get a positive (guilty) or negative (innocent) number of points on it. Some Evidence Tokens have a blue face (Surprise Witness, which helps the suspect and is -5) or a red face (Perjury, a witness who has lied and makes the suspect look bad, turning a Surprise Witness or Alibi Token into a +5). You place this Evidence Token face-down on a witness. Other players know where you put it, but not what it is.

OR instead of taking an Evidence Token from the pile of face-down tokens, you may draw a Conspiracy Puzzle piece. Puzzle Pieces are in 3 piles of 8, of increasing value: Shift Pieces, Favor Pieces, and Baggage Pieces. If players manage to place all pieces in the puzzle it will make a 5 by 5 grid, 25 total (including the fixed piece in the center). You can either draw one from the lowest pile still remaining, OR decide to "dig deeper" in which case you do nothing that time, but the next Lead you follow up permits you to pick one from the next-higher pile OR you can "dig even deeper" in which case you do nothing but the next Lead will permit you to pick from the third and most valuable pile. Each character places a Hero Marker to show what pile he has the right to draw from. If he draws a puzzle piece he resets his Hero Marker to the lowest pile left.

Puzzle Pieces allow you to do one of three things: allow you to Shift your Twilight Point Marker by one, or get a Favor Token of any type, or get a Baggage Token which you can use to put 1 Good or Bad Baggage on any player including yourself (even 1 point has a strong effect on Plot outcomes). You also get to place the puzzle piece to extend linkage lines. Sometimes on the Puzzle side of the piece there is an extra prize printed on it. You may choose instead to discard the puzzle piece, and if there is no good place to play it you may HAVE to, but you still collect any prizes on both sides of the piece.

So there's a lot to do with Leads, but their meaning is indirect.

Draconian,

Amazing game description, maybe you should write copy for FFG.

Definitely agree!