Game Objective

In Flatline: A FUSE Aftershock Game, you and your team of doctors work together to treat injured patients and deal with other emergencies that arrive at a relentless pace. The game's theme revolves around a medical crisis situation aboard a damaged ship, where players must manage resources and make quick decisions to save lives. The main objective is to treat all patients before time runs out.

Setup

To set up the game, follow these steps:

• Board Assembly: Connect the Life Support Dial to the center board piece. Then, fit the four corner board pieces around the Life Support Dial in the center of the table.
• Emergency Cards: Shuffle the Emergency Cards and place them face down near the numbered area from 1 to 6 on the board. Place the Emergency Dice to the left of the number 1.
• Patient Cards: Shuffle the Patient Cards. Depending on the number of players and the chosen difficulty level, deal a specific number of cards into a face-down pile. The remaining cards should be returned to the box. Then, flip the top four cards from the pile face up into the designated spaces on the board.
• Life Support Dial: Turn the Life Support Dial so that the connection to the diamond aligns with the first space of one of the Patient Cards.
• Recharging Stations: Place one Power Cube on each of the Recharging spaces on the board.
• Power Meter: Take the Power Meter that corresponds to the number of players and choose to play with the standard (green) side or the expert (red) side. Place this tile face up in the indicated space on the board. Unused Power Meters should be returned to the box.
• Power Cubes: Fill the Power Meter with the remaining eight Power Cubes, one per space on the meter.
• Chief Medical Officer: Choose one player to be the Chief Medical Officer and give them the player aid tile. This player is responsible for the overall flow of the game.
• Intern: Choose another player to be the Intern. This player will be responsible for organizing and redistributing dice as the Chief Medical Officer resolves actions.
• Player Dice: Each player chooses a color of dice and takes six of them for their play area. One remaining die is set aside, and another is returned to the box. (Note: With 2 players, each takes seven dice).
• Cleared Tiles: Place the Cleared Tiles on the table within reach of the Chief Medical Officer.
• Lock-Down Tiles: Place the Lock-Down Tiles next to the board. They will only be used if referenced on a card.

Game Flow

Each round of Flatline is divided into several phases, led by the Chief Medical Officer:

I. PRE-COUNTDOWN:

• A. Lose Power: Remove the leftmost Power Cube from the Power Meter. If it is the last Power Cube, the players lose the game.
• B. Add Emergencies: Reveal a number of Emergency Cards indicated by the number below the removed Power Cube. Cards with an orange tab go to the Stat area; cards with a blue tab go to the Emergency area (spaces 1-6), following the rules for filling rows. If both spaces (first and second rows) are full, the revealed cards are permanently discarded.
• C. Roll the Emergency Dice: Roll the two Emergency Dice. The cards in the areas corresponding to the rolled numbers are activated. Resolve the cards from left to right (1-6). If there are two cards in a slot, resolve the one in the first row before the second. Rolling doubles activates the cards in that space only once.
• D. Planning: Players discuss a strategy for the round, setting priorities and a plan of action. This phase has unlimited time but can be limited to one minute to add pressure.

II. E COUNTDOWN:

This is the main phase of the game, lasting one minute (or until all players have placed their dice). During this phase, players must:

• Saving Patients: Place their dice on the spaces corresponding to the required icons on the Patient Cards to treat them. Each row on a Patient Card must be completed separately.
• Clearing Emergency Cards: Place dice on the corresponding icons on the Emergency Cards to clear them. While not strictly necessary to win, ignoring them makes the game harder.
• Activating Recharging Stations: Place dice on the Recharging Stations to gain additional rounds of play.
• Re-rolling: Sacrifice a die by placing it on the re-roll track to be able to re-roll other unplaced dice. The number of re-rolls allowed per round varies with the number of players.

III. RESOLUTION:

• F. Resolve Cards: Starting with the cards in the Stat area and then the Emergency area.
  • Stat Area: If a card was not cleared, it is turned face down and placed on the red edge of the board. If it was cleared, it is turned face up on the green edge, becoming a Triage Card (one-time use benefit).
  • Emergency Area: Cleared cards here are discarded. If there is a card in the second row of a slot and the card in the first row is cleared, the card from the second row moves down to the first.
• G. Resolve Patient Cards and Recharging Stations: Starting with the Patient Card with the diamond on the Life Support Dial and proceeding clockwise.
  • Patient Cards: To clear a row, all required dice must be placed. If a row is completed, a Cleared Tile is placed over it. If all rows of a Patient Card are completed, the trigger at the bottom of the card is activated. If the trigger has a red light, another emergency has occurred; if it is green, it is a benefit for the players; if it is blank, nothing happens. The Patient Card is discarded and replaced with a new one.
  • Recharging Stations: If the required spaces were filled with dice, a Power Cube is moved from the Recharging Station to the rightmost open space on the Power Meter.
• H. Turn the Life Support Dial: After resolving everything and returning the dice to the players, turn the Life Support Dial one space clockwise. All card effects and triggers last only one round and end once the dial is turned.

Actions and How to Play

During the E COUNTDOWN phase, players perform the following actions:

• Saving Patients: Players roll all their dice and place them on the rows of the Patient Cards that require specific icon combinations. Each row must be completed by one or more players, as indicated on the card. Once a die is placed, it cannot be removed in the same round.
• Clearing Emergency Cards: Similar to treating patients, players place dice on the corresponding icons on the Emergency Cards to clear them. Any combination of players can clear these cards.
• Activating Recharging Stations: Placing dice on the Recharging Stations allows players to gain additional rounds of play by moving Power Cubes back to the Power Meter.
• Re-rolling: To re-roll dice, a player must sacrifice one of their dice by placing it on the re-roll track. The chosen player can then re-roll as many unplaced dice as they wish. The number of re-rolls allowed per round is limited.

Triage Cards: These cards, obtained by clearing cards from the Stat area, offer unique benefits that can be used at any time but must be in the '+' area to be activated (maximum of 4 cards). They can be used to gain extra dice, re-roll dice, discard emergency cards, among other things.

End of Game and Scoring

Game End:

• Players win if they manage to treat all the required Patient Cards before time runs out.
• Players lose if any of the following conditions occur:
  • The last Power Cube is removed from the Power Meter.
  • There are 3 face-down cards in the 'X' area of the board (4 face-down cards in a 1 or 2 player game).

Scoring: The game does not have a traditional scoring system. Victory or defeat is determined by the end-game conditions described above.

Tips for Winning

• Communication is Key: As Flatline is a cooperative game, clear and constant communication between players is essential. Openly discuss where to place dice and which priorities to address.
• Manage the Power Meter: Keep an eye on the Power Meter. Removing Power Cubes is a sign that time is running out, and losing them all results in defeat. Attempting to refill the meter through the Recharging Stations can extend the game time.
• Use Triage Cards Strategically: Triage Cards can offer crucial advantages. Save them for moments of extreme need or to optimize your actions during the Countdown and Resolution phases.