Game Objective

The world was devastated by a plague 71 years ago. Survivors live in floating stations called sanctuaries and desperately try to prevent the total collapse of humanity by providing supplies to the few cities that still remain in the network. You are the chosen leaders to coordinate these efforts.

The group's goal is to reach the required number of objectives defined for the current month (including all mandatory objectives) to win the game. The campaign lasts 12 months, and success or failure in each month will impact subsequent games through permanent changes to the game.

Setup

1. Prepare the Board: Place the amount of Supply cubes indicated on the month's Supply track into the stock. Place the objective cards in the Objectives area and any twist cards in the End Game area.
2. Initial Components: Place the plague cubes in their locations, the Incident marker on space "0" of the Incident track, and the Infection Rate marker on space "2". Place a track marker on space "0" of each track on the objective cards. Keep the supply centers nearby.
3. Legacy Deck: Read the Legacy Deck cards one by one until you find a PAUSE or STOP card.
4. Stock the Network: Distribute the Supply cubes from the stock among the network locations (you decide the amount for each location).
5. Infect the Network: Shuffle the Infection cards and flip 9. For each card, move 1 Supply cube from the city to the stock. If the city has no supplies, place a plague cube and advance the Incident marker 1 space.
6. Game Deck:
   • Add Rationed Event cards to the Game deck according to the current rationing level (4 in the prologue and January). Non-Rationed Events always enter the deck and do not count toward the limit.
   • Shuffle City cards, Event cards, and Produce Supplies cards. Distribute starting cards: 4 cards for 2 players, 3 cards for 3 players, and 2 cards for 4 players.
   • Divide the remaining deck into 5 piles and shuffle 1 Epidemic card into each pile, stacking them (smaller piles on the bottom).
7. Characters: Each player chooses a character, color, and pawn, positioning themselves at their starting location. If there are not enough characters, use the sanctuary workers.
8. Start: Choose a player randomly to start; turns proceed clockwise.

Game Flow

Each player's turn is strictly divided into the following 4 steps:

1. Check exposure: If the player starts their turn in a location with 1 or more plague cubes, they suffer exposure.
2. Perform 4 actions: The player may perform up to 4 actions (the same action may be repeated) and an unlimited number of free actions.
3. Draw 2 Game cards: The player draws 2 cards from the top of the Game deck. If there is an Epidemic card, it must be resolved immediately (Rate increase, Infection, and Intensification).
4. Infect cities: Flip a number of Infection cards equal to the current infection rate. For each city: remove 1 Supply cube; if there are none, place a plague cube and advance the Incident track. If the city already has 3 plague cubes, an outbreak occurs.

Actions and How to Play

Movement Actions (Count as 1 action)

• Automobile/Ferry: Move to an adjacent location connected by a line.
• Sailing: Discard a card to move to the city on the card, provided there is a sea route.
• Chartered Boat: Discard the card of the city where you are to move to any location via a sea route.

Other Actions (Count as 1 action)

• Prepare Supplies: Take 1 Supply cube from the stock and place it on the Character card.
• Produce Supplies: Discard a Produce Supplies card while at a sanctuary or supply center. You may choose between Local Production (fill the current location according to population) or Systematic Production (fill all sanctuaries and centers in the network according to population).
• Deliver Supplies: Place Supply cubes from the Character card into the current location.
• Share Knowledge: Give or take a City card from another player, provided both are in the corresponding city and agree.
• Build Supply Center: Discard 5 cards of the current city's color to place a supply center.
• Recon: (Does not occur in the prologue). Explore the world by discarding the required cards at the location to open numbered packs. Usually requires being at a supply center.

Free Actions (Do not count toward the 4-action limit)

• Collect Supplies: Take Supply cubes from the location and place them on the Character card.
• Transfer Supplies: Exchange Supply cubes with a player in the same location.

Special Cards

• Event Cards: Can be played at any time (they are not actions). Rationed Events go to the discard pile; Non-Rationed Events are destroyed.

End Game and Scoring

End Game Triggers

• Victory: Reach the required number of objectives (including all mandatory objectives).
• Defeat:
  • The Incident marker reaches the end of the Incident track (skull).
  • A player is unable to draw 2 Game cards (the deck has run out).

Scoring and Campaign

Consult the manual for details on the final campaign score (at the end of December). At the end of each game, End Game Updates are performed:

• Adjust Population: Decrease population in locations with plague and increase in locations with supply centers.
• Production Units: Based on the number of cities in the network (with +1 if they win), players can spend units to:
  • Increase the population of non-abandoned locations (1 unit) or repopulate abandoned cities to 1 (2 units).
  • Add character abilities, City card upgrades, or Infection card upgrades.

Tips for Winning

• Supply Management: Use Systematic Production to stock multiple network locations at once, but remember that this consumes the card permanently after crossing off all spaces.
• Strategic Positioning: Build supply centers to enable the use of Produce Supplies cards and to increase the population of those cities at the end of the game.
• Beware of Exposure: Avoid starting turns in locations with plague cubes to avoid filling the exposure track, which can cause scars or the death of the character.