- Designer: Michael Yang
- Publisher: Greater Than Games
- Players: 2 Players
- Playtime: 20-30 minutes
- Ages: 14+
Are you looking for a “thinky” game for two? Ever wonder what it was like to be an AI construct? Enter Compile! A game where two AI bots are competing against each other to Compile their data the fastest. Choose from different AI protocols such as Earth, Psychic, or Plague and race to see who can complete their Command Cards first!
What’s In the Box?
- 12 Protocol Cards
- 36 Command Cards
- 1 Turn Order Card
- Instruction Sheet
Setup
To set up Compile, first place all of the Protocol Cards in the center of the play area in piles with their Command Cards underneath. You can then begin the draft. Each player will get need to pick out 3 Protocols to use. The youngest player will select their first protocol. Next, the second player will draft 2 protocols. The youngest player will then draft 2 protocols, and finally the second player will draft their final protocol. All remaining cards go back in the box.
Player will set up their Protocol Cards in the middle of the play area, “Loading …” side up, parallel to each other. All other cards will be shuffled together. These cards form the Deck. Players will then deal themselves 5 cards from the top of the deck to form their Hand. Remaining Command Cards are put near the area of play, with room enough for a Trash pile. You are now ready to play Compile.
Objective
The objective of Compile is to complete each of your Protocols before your opponent. To do so, you have to score a minimum of 10 points worth of cards under your protocol, called a lane. Once you reach at least 10 points, you will compare with the other players parallel Protocol within the same lane. If they have an equal or greater number of points, you are unable to Compile your protocol. If you have 10 points and also have more points than the other player for the ,a e, you can Compile your Protocol by taking all of your cards below and moving them to the trash and flipping over your Protocol Card to the Complete side. The opponent also trashes all cards in their lane. First player to complete all 3 of their Protocols wins the game.
Gameplay
Draft cards, play cards, compile the data. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, not exactly. Let’s get into it! On a player’s turn they will take the following actions, in this order.
Start – Perform any card effects that have the Start condition on your side of the playing area
Check Control – If this is your first time playing, you will ignore this step. On subsequent plays, it is an optional rule you can include. (as many times as we have played this game, we have mostly kept this step out of it).
Check Compile – If a player has met the Compile requirements for one of their Protocols, this is the time they would Compile.
Action – Players must either play 1 Command Card or Refresh their deck up to 5 cards. Player’s may also Refresh by discarding their hand and taking 5 new cards.
Check Cashe – If a player has 5 or more cards in their hand, they must pare it down to only 5 cards, thus “clearing cache.”
End – The player’s turn ends and they perform any End actions listed on their Command Cards
The turn then goes to the next player. Turn continues until a player Compiles all 3 of their Protocol Cards and is declared the winner!
Notes:
- You can only Compile 1 Protocol per turn, even if you have more than 1 Protocol that meets the conditions.
- If you have 10 or more points and you go to Compile, and the other player has a matching number of points, or more points than you, you will not be able to Compile.
- In order to Compile, a player must have 10 or more points AND more points in the same line than the other player.
- A player may also choose to Recompile, by Compiling a Protocol that has already been Compiled.
- In this circumstance, the player will delete the cards in the line, as previously stated, but instead of flipping their Protocol Card, they will take the top card off of the other player’s Deck.
- The new player is now the owner of this card.
- This new card can be played in the same line of its Protocol Card.
Final Thoughts
In my opinion, Compile is a wonderful 2 player game, with just enough strategy to keep in interesting to play through multiple times! Do note that it may take a multiple games for the rules to really stick, as I have never played a game quite like this before. We learned about Compile through a friend, and quickly learned they were releasing a second set! They were sold of out the first set everywhere, but Izzie and Archinimus were able to score a copy from Ebay. We immediately pre-ordered Compile 2 and the expansion pack. We are now the proud owners of all of Compile. We’ve taken it on vacations and used it for many pick up games at home. I don’t recommend if for younger kiddos. I think the suggested age range of 14+ holds true. But if you are looking for a fun, thinker of a game, this is for you!
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