BACKBONE

Objective

You're a rival network operator. Expand your infrastructure across the hex map, bring Datacenters online, and connect Cities to your network. The first player to reach {{ targetVp }} AI tokens at the end of their turn triggers the endgame (see Winning).

The board

A 9×9 hex grid. Two corners are start hexes — yours already holds a Router and a Server. Seven City hexes (⬢) are neutral, never move, and are shared: both players may connect to the same City at once. The layout is a 180° rotation, so neither corner has a geometric head start. Adjacent = the six hexes touching a hex; a Wireless AP also counts as adjacent to the hex exactly one step beyond it in a straight line (the jumped hex isn't claimed).

Setup

Each player starts with 1 Router + 1 Server on their corner. Player 1 takes 3 BW, Player 2 takes 5 BW (the extra 2 offsets moving second). Bandwidth (BW) is the only currency — spent to Build and to Hack; income adds more each turn, up to a hand limit of 10.

Turn structure

• Income — +3 BW, plus +1 per City you're connected to (capped at 10 BW).
• Actions — take any 2 actions (Build, Hack, or Reroute; the same one twice is fine).
• Recover — remove Disabled markers from pieces hacked on the opponent's last turn.
• Score — count AI tokens; reaching the target here can end the game.

The three actions

Build — pay the piece's cost and place it on an empty, non-City hex adjacent to your network, keeping the network connected. (Firewalls are the exception: placed on top of a piece you own.) A Switch needs 2+ adjacent friendly pieces — it consolidates, it doesn't expand alone. A Server built next to a City connects it (+1 token).

Hack (1 BW, once per turn) — choose an enemy piece adjacent to your network. If it carries a Firewall, the Firewall is spent and the piece is safe; otherwise it's Disabled until the end of the victim's next turn — it doesn't connect, serve, or score, and anything reachable only through it drops out of the network too. Hacks never destroy pieces or remove territory.

Reroute (free) — move one of your Switches or Wireless APs to another legal hex; the network must stay fully connected and at least as large afterward.

Infrastructure pieces

Piece	Cost	What it does
Router	2 BW	Expands territory one hex; Datacenters need 2 adjacent.
Switch	1 BW	Glue — needs 2+ adjacent friendly pieces; doesn't expand alone.
Wireless AP	3 BW	Reaches 1 hex beyond in a line (jumped hex not claimed).
Firewall	2 BW	Placed on a piece you own; absorbs one Hack, then is spent.
Server	3 BW	Online with 2 adjacent Routers; connects an adjacent City.
Datacenter	6 BW	Your engine of victory — online (1 token) while adjacent to 2+ Routers and connected to a Server.

Scoring

Checked at the end of every turn:

Source	AI tokens
Each online Datacenter	1
Each City connected to your network	1
Two+ of your Datacenters linked through your network (once)	+2 bonus

Winning

End a turn with {{ targetVp }}+ AI tokens and your opponent gets exactly one more full turn to catch up; then the higher total wins (ties → more connected Cities → draw). If the second player also reaches the target on that closing turn, the game ends immediately (turns are already equal). Four consecutive Passes (a stuck round) also ends it by the same tiebreak.

Strategy tips

• Routers grab ground fast but stretch you thin — a long unprotected spine is easy to Hack at the joints; Switches/APs make a denser, harder-to-cut core.
• Firewall the pieces whose loss hurts most (the Server feeding a Datacenter, or a single link holding two halves together) — not whatever's nearest the front.
• An unbuilt Datacenter isn't points — check the ring: it needs 2 Routers and a networked Server to earn.
• The two-Datacenter +2 link bonus is often the sprint that ends the game — shape your network to get two DCs into one component.
• Hacking is once/turn at 1 BW — a single Hack that severs a bridge is worth far more than denying one piece's income.