Android (board Game) - Game Mechanics and Winning

Game Mechanics and Winning

Unlike many games of this genre, there are no dice involved in the game. The game is determined by card play, and your ability to accumulate Victory Points in various ways. Some of the characters in the game are "better" at uncovering the Conspiracy, and gain more points and better game benefits by doing so. Some are better at solving the murder, and some are better at solving their particular Plot lines. This leaves a lot of different strategies to win the game, and solving the murder is not a guarantee you will win the game. Players attempting to balance both solving the murder, and solving the Conspiracy while trying to find out their opponents' hunches, throwing them off, and forcing them into bad Plot Endings generally win. Because of this the game is very replayable, and very open to future expansions. No character has an optimal way to win a game, because of the element of plots, which can change how to play a character, and the element of players playing Dark Cards against you. Players can also place hits on suspects to kill them, place Alibis on suspects, and some Twilight cards allow players to move around the leads on suspects, messing up an opponent's strategy. In addition, leads are constantly being moved around the board, forcing players to travel between Earth and the Moon and adjusting priorities and strategies.

Because there are three separate mechanisms to gain Victory Points: resolving the murder, Plot Cards, and the Conspiracy Puzzle, it may be difficult for players to assess their relative standing at any point during the game.

The game presents certain limitations which may frustrate new players. The murder is abstract; the "true" murderer is not definitely determined such as in a game of Clue. Investigators are seeking to prove their hunches and may even actively frame an innocent suspect. The connection between the murderer and the leads are not developed. This may possibly be justified by the cynical cyberpunk game-setting; by the fact that Investigators are credited in their employment for results, not necessarily truthful results; or the fact that the murder case is not the only focus of actions (similar to many police television shows where the personal lives of characters are dealt with as well). In a similar way, the Conspiracy aspect is abstract and presents no clear plot line as to why the influential groups wanted the murder victim killed. Possibly the full motivations are unknowable or covered up by outside pressures by these groups on the police force, again in the cyberpunk tradition.