Adam P.

McIver’s Locked Sprites

(no Firewall)
Unlocked Sprite
2 Players 20 Mins. 13 yrs.
A Hacker Placement Microgame PNP Version 1.2 beta

In the year 2220, criminal gangs and organizations have moved from the streets and back
alleys of the physical world to the fiber optics of cyberspace. The two most infamous
hacker crews, the ruthless Black_Skulls and the guileful White_Wolves are on the front
lines of this new digital war, cracking security systems and vying for notoriety. Firewalls
When warfare is virtual, reputation is everything. Black Player Home System

In #VECTOR, two players take control of rival hacker crews in a constant struggle to rule the grid. As the
leader of a crew, you will increase your reputation and damage your opponent’s in three key ways:
controlling the grid by converting it to your crew’s color, using remote exploits to damage your
opponent’s reputation, and hacking into your opponent’s mainframe to steal valuable DATA PACKETS.
Open Connections
There are a limited amount of REP/DMG tokens in the general supply.The player with the most REP (exterior pathways)
when the token supply runs out wins!
Closed Connections

The Grid
(interior pathways)
Game_SETUP NO CON TRO
L Points
(junctions between
Both players choose a color. Take the three sprites and the ALPHA, BETA, and GAMMA vector connections)
1 cards of your color.
Nodes
(color-coded points
2 Set the REP/DMG tokens and the CONTROL token (on its reverse side) aside in the supply. with special effects)

Place your ALPHA vector card in the center of the table on the opposite side of your
3 opponent's ALPHA card, facing you. These 2 vector cards are the start of “The Grid” - the
White Player Home System
board your sprites will interact with.
Firewalls
Place your BETA and GAMMA vector cards directly in front of your opponent. These cards are
4 “firewalls”. Firewalls are never considered to be part of the grid.

Place your 3 sprites in a row in front of you - 1 behind each of the two firewalls your opponent
5 placed and 1 to the right of them. A sprite behind a firewall is "locked" and cannot be Unlocked Sprite
activated until the firewall is removed. This row of sprites is your “home system”. (no Firewall)
Locked Sprites
Take the 2 DATA PACKETS and secretly place one in each of your hands. Your opponent
6 chooses at random. The player whose color matches the chosen token takes the first turn. Set
the data packets near the supply. You are now ready to play!

Turn_SEQUENCE CONFIGURE_Nodes
Step 1: Ready Activating a Configure node allows you to move any vector card, including the one
“Ready” all of your unlocked sprites by standing them up. containing the activated node or any firewall. The chosen vector card must be moved from its
current location to another location of your choice and join (or rejoin) the grid: at least one of its sides must
Step 2: Actions connect to a vector card in the grid. The vector card may not be rotated as it is moved - it must remain in the
You may now take an action with each of your readied sprites. When a sprite takes an action, it must first move same orientation. Any sprites located on the vector card being moved remain on the points they occupy.
along at least one connection.
NOTE: Activating a Configure node and moving a firewall in front of a sprite is the only way to unlock a sprite.
If a sprite begins your turn in your home system, it must move onto the grid through any “open connection”
(connections along the outside edge of the grid) to take an action. Moving onto the grid is considered
“logging in”. A sprite may move along any number of connections as a single action, provided the points
between the connections are unoccupied. You may choose to end a sprite’s movement on any unoccupied
point. A sprite must end its movement if it lands on a node. You may then choose to activate that node. (The
effects of each of the node types are described below.)

If a sprite moves onto a point or node occupied by any other sprite, both sprites are immediately "logged out"
and returned to their home system, “exhausted” (laid down). A sprite that moves off the grid through an open
connection is also considered to have logged out, and a sprite may choose to voluntarily log out from any point
or node on the grid without first moving along a connection.

A sprite is always exhausted after taking an action. When all your unlocked sprites are exhausted, or you
choose not to take any further actions, move on to Step 3.
EXAMPLE: The white player’s
Step 3: Control sprite activates the Configure
You now check to see if you have control of the grid. You have node on the black ALPHA card
control if all the vector cards in the grid match your player color. and moves the white GAMMA
You may earn REP for controlling the grid, depending on the CONTROL vector card to a new location.
location of the CONTROL token. The CONTROL token only
changes places during this last step of players’ turns.

If you have control and do not already have the CONTROL token, take it, place it in front of you, and earn an
amount of REP equal to the number of vector cards in the grid. If you have control, but already have the
CONTROL token in front of you from a previous turn, you do not earn REP. If you have the CONTROL token but
no longer have control of the grid, return the token to the supply with the NO CONTROL side up.
Disconnected Vector Cards
It is possible that moving a vector card with a Configure node may leave one or more vector cards
disconnected from the rest of the grid. If this occurs, the player who activated the node must allow their
opponent to reconnect the smallest group (or groups) of vector cards one at a time until the grid becomes a
single group. The player rejoins the vector card/s to the grid in the same way as activating a configure node.
This reconnection is mandatory, and in this way the grid must always be a single group after any action.

Page 1 • #VECTOR_PNP • For more info, including FAQs, visit: bit.ly/vectorbgg

 ROTATE_Nodes
When one of your sprites activates a Rotate node you may choose to rotate any single vector
card, including the one containing the activated node or any vector card currently acting as a
firewall. The chosen vector card is rotated 180 degrees and remains in its current location. Any sprites located
on the vector card being rotated remain on the same points they currently occupy.
INVERT_Nodes
When one of your sprites activates an Invert node you may choose to flip a single vector card,
including the one containing the activated node but excluding firewalls. The chosen vector card is
flipped to its opposite side length- or widthwise and remains in its current location. Any sprites located on the
vector card being inverted are returned to the same points they occupied on the vector card’s reverse side.

EXAMPLE: The black EXAMPLE: The black

player’s sprite activates player’s sprite activates
the Rotate node on the the Invert node on the
black ALPHA card and black ALPHA card and
turns the white ALPHA flips the white ALPHA
vector card 180 degrees. vector card widthwise to
its black OMEGA side.
Before After Before After

HINT: Some points on vector cards are colored: they indicate what nodes are on the reverse side of the card!

EXPLOIT_Nodes
Exploit nodes function differently from the other four types. Two Exploit
nodes showing your opponent’s color must be connected by an unblocked path
for one of your sprites to be able to activate them. The connection between two Exploit nodes is considered
blocked if it contains a point occupied by another sprite, or if the path crosses any other type of node.
If you are able to connect two
Exploit nodes of your
opponent’s color and move a
sprite onto one to activate it,
you will deal DMG to that
opponent. (see REP/DMG
below) You deal 2 DMG for
every vector card the path
between the nodes passes
through. In the example to the
left, the black player would
deal 4 DMG to the white
Blocked Not Blocked player because the path passes
through 2 vector cards.
MAINFRAME_Nodes
If one of your sprites reaches your opponent’s
Mainframe and activates it, take the DATA PACKET
matching your opponent’s color and place it under your sprite. Your
sprite has stolen one of your opponent’s valuable secrets and is now carrying the DATA PACKET. It will move
with them on subsequent turns. A sprite carrying a DATA PACKET may not log out from the grid as they
normally could. They may only log out through an open connection. If your sprite is able to maneuver off the
grid and deliver the data packet to your home system, it will be worth +8 REP at the end of the game.
If your sprite is carrying a DATA PACKET and moves onto a point occupied by another sprite, or vice versa, the
two sprites are logged off and the DATA PACKET is dropped onto the point. Another of your sprites may pick it
up again by ending their movement on that point. If one of your opponent’s sprites ends its movement on the
point containing their DATA PACKET it is immediately recovered and removed from the grid.
DMG/REP
REP/DMG tokens are double sided, and are worth +1 REP and -1 REP respectively at the end of the game. All
tokens are placed in your home system when taken. If you have earned REP and are later dealt DMG tokens,
simply place them on top of your REP tokens to show that they are negated.

EXAMPLE: The white player has
been able to make an
unblocked connection between
two of her Exploit nodes across
four vector cards. She activates
one of the connected nodes
with her sprite, dealing 8 DMG
to the black player!
REP/DMG Conversion
When you earn 2 or more REP and have DMG tokens in your home system you may choose to forego taking 2
REP tokens from the supply in order to flip one of your DMG tokens over to its REP side. Likewise, if you deal
2 or more DMG to your opponent you may forego giving them 2 DMG tokens from the supply in order to flip
one of their REP tokens over to its DMG side. In this way you may attempt to control the pace of the game by
attempting to keep the token supply stocked. You may do this as many times as you like, but the choice must
be made before the tokens are taken from the supply. REP/DMG tokens are never returned to the supply
during a game.
END_of_Game
If the token supply is depleted at the end of a player’s turn the game ends. Each player adds up all their REP
tokens, adds +8 REP if they stole a data packet, then subtracts all their DMG tokens to determine their total.
The player with the highest REP wins!

If there is a tie, the player with the most REP tokens wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the fewest DMG
tokens wins. If there is STILL a tie, the player who stole a DATA PACKET wins. If both or neither of the players
stole a DATA PACKET they share a victory or play again to determine a winner.
After you deal DMG from an Exploit node, two things happen:
1) Any sprites on the vector card containing the activated Exploit node are immediately logged out and
returned to their home system, exhausted. CREDITS
2) Your opponent removes the vector card containing the activated node from the grid, inverts it to their color,
GAME DESIGN: Adam P. McIver
and places it as a firewall in front of one of the sprites in your home system. If they place it in front of a
readied sprite, the sprite is also exhausted. LEAD DEVELOPER/EDITOR: Kerry Rundle
ARTWORK
PLAYTESTERS: Joel Eddy, Mike Mullins, Kyle & GRAPHIC
If removing the exploited card results in one or more disconnected vector cards, your opponent is given the Hendricks, Ed Marriot, Jeremy Van Maanen, Levi DESIGN BY:
opportunity to reconnect them. See the “Disconnected vector cards” note under the Configure section on Baer, Eric Raué, Johann Boe, Steve Seebode, Richard
THECRE8TIVEDEPT.COM
the previous page. Mulholland, Marcel Perro.

Page 2 • #VECTOR_PNP • For more info, including FAQs, visit: bit.ly/vectorbgg

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NO CONTROL

CONTROL

PNP_INSTRUCTIONS
1 Print the PDF at 100% on thick cardstock so sprite meeples stand straight.

2 Cut out all components along solid lines.

3 Fold all components along dotted lines.

4 Insert cards into card sleeves.

5 Glue/tape double-sided tokens so they lay flat.

Page 4 • #VECTOR_PNP