Bloc by Bloc: Uprising Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Gameplay Overview
• Components
• Setup
  • 4 Players Setup
  • 3 Players Modifications to the 4 Players Setup
  • 2 Players Modifications to the 4 Players Setup
  • 1 Player
• Create the City
• District Guide
  • Streets, Highways & the Metro
• Nighttime
  • Nighttime Step 1: Police Ops
    • Police Squad Movement Cards
    • Police ID Priority
    • Metro Lockdown
    • Other Types of Police Ops Cards
  • Nighttime Step 2: Form 1 Bloc & Roll Action Dice
  • Nighttime Step 3: Take Actions
    • Basic Action: Movement
    • Attend Meetings to Draw Conditions Cards
    • Basic Action: Barricade
    • Advanced Action: Loot
    • Advanced Action: Build Occupation
    • Advanced Action: Swap Occupation
    • Types of Occupations
    • Faction Special Abilities
    • Attack Actions
  • How is Police Morale Lowered?
  • Conditions Tokens & the Conditions Deck
• Sunrise
  • Sunrise Step 1: Resolve the Reaction Card
    • Van Movement
  • Sunrise Step 2: District Liberation
    • Liberation Cards
  • Sunrise Step 3: Check Meeting Attendance
  • Sunrise Step 4: Check Win Conditions (Fully Co-op)
  • Sunrise Step 5: Advance the Countdown
• Semi-Cooperative Mode
  • District Control
  • Sunrise Step 4: Check Win Conditions (Semi Co-op)
• Component List
• Credits

Gameplay Overview

Players: 1-4 · Ages: 14+ · Time: 1-2+ hours

The factions—Prisoners, Neighbors, Workers, Students—play together against the Police.

Object of the Game: For your first games of Bloc by Bloc, play in fully cooperative mode. All factions win or lose together and must cooperate to defeat the police and liberate the city. To liberate the city, each faction must complete the objectives on 1 Conditions card. Each Conditions card specifies certain districts of the city that must be liberated and where occupations must be built.

Semi Co-op Mode: After becoming familiar with the game, you can increase its strategic depth by adding in an element of social deduction and bluffing. When playing semi-cooperatively, each faction has a secret Agenda card that determines how it wins the game. Factions with Social Agendas can still win together cooperatively. But a faction with a Vanguardist or Sectarian Agenda can only win alone and must work covertly to undermine the other factions.

Bloc by Bloc is played in rounds and each round is 1 night. The countdown tank starts with 10 nights remaining. Each night has 2 phases, Nighttime and Sunrise.

Nighttime: The Nighttime phase is when each faction takes its turn. At the start of a faction's turn, cards are drawn from the Police Ops deck. These move and deploy police squads across the city. Higher police morale means more cards. Next, the faction rolls action dice and spends those dice to take various actions around the city using their blocs.

Sunrise: After each faction has taken its turn, the Reaction card orders police to attack and police vans to move around the city. Next, factions may liberate districts and draw Liberation cards if enough blocs are gathered in those districts. There might also be a meeting to draw more Conditions cards. And don't forget to check if the game has been won! If not, move the countdown forward at the speed of police morale, start the next night, and continue playing. If time runs out or any faction has zero blocs in the city, all factions lose.

Game Length: 1 hour for 1 & 2 players • 2-3 hours for 3 & 4 players

Components

The numbers below correspond to the setup steps on pages 4 & 5 of the printed rulebook.

• Occupation Tokens
• Blocs
• Conditions Tokens
• First Faction Flame
• Action Dice
• Barricades
• Loot Tokens
• Police Player Aid
• Faction Cards with Player Aids (Police, Students, Neighbors, Workers, Prisoners)
• Police Morale Marker
• Police Squads
• Police Van
• Countdown Tank
• District Tiles
• Loot Cards
• Police Ops Cards
• Metro Lockdown (Reaction Cards)
• Meeting (Conditions Cards)
• Fabric Playing Mat
• Agenda Cards
• Liberation Cards

Setup

Fully cooperative mode is recommended for your first games of Uprising. See Semi-Cooperative Mode for additional semi-cooperative setup steps.

4 Players Setup

The setup steps below correspond to the numbers in red circles in the printed rulebook.

1. Create the city: After laying down the black fabric playing mat, follow the steps in Create the City to create a unique city using the 25 district tiles.

   Beginner Game: Shuffle and place the 25 Liberation cards in a 5 x 5 grid on the fabric map with the darker side face-up. Arrange the district tiles on top of the cards as shown in Create the City.

2. Place the countdown tank on the 10 nights step of the countdown track.

3. Set up the Loot deck: Shuffle the Loot cards and place them face-down next to the playing mat. Make sure there is room for a discard pile.

4. Set up the tokens & dice: Place the barricades, Loot tokens, and dice in piles within reach of all players.

5. Deploy police to the State districts: Place 1 police van and 3 police squads in each State district tile. State districts have white circles. Put all remaining police squads in the staging area section of the playing mat.

6. Set police morale: Place the police morale marker under Timid on the police morale track of the playing mat.

7. Set up the Police Ops deck: Shuffle the Police Ops cards and place them face-down next to the playing mat. Make sure there is room for a discard pile.

   To adjust the game's difficulty level: Alter the number of Heavy Reinforcements cards in the Police Ops deck. Place all unused cards back in the game box.

   • Easy: 1 Heavy Reinforcements
   • Medium: 2 Heavy Reinforcements
   • Hard: 3 Heavy Reinforcements
   • Expert: 4 Heavy Reinforcements

8. Set up the Reaction deck: Shuffle the Reaction cards and place them face-down (with the darker side face-up) next to the staging area. Make sure there is room for a discard pile just off the playing mat.

9. Randomly assign each player one of the 4 factions: Pass out the faction cards and corresponding pieces: 5 occupation tokens, 10 blocs, and 1 Conditions token per faction.

10. Choose starting districts: Each faction chooses one of its own district tiles as its starting district by placing its Faction Start occupation token in that district's occupation circle. Each faction then places 1 of its blocs in the starting district. If a faction's starting district is adjacent to any police vans, place 3 barricades between that district and each adjacent district with a van. See District Guide for more on how streets and highways connect adjacent districts.

    Hint: Start as far away from the police as possible!

11. Set up the Conditions deck: Shuffle the Conditions cards and place them face-down (with the meeting side face-up) on the playing mat above the countdown. Draw 1 Conditions card and place it face-up next to the deck.

12. Randomly assign first faction: Give one player the first faction flame. Their faction begins the game.

3 Players Modifications to the 4 Players Setup

In step 10, each faction places 2 of its blocs in its starting district. In step 11, before shuffling the Conditions deck, remove the card specifying a district belonging to the faction absent from this game.

2 Players Modifications to the 4 Players Setup

In step 10, each faction places 3 of its blocs in its starting district. In step 11, before shuffling the Conditions deck, remove the 2 cards specifying districts belonging to the factions absent from this game.

1 Player

Follow the 2 Player setup instructions and play as 2 factions.

Create the City

1a. Shuffle and place the 25 Liberation cards in a 5 x 5 grid with the darker side face-up: Follow the grid on the black fabric playing mat for correct card placement.

1c. Shuffle each of the 3 district piles: Make sure to shuffle each pile in terms of tile order within the pile while also shuffling the orientation by randomly rotating each tile.

1d. Arrange the district tiles on top of the Liberation cards: Place all tiles from the A pile on the squares of the grid on the black fabric playing mat marked A on their corners. Place all B tiles on the squares marked B and all C tiles on the squares marked C. Place each district tile so that it completely covers the Liberation card.

District Guide

Most district tiles have two unique sides: a repressed side and a liberated side. Districts start out repressed at the beginning of the game. During the Sunrise phase of each night, factions have the opportunity to liberate districts in order to fulfill Conditions cards and win the game. See District Liberation to learn about District Liberation.

A. Type: There are 8 types of districts: Workers, Students, Neighbors, Prisoners, State, Public, Commercial, Highway.

B. Occupation Circle: The colored circles indicate locations where an occupation can be built.

C. Difficulty: Each district has a difficulty number that shows how hard it is for factions to take advanced actions and attack actions in that district. Higher numbers are more difficult.

Repressed Side: The difficulty on the liberated side of a district tile is almost always 1 less than on its repressed side.

D. Police ID & Letter: Each district has a unique Police ID. Police Ops and Reaction cards will refer to these numbers to determine police movement and deployment. The pointer below the Police ID shows the correct edge to use when flipping the district tile after liberating the district, ensuring that the district tile does not change orientation. The letter to the left of the pointer is only used during setup.

E. Shopping Center: Shopping carts represent shopping centers, which are locations where factions can take Loot actions. Commercial districts have multiple shopping centers. Each shopping center location has a corresponding graffiti on the liberated side of that district.

Streets, Highways & the Metro

Districts that are side-by-side and connected by streets or highways are considered adjacent.

F. 4-Way Street Intersection: The majority of districts have a standard 4-way street intersection. Blocs and police can move between this district and any adjacent districts on all 4 sides.

G. 3-Way Street Intersection: Some districts have 3-way street intersections. Blocs and police can enter and exit these districts on 3 sides. The fourth direction is blocked. The district blocked by the symbol is not considered adjacent.

H. Highway: Highway districts connect two separate sets of diagonally adjacent districts. The connected districts are considered adjacent. Blocs and police never stop on highways while moving between districts.

I. Metro Station: Blocs may move between two districts without using the streets if both districts contain metro stations. Police never use metro stations.

Edge of the City: All streets and highways ending at the edge of the 5 x 5 grid of district tiles are treated as dead ends.

Nighttime

Each faction takes a turn made up of 3 steps. The faction with the first faction flame goes first, followed by the faction to their left, and so on in clockwise order.

Nighttime Step 1: Police Ops

At the start of each faction's turn: Before taking your actions, draw 1-3 Police Ops cards. Check the police morale track to determine how many cards you must draw. Read aloud and resolve each card one at a time, placing resolved cards face-up in the discard pile. When the last Police Ops card in the deck has been drawn, shuffle the discard pile to create a new deck.

How does police morale increase? When you draw a Police Ops card that says +1 police morale, immediately move the police morale marker forward 1 level on the police morale track. Increases in police morale during the Police Ops step only take effect on the next faction's turn. Do not draw more cards on your turn in response.

Police Squad Movement Cards

Most Police Ops cards order groups of police squads (not vans) to advance into adjacent districts of various types.

When do police squads move?

• 2 or more police squads in the same district are considered a group. 1 police squad in a district with no other police squads is considered solo. A squad is still solo if it is alone in a district with a van.
• When a group of police squads moves into an adjacent district, it always leaves a solo police squad behind.
• Solo police squads hold their positions and never move.
• Police squads in districts with occupations hold their positions and never move.

How do police squads move?

• Police squads move to adjacent districts connected by streets and highways, but never use metro stations.
• Diagonally adjacent districts connected by highways are considered adjacent.
• Police squads do not move into districts blocked by symbols on 3-way intersection tiles.
• If a group of police squads are adjacent to the district type specified on the Police Ops card, they always move, even if they are already in that same district type.
• When a group of police squads are adjacent to more than one district of the type specified on the Police Ops card, use Police ID priority to break the tie. See Police ID Priority below.
• If highway districts allow a district to be adjacent to another district along 2 different sides, police squads always use the route with the fewest barricades.

Example: A group of 2 police squads is in a Commercial district when a Police Ops card is drawn ordering groups of police squads to advance into adjacent Workers districts. 1 police squad advances into the Workers district and a solo police squad is left behind.

Cards in the Police Ops deck never order police vans to move. See Van Movement to learn about resolving Reaction cards and moving vans during Sunrise.

Police ID Priority

Each district has a unique Police ID number located in its lower left corner. This number is used as a tiebreaker for police movement and deployment. The ID priority specified on the Reaction card at the top of the Reaction deck determines whether the police are currently prioritizing the highest or lowest ID districts. Use that ID priority to break all ties related to police squads and police vans.

Liberated districts have the highest Police IDs. If no districts are liberated, Public districts have the highest IDs.

Example: A group of 4 police squads is in a Public district. A Police Ops card is drawn ordering groups of police squads to advance into adjacent State districts. Because 2 State districts are adjacent, the police squads follow the Police ID priority specified on the Reaction card. In this case, the Reaction card specifies that the ID priority is highest. The group of police squads moves into the adjacent State district with the higher Police ID. A solo police squad is left behind.

Metro Lockdown

The Reaction card at the top of the Reaction deck determines if the metro is open or on lockdown. When the Reaction card specifies that the metro is in lockdown, no faction may use the metro as part of their movement actions. See Movement to learn about taking movement actions.

Other Types of Police Ops Cards

Light Reinforcements: Each undamaged police van deploys 1 police squad from the staging area into the district where it is located. Damaged vans do not deploy squads. If not enough police squads are in the staging area to deploy to all undamaged police vans, use the Police ID priority to determine whether the police squads are deployed into the highest or lowest Police ID districts.

Heavy Reinforcements: First follow the same steps as Light Reinforcements. Then, if fewer than 4 police vans are in the city, deploy 1 police van from the staging area to the highest Police ID district that has 1 or more police squads, but no police van. A district can never have more than 1 police van stationed in it. If all 4 police vans are already deployed, nothing else happens.

Strategic Rotation: Find all districts with a group of 6 or more police squads. Leave 5 police squads in the district and send the rest back to the staging area. Districts with 5 or fewer police squads are not affected.

Nighttime Step 2: Form 1 Bloc & Roll Action Dice

At the start of your turn (including your first turn), your Start occupation generates an additional bloc. Place 1 of your faction's blocs in the same district as your Start occupation. Then, count the number of blocs you now have in the city. Roll 3-5 action dice depending on the number of blocs you have. Each rolled action die can be used to take 1 action. You may also combine dice to take advanced or attack actions in districts with higher difficulty. Treat the sum of combined dice as a single die that can take a single action. If the sum is higher than needed, you may not carry the remainder to another action.

• Minimum roll: 3 action dice
• 5 + blocs: 4 action dice
• 9 + blocs: 5 action dice

Nighttime Step 3: Take Actions

Use the action dice you rolled in Nighttime Step 2 to take actions and use occupation abilities. You can take the same action multiple times in the same turn. You can take actions in any order. You can only take actions in districts where you have blocs. Actions are divided into 3 categories:

Basic Actions (not in a clash) — To take a basic action, you can use an action die of any value. Basic actions can only be taken in districts where you have blocs that are not in a clash. Movement, Barricade.

Advanced Actions (not in a clash) — To take an advanced action, you must use an action die equal to or greater than the difficulty of the district that you are taking the action in. Advanced actions can only be taken in districts where you have blocs that are not in a clash. Loot, Build Occupation, Swap Occupation.

Attack Actions (only in a clash) — To take an attack action, you must use an action die equal to or greater than the difficulty of the district that you are taking the action in. Attack actions can only be taken in districts where you have blocs that are in a clash. Each bloc can only attack once per clash each night. Defeat 1 Squad, Kick out 2 Squads, Attack a Van.

What is a Clash? A bloc is in a clash any time it is in the same district as a police van or police squads. You can only take attack actions with blocs in a clash. You can only take basic and advanced actions with blocs that are not in clash.

Basic Action: Movement

Movement allows you to reposition your blocs to different districts in the city. To move blocs, use an action die of any value. Choose any number of your blocs in 1 district that are not in a clash. Move these blocs any distance using any combination of streets, highways, and metro stations, ending in a different district. There is no restriction on the distance or number of blocs you can move with 1 action.

What is a mob? 2 or more blocs of the same faction in the same district are considered a mob. You may move all blocs in a mob using only 1 action die if all of the blocs start in the same district and end in another district together.

Blocs cannot:

• Move through districts that contain police squads or vans
• Move out of districts that contain police squads or vans
• Move through symbols or off the edge of the city
• Move diagonally between districts except when using highways
• Move using metro stations when the metro is on lockdown

Blocs can:

• Move through barricades
• Use any combination of streets, highways, and metro stations in 1 movement action
• End a movement action in districts that contain police squads or police vans. These blocs are now in a clash.

Example: The Workers faction takes 1 basic action to move a mob of 3 blocs to another district. The Workers choose to leave one bloc behind.

Example: The Prisoners faction takes 1 basic action to move a mob of 3 blocs across the city using a combination of streets and metro stations.

Attend Meetings to Draw Conditions Cards

When playing fully cooperatively, all factions win the game together when each faction has completed a Conditions card. The game starts with only one Conditions card revealed. In order to draw and reveal additional Conditions cards, factions must send blocs to attend meetings. See Conditions Tokens & the Conditions Deck for more on Conditions cards.

To attend a meeting: Using an action die of any value, choose any number of your blocs in 1 district that are not in a clash. Move these blocs to the top of the Conditions deck. At Sunrise, factions check meeting attendance. If the number of blocs on the deck is greater than or equal to the number of face-up Conditions cards, the meeting is successful and the top card from the Conditions deck is revealed and added to the tableau of other face-up cards. See Check Meeting Attendance for more about checking meeting attendance.

• Blocs on the Conditions deck are still considered in the city.

Basic Action: Barricade

Barricades temporarily stop police squads and police vans from moving into districts. To barricade, use an action die of any value. Choose a district where you have one or more blocs that are not in a clash. Place 1 barricade between that district and any adjacent district. Each space between 2 adjacent districts can hold a maximum of 3 barricades.

• 1 Barricade stops 1 police squad
• 2 Barricades stop 2 police squads
• 3 Barricades stop all police squads and police vans

Example: The Workers faction takes 2 basic actions to build 2 barricades around a district using 1 bloc. Example: The Students faction takes 3 basic actions to build 3 barricades between different adjacent districts using 1 bloc.

See Van Movement to learn how barricades stop police van movement during Sunrise.

Barricades Stop Police Squads: When a Police Ops card orders police squads to advance into an adjacent district, but barricades are blocking their path, some or all of them will be stopped from moving. To determine how many police squads are stopped and how many advance, count the number of police squads in the group, but do not count the solo police squad left behind.

Whenever a barricade stops a police squad from moving, that barricade is dismantled & returned to the barricade pile. For example, if 3 barricades stop 1 police squad from moving, only 1 barricade is dismantled. The other 2 remain. Stopped police squads and police vans hold their position. They do not return to the staging area.

Example: A group of 2 police squads is ordered to move into an adjacent Prisoners district. A solo police squad is left behind and 1 police squad is stopped from moving by 3 barricades. 1 barricade is dismantled and the other 2 remain.

Example: A group of 6 police squads is ordered to move into an adjacent Neighbors district. A solo police squad is left behind, 2 police squads are stopped by 2 barricades. The other 3 police squads advance into the Neighbors district. Both barricades are dismantled.

Example: A group of 5 police squads is ordered to move into an adjacent Students district. A solo police squad is left behind. The other 4 police squads are stopped by the 3 barricades. All 3 barricades are dismantled.

Advanced Action: Loot

Loot gives you a range of different one-time benefits. There is no limit to the number of Loot cards you can have in your hand. When playing fully cooperatively, you may choose to reveal your hand to other factions. Most Loot cards can only be used during your turn, while others may only be used during sunrise. Each card specifies when you can play it. After you have played a Loot card, place it in the discard pile. When the last Loot card has been drawn, shuffle the discard pile to create a new deck.

To take a Loot action, choose a district that has a shopping center and one or more of your blocs that are not in a clash. Use an action die equal to or greater than the district's difficulty and place a Loot token on the shopping center. You can choose to place the token graffiti side or burn side facing up. Each side has a different effect:

Loot Action: Burn — Place the token burn side up and draw 1 Loot card. Once a shopping center has been burned it can never be used again.

Loot Action: Graffiti — Place the token graffiti side up. This does not give you any immediate benefit but will increase the power of Mutual Aid Center occupations that are in or adjacent to this district. See Types of Occupations to learn more.

Combining Dice: You may combine dice to take Loot actions. Treat the sum of combined dice as a single die.

Loot card clarifications:

• You can only use Loot cards in districts where you have blocs.
• You may use multiple Molotovs cards in the same attack action.
• You cannot use the Medic Kit card if you do not have any occupations in the city.
• Using a Fireworks card does not count as an attack action.

Exchanging Loot: During your turn, you may give, exchange, or take (with permission) Loot cards with any other faction that has blocs in the same district as your blocs. This does not count as an action.

Advanced Action: Build Occupation

Each occupation you build in the city gives you an ongoing ability that you can use each turn. You can use an occupation's ability as soon as it has been built, including in the same turn. See Types of Occupations for detailed descriptions of each occupation ability.

To build an occupation, choose one of your faction's districts, a Public district, or a State district with an empty occupation circle and one or more of your blocs that are not in a clash. Use an action die equal to or greater than that district's difficulty. Select an occupation from your supply of occupations and place it in that district's occupation circle.

You can: Build occupations in your own faction's districts, Public districts, and State districts.

You cannot: Build occupations in other factions' districts.

• Each Build Occupation action lowers police morale by 1 level. See How is Police Morale Lowered?

Example: The Prisoners faction takes 1 advanced action to build 1 occupation in a Prisoners district using one of their blocs. Police morale is lowered by 1.

Advanced Action: Swap Occupation

In addition to building new occupations, you may also swap out an existing occupation with one of your choice. You may swap out another faction's occupation in State and Public districts.

To swap an occupation, choose a district where you have built an occupation and that are not in a clash. Use an action die equal to or greater than that district's difficulty. Remove the occupation currently in the district, replace it with one of your choice, and return the removed occupation to the faction it belongs to.

• If you have built all 5 of your faction's occupations, you can take build or swap occupation actions to relocate one of your occupations from a different district.

Example: The Neighbors faction takes 1 advanced action to swap out their Mutual Aid Center for their Assembly Hall in a Neighbors district using one of their blocs. Example: The Students faction takes 1 advanced action to swap out a Workers occupation for one of their own in a Public district using one of their blocs.

Combining Dice: You may combine dice to take Build and Swap Occupation actions. Treat the sum of combined dice as a single die.

Types of Occupations

Each occupation you build gives your faction an ongoing ability that you can use each turn. All factions have the same 5 occupations: 1 Faction Start, 2 Assembly Halls, and 2 Mutual Aid Centers.

How to Use an Occupation's Ability:

• You may use an occupation's ability as soon as it has been built.
• You may only use the ability for each occupation you have built once per turn.
• You do not need a bloc in the district where the occupation is built in order to use that occupation's ability.
• Only the faction that built the occupation may use its ability.
• You may use an occupation's ability even if police are in that district.

Faction Start: At the start of your turn, before rolling action dice, form 1 bloc in the district where this occupation is built.

Assembly Hall: Use an action die of any value to form 1 bloc in the district where this occupation is built. You may use this ability once per turn per Assembly Hall.

Mutual Aid Center: Use an action die of any value to draw 1 Loot card per graffiti on & adjacent to this district. Keep up to 2, discard the others. You may use this ability once per turn per Mutual Aid Center.

Example: The Students faction uses an action die of any value to activate their Mutual Aid Center. There are three graffiti on and adjacent to the district where the Mutual Aid Center is built, allowing the faction to draw 3 Loot cards. After looking at the cards, the player chooses 2 cards to keep and places the other card in the Loot discard pile.

Faction Special Abilities

Each faction has a unique special ability that enhances a specific type of action. The special ability can be used by that faction at any time during that faction's turn. There is no limit on the number of times special abilities can be used during the same turn. All special abilities require the faction to have blocs in the district where the action is taking place.

• Prisoners: Increase the value of action dice by 1 when taking attack actions.
• Neighbors: Build 2 barricades with one action.
• Workers: Use an action die of any value when taking Build and/or Swap Occupation actions.
• Students: Solo blocs may move through districts with police squads and vans (may be used to escape a clash).

Attack Actions

To take an attack action, choose a district with one or more of your blocs that are in a clash. Use an action die equal to or greater than that district's difficulty. Each bloc can only attack once per clash each night. If you want to make multiple attacks in the same clash, you must have enough blocs in the clash to take all the attack actions. For example, if you want to defeat 3 police squads, you must have 3 blocs in the clash and 3 action dice equal to or greater than the district's difficulty.

Defeat 1 Police Squad: Take an attack action to defeat 1 police squad and send it back to the staging area on the edge of the playing mat.

Example: The Neighbors faction takes 1 attack action in a district with a 3 difficulty with 1 bloc to defeat 1 police squad and send it back to the staging area.

Example: The Workers faction takes 2 attack actions with 2 different blocs to defeat 2 police squads in a district with a 3 difficulty and send them both back to the staging area. A third police squad in the clash cannot be defeated because the Workers only have 2 blocs in the district.

Kick Out 2 Police Squads: Take an attack action to kick out 2 police squads into an adjacent district. If squads are kicked out through barricades, all the barricades are dismantled. Police squads can be kicked out into an adjacent district connected by a highway.

Example: The Students faction takes 1 attack action in a district with a 6 difficulty to kick out 2 police squads into an adjacent district.

Attack a Police Van: Police vans are tougher and more powerful than police squads. A police van takes 3 attacks in the same night to be destroyed. To mark when a police van has been attacked and is damaged, flip it on its side after the first attack. Flip it upside down after the second attack. After the third attack, the police van is defeated and returns to the staging area.

• If a district has a police van and police squads, you may choose whether to attack the van or the squads.
• 1st Attack: flip on side. 2nd Attack: flip over. 3rd Attack: defeated!
• Each defeated van lowers police morale by 1 level. See How is Police Morale Lowered?

Combining Dice: You may combine dice to take Attack actions. Treat the sum of combined dice as a single die.

How is Police Morale Lowered?

Police morale determines the number of Police Ops cards each faction must draw at the start of its turn (see Police Ops) and the speed the countdown tank moves (see Advance the Countdown). Police morale can be lowered in 3 ways:

• Defeat a Police Van: Lower police morale by 1 level when a defeated van is sent back to the staging area following a 3rd attack.
• Build an Occupation: Lower police morale by 1 level when a faction builds an occupation.
• Liberate a District: Lower police morale by 1 level when a district is liberated. The back of each Liberation card has a reminder for this.

The police morale track runs, from least to most severe: Timid (1 card), Alert (2 cards), Bold (2 cards), Brutal (2 cards), Deadly (3 cards).

Conditions Tokens & the Conditions Deck

When playing fully cooperatively, all factions win the game together during Sunrise if each faction has placed its Conditions token on a completed Conditions card. To complete a Conditions card and place its token on it, a faction must build an occupation in the liberated district(s) indicated on the card. See District Liberation for more on district liberation. See Attend Meetings and Check Meeting Attendance for more on attending meetings to reveal additional Conditions cards. See Check Win Conditions for more on win conditions.

Example: The Workers faction has completed the objectives on the Popular Conditions card that requires occupations built in 2 liberated Public districts. The Prisoners faction has completed the objectives on another Conditions card requiring an occupation built in the liberated Supermax Prison district. Both factions have placed their Conditions tokens on the cards that they have each completed.

• At the moment you complete the objectives on a Conditions card, you may place your Conditions token on that completed card.
• You may not place your token on a card where another faction's token is already placed.
• If police attacks or another player's actions cause the objectives on a Conditions card where you have already placed your token to become uncompleted (e.g. the occupation is evicted), immediately remove your token.
• At any time during your turn, you may place your token on any Conditions card if you have completed its objectives and it does not already have a token on it.
• What's in the Conditions deck? The Conditions deck includes a card for each liberated district with a starting difficulty of 6. It also includes 3 "wild" cards that each list 2 liberated districts of a specified type.

Sunrise

After each faction has taken a turn during the Nighttime phase, the Sunrise phase begins. Sunrise is made up of 5 steps.

Sunrise Step 1: Resolve the Reaction Card

Draw the Reaction card at the top of the Reaction deck and read it aloud, placing resolved cards face-up in the discard pile. When the last Reaction card has been drawn, shuffle the discard pile to create a new deck. Vans are repaired and police attack is the first step on all Reaction cards. Any bloc or occupation in the same district as police is in danger of being attacked. Perform this first step of the Reaction card in the following order:

A. Repair Police Vans: All damaged police vans that were not destroyed during the Nighttime phase are repaired and reset to their original upright position. (flipped on side, or flipped over → reset to: original position)

B. Police Vans Attack: Each police van defeats all blocs and evicts any occupation in its district. Defeated blocs and evicted occupations return to the factions they belong to.

Example: A van defeats 2 blocs and evicts the occupation.

C. Police Squads Attack: Each police squad attacks once:

• Police squads always prioritize attacking blocs before occupations. When a police squad attacks a bloc, the bloc is defeated and returns to the faction it belongs to.
• If there are no blocs for a police squad to attack, it will attack an occupation. When a police squad attacks an occupation, the occupation is evicted and returns to the faction it belongs to.
• If blocs from more than one faction are in a district when police squads attack, the faction with the most blocs in the district decides which blocs are defeated. If two or more factions are tied for the most blocs in the district, the tied faction whose turn was first that night decides.
• After attacking, police squads stay in the district. They do not return to the staging area.

Example: 2 squads defeat 2 Workers blocs, but the occupation survives. Example: 1 squad evicts a Students occupation. Example: 3 squads attack 4 blocs. The Neighbors faction has the most blocs in the district and decides which 3 blocs are defeated. Example: 3 squads defeat 2 Neighbors blocs and evict the occupation.

If a faction has zero blocs in the city at any time during the game, the game ends immediately and all factions lose. See Check Win Conditions.

Van Movement

Following the Vans are repaired and police attack step, all Reaction cards order a van to move. Each card orders the van in the lowest Police ID district to move to another district, as specified on the card. The van must follow the shortest path that passes through the least number of districts to reach its destination. 3 barricades stops the van on its path.

How to move police vans:

• First check the Police ID of each district where there is a van. Locate the van in the district with the lowest ID.
• Next locate the destination district specified on the Reaction card.
• Once you have identified the destination district, find the shortest path through the city to that district. The path may consist of both roads and highways, but do not count highways when determining the shortest path. Move the van to the destination district along that path.
• Any single or double barricades the van passes over along the path are dismantled. 3 barricades stops the van in its path and the barricades are dismantled.
• If the van comes to a stop in a district with another van after reaching its destination or after being stopped by 3 barricades, reverse it back 1 district along its path.

What if the van has multiple paths?

• At each intersection where the van can take multiple paths of the same length to reach its destination, use Police ID priority to determine the correct path. The van must move along the path that begins with either the highest or lowest Police ID district depending on the priority specified on the Reaction card.

Example: A Reaction card is drawn ordering the van in the lowest Police ID district to move to the State district with the highest ID. The lowest ID district with a van is a Commercial district. The State district with the highest ID is the Interior Ministry. The van in the Commercial district has 2 paths of equal length that it can take to the Interior Ministry district. The Reaction card specifies that ID priority is currently Highest. This means the van must move along the path that begins with the highest ID district. In this case, that is the Privatized University district since it has a higher ID than The Projects district. The van moves to its destination via this path and dismantles a single barricade along the way. After stopping, the van deploys 1 squad.

Deploy 1 squad: The last step on all Reaction cards deploys 1 police squad from the staging area into the district where the van comes to a stop.

• What's in the Reaction deck? 2 of the cards move vans to State districts, 2 to Public districts, and 2 to the districts with the highest Police ID. The districts with the highest Police IDs are liberated districts. If no districts are liberated, Public districts have the highest IDs.

Example: The van in the lowest ID district is in the Financial District. The shortest path to its destination district takes it through the Smartphone Factory district but 3 barricades stop it in its path. The barricades are dismantled and the van deploys 1 squad.

Sunrise Step 2: District Liberation

After resolving the Reaction card, factions have the opportunity to liberate districts permanently. Liberation is not an action that factions can take during their turns. Liberation happens automatically if these 3 conditions are met during this Sunrise step:

1. The district must be adjacent to another district that is already liberated. Ignore this restriction for Public districts. A Public district will always be the first district liberated in every game.
2. The combined total number of blocs from all factions in that district must be at least double the district's difficulty.
3. No police squads or vans are in the district.

How to Liberate a District:

A. Clear the district: Set aside all components on the tile.

B. Draw the Liberation card: Pick up the district tile. Do not change the district's orientation. Pick up the Liberation card underneath the district tile but do not look at the card's back side.

C. Flip the district: Flip the district tile over so that the liberated side is now face-up. Make sure to flip the district tile according to the direction arrow below the Police ID to ensure that the district's orientation is not changed after Liberation. Put all components back on the district.

D. Resolve the Liberation card: See Liberation Cards below.

Example: The Workers, Students, and Neighbors factions all have blocs in a district with a difficulty of 4 that is adjacent to a liberated district. 8 blocs in total are in the district, the minimum required for Liberation, so the district is liberated and the Liberation card is drawn.

Liberating Public Districts: Public districts can be liberated without being adjacent to another liberated district. Move the countdown tank in reverse 1 space when a Public district is liberated.

When a district is liberated:

• Police morale is lowered by 1 level.
• Factions resolve the Liberation card hidden underneath.
• Each shopping center on the district that is not burned is replaced by graffiti.
• If the liberated district is a Public district: Move the countdown tank in reverse one space.
• In most cases the district difficulty is reduced by 1.
• Multiple districts liberated during the same Sunrise can be liberated in any order. Districts that do not meet all conditions for Liberation at the start of a Sunrise may become eligible for Liberation during this step, e.g. if an adjacent district is liberated first!
• If a district with a burned shopping center is liberated, return the Loot token with the fire side facing up to the liberated side of the tile after Liberation. The fire permanently blocks the use of the graffiti on the liberated side of the district.

Liberation Cards

After flipping a liberated district and placing all components back on its liberated side, read the front side of the drawn Liberation card aloud. Do not turn over the card to look at the back side. All Liberation cards present a short scenario and then give each liberating faction (a faction with blocs in the liberated district) a choice to make.

All choices on Liberation cards have beneficial outcomes. Each liberating faction must make the choice individually. All liberating factions do not need to agree. Start with the first faction and go in turn order when making your choices. Once each liberating faction has made its choice, flip the card. Read aloud and resolve the chosen outcomes.

• When moving blocs to resolve a Liberation card choice, follow all normal movement rules. See Movement. Metro status is determined by the card on top of the Reaction deck (not the previous card resolved at the start of Sunrise).

Example Liberation card ("Anti-Capitalist March"): A rowdy breakaway march heads off into the night, sending fireworks into the air and redecorating the city as it moves. Each liberating faction must choose: A) With the police focused on the march, hang back and see what opportunities arise. B) Follow the crowd to see where it goes. Everyone looks poised to attack: Move 1 bloc from this district to a district with at least 1 police squad. Card back: -1 Police Morale. A) You climb in through the broken-out glass door of an upscale boutique and help yourself to what you need: Draw 1 loot card. B) Police retreat from the barrage of paint bombs and rocks: The moved bloc may defeat 1 squad in that district. Liberated Public District: Move the countdown marker in reverse 1 space.

Sunrise Step 3: Check Meeting Attendance

To check meeting attendance and draw additional Conditions cards, count the number of blocs on top of the Conditions deck. If the number of blocs on the deck is greater than or equal to the number of face-up Conditions cards, the meeting is successful. Draw the top card of the Conditions deck and add it to the tableau of other face-up cards. See Attend Meetings for more on attending meetings.

Returning Blocs: Following each meeting (successful or not), each faction returns all of its blocs to any 1 district where it has built an occupation, starting with the first faction and continuing in turn order. If a faction has no occupations, it must return its blocs to any 1 of its own districts.

Drawing Multiple Conditions cards in 1 Meeting: Remove all of the blocs from the Conditions deck and set them aside. Count the number of face-up Conditions cards and return exactly that many blocs. Then reveal the top card from the Conditions deck and add it to the tableau of other face-up cards. Repeat this process with any remaining blocs. When there are fewer blocs than face-up cards, it is impossible to draw more. Return all remaining blocs.

• If you have completed the objective(s) on a newly drawn Conditions card, you may immediately place your token on that completed card.
• There is no limit on the number of Conditions cards that can be revealed and added to the tableau during a game.

Example: The Prisoners faction has sent 2 blocs to a meeting. Since 2 Conditions cards are currently face-up, this meeting is successful with 2 blocs in attendance. Both blocs return to a district where their faction has built an occupation and the top card in the Conditions deck is revealed and added to the tableau of other face-up cards.

Sunrise Step 4: Check Win Conditions (Fully Co-op)

Win Together: The uprising liberates the city. If all factions have a Conditions token placed on a completed Conditions card, the game ends and all factions win.

Outcome: The events of recent days seem to have flipped the world on its head. A profound sense of solidarity and collective power has taken hold across the city even as police and paramilitaries lash out in desperation at the growing uprising. The military is forced into action in opposition to local police, deploying limited troops to the streets to prevent a massacre. The revolutionaries stand their ground and work quickly to shore up defenses and solidify their gains as a complicated stalemate unfolds. The liberated zones carved out by the uprising are joyful and vibrant with potential. Now the real work begins...

Lose Together: The counter-insurrection is unleashed. If the countdown tank is on the Game Over step, the game ends and all factions lose.

Outcome: As the uprising falters, the tides of reaction that have been building for days finally come crashing down. Military troops fill the streets and free up the police and paramilitaries to launch a coordinated wave of counter-insurrectionary violence. Helicopters fill the skies as assault teams cordon off districts across the city and conduct brutal house-to-house raids. Many revolutionaries disappear and many more must go into hiding or exile. The worst has come to pass but the memory of this uprising can still be the inspiration for future revolts...

All Factions Lose if Any Faction Loses all its Blocs — Lose Together: A faction is destroyed. If a faction has zero blocs in the city at any time during the game, the game ends immediately and all factions lose. This rule applies to both fully cooperative and semi-cooperative games. Blocs on the Conditions deck are still considered in the city.

Outcome: The uprising implodes. Local police forces have no trouble restoring their authority and brutally sweeping the last scattered remnants of the weakening revolt off the streets. Years of sadness follow...

Sunrise Step 5: Advance the Countdown

After checking win conditions, check the level of police morale to determine the number of steps to advance the countdown tank. If the countdown tank has advanced to the Game Over step, the game ends and all factions lose. If additional countdown steps remain, pass the first faction flame to the left and begin the next night.

Example: The countdown tank is sitting at the 3 Nights step. Police morale is at 2, so the countdown tank moves forward 2 steps to the 1 Night step. The First Faction Flame is passed to the left and the final night begins.

Semi-Cooperative Mode

Semi-cooperative mode is not recommended for beginner players of Bloc by Bloc.

Complete the following setup step after all others in Setup:

13. Assign Agendas: When playing with 4 players, shuffle the Agenda cards and deal 1 to each faction. Put the rest of the Agenda cards back in the game box without looking at them. When playing with 3 players, randomly remove either the Vanguardist or Sectarian card as well as 1 Social card before shuffling and dealing Agenda cards. Semi Co-op is not available for 1 and 2 player games.

Conflictual Mode: Before shuffling Agenda cards, remove an additional Social card. This ensures at least 1 faction must win alone.

Do not reveal your cards to other factions: You may say whatever you choose about the cards in your hand (truthfully or not). But you cannot reveal Loot cards until they are played or reveal your Agenda card until it is completed.

District Control

Stop another faction's Occupation actions: When playing semi cooperatively, the faction with the most blocs in a district controls that district. That faction may stop other factions on their turns from taking Build and Swap occupation actions in that district. If multiple factions are tied for the most blocs in a district, then no faction has control of the district.

Sunrise Step 4: Check Win Conditions (Semi Co-op)

After Sunrise Step 3, any faction that has completed the objectives on its Agenda card must reveal it. When an Agenda is revealed, it stays face up until either the game ends or the objective on the card is no longer complete, in which case it returns to that faction's hand.

If a faction with a Sectarian or Vanguardist Agenda card reveals their completed card, the game ends immediately and that faction wins alone. All other factions lose.

If no faction has won alone and at least 2 factions have face up Social Agenda cards, those factions may agree to end the game and win together. All other factions lose. Factions with revealed Social Agenda cards may also agree to continue the game and play an additional night. This can give other factions who may also have Social Agenda cards more time to win together. If all factions with revealed Social Agenda cards are not in agreement to end the game, the game continues.

• If a faction with a Sectarian Agenda and another with a Vanguardist Agenda have both revealed their completed cards, the tied faction whose turn was first that night wins.

Win Together: The uprising liberates the city. If 2 or more factions with Social Agendas have Conditions tokens placed on completed Conditions cards, those factions may all agree to end the game and win together. All other factions lose. See Check Win Conditions to read the outcome.

Win Alone: The Vanguardist seizes the state. If the faction with the Vanguardist Agenda card has occupations built in 2 State districts, the game ends and that faction wins alone. All other factions lose.

Win Alone: The Sectarian dominates the movement. If the faction with the Sectarian Agenda card has occupations built in 3 Public districts, the game ends and that faction wins alone. All other factions lose.

Vanguardist & Sectarian outcome: The chaos of the uprising evaporates as your forces sweep into power. The city is yours. The military agrees to pull back on the condition that your faction re-establishes law and order. What becomes of the other defeated factions is not your concern...

Component List

• 40 Wooden Blocs, 10 per faction in four colors
• 30 Wooden Police Squads, white
• 4 Wooden Police Vans, white
• 40 Wooden Barricades, gray
• 1 Wooden Police Morale Marker, white
• 1 Wooden Countdown Tank, white
• 1 Wooden First Faction Flame, orange
• 45 Loot Cards
• 18 Police Ops Cards
• 6 Reaction Cards
• 11 Conditions Cards
• 6 Agenda Cards
• 35 Liberation Cards
• 25 Chipboard District Tiles
• 20 Chipboard Occupations Tokens, 5 per faction
• 23 Chipboard Loot Tokens
• 4 Chipboard Conditions Tokens, 1 per faction
• 5 Action Dice
• 4 Faction Cards with Player Aids
• 1 Police Player Aid
• 1 Rulebook
• 1 Fabric Playing Mat

Credits

Game Design: Greg Loring-Albright & T.L. Simons

Art & Visual Design: T.L. Simons

Narrative Text: Margaret Killjoy

Editing: Herschel Pecker, Saku, & Sia Delacosta

1st edition: R. Lee & T.L. Simons

2nd edition: T.L. Simons

Special Thanks: Active Distribution, AK Press & AK Edinburgh, Bian & Jackie at Meijia, Black Mosquito, Brenna Noonan, Bruce & Ian Paul, Chingona Films, Clove, Crimethinc, D, Dan & Jon at Spiral Galaxy, Dan Hale, Eliz, Filastine, Forest, Global Uprisings, F. Lamy, Heather Loring-Albright, Hunter, Michael Raftopolos, Nick at Delano, Patrick Lyons, Raskl, Top 100 Originals, & Yumi

Uprising Playtesters: AH, Alex Knight, Amalie Trewartha, Andrew Berg, Ash Dasuqi, Austin-Ryan Jones, Beatrice Van Der Goetz, Carlos Felipe Sanchez, Claire M. Lutz, Dan Lewis, Eduardo Pavez Goye, Evy Adamson, Henry Audubon, Hollis Dale, James Firnhaber, JC Statt, Liz Berg, Mandy, Mark d'Ivicke, Max Harris, Mike Tu, Misty Porter, Molly Goldberg, Scott Hoft, Smoke, Steph Westerland, tara maeve unseelie, Timbo, & TK

Published by Out of Order Games (outofordergames.com). Made possible with the support of AK Press — worker-run, collectively-managed anarchist publishing & distribution since 1990 (akpress.org).

Bloc by Bloc: Uprising by Out of Order Games is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.