Defrag
Defrag Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Inventory
18 double-sided cards, 1 rulebook, 1 scenario booklet, 1 scorecard, 1 dry-erase marker
Standard Solo Setup
- Shuffle the deck of 18 cards, randomly flipping and rotating some in the process.
- Place 8 cards on the table as shown in the diagram. The cards will be oriented randomly based on the shuffling.
- From the remaining 10 cards, draw 2 to your hand.
- From the remaining 8 cards, randomly place 1 card off to the side in your recycle bin. (See the recycle action on page X.)
- Place the other 7 cards aside as the draw deck.
(Diagram labels: 8 cards with random orientations; Draw Deck; 2 cards in hand; 1 card in Recycle Bin.)
Gameplay
The goal of Defrag is to, through rotating, shifting, and stacking, consolidate all cards of the same active file type into the same stack in order to score it when the deck runs out. In a standard game, you will repeat this process 4 times, choosing a different file type (Notepad, Paint, Graph, or System) to score each time. The more file fragments you manage to fit into each stack, the higher your final score.
A turn consists of playing 1 of the 2 cards from your hand to any empty space in the grid, potentially rotating adjacent cards if able, then taking the action associated with the played card. Cards can be played to any empty space on the table - the grid is boundless. After completing any rotations and actions, draw back up to 2 cards. If the draw deck is exhausted, you will have 1 more turn to play the last card left in your hand before scoring.
Playing a Card
When playing a card, you may flip it to either face, but you must always place it with the center window oriented up (1). The icon type shown along the top edge of any card on the table is considered the active file type for that card (2). The center window indicates the actions you may take by playing this card (3).
- Window oriented up!
- Icons along the top edge.
- Center icon indicates the action.
(Card diagram labels: Special, File, Edit, View, Trash.)
Rotating Adjacent Cards
Prior to taking an action on the card you are playing, you may optionally rotate the adjacent cards to any orientation you like if the cards have matching icons next to each other. (See the example below.)
(1) You play a card between 2 other cards. (2) If the icons match, (3) you may rotate the adjacent cards to any orientation.
Note: You may rotate more than 1 card if there are matching icons on multiple cards.
Actions
Some cards contain special actions, which are explained below, but the majority of cards simply show an arrow pointing in 1 or more directions. When you play a card, you may use the associated action in relation to any 1 card or stack anywhere in the row or column where you placed the active card, but a card's action never applies to that card itself. However, you may use an action to move an existing card onto the card that you just played into the grid.
For example, if a card shows a left arrow, you may move any 1 card or stack in the same row or column exactly 1 space to the left.
- If the space to the left is empty, the target card simply slides into that space.
- If the active icons (on the top edge) are different file types, the 2 cards/stacks swap positions.
- If the active icons are the same file type, they are consolidated into a stack (or added to the existing stack, depending on what you are moving).
(Diagram labels: empty slot; card being played; swap; on top.)
Stacking cards is how you achieve defragmentation and, thus, how you win the game. Each icon represents 1KB of that particular file type. To fully defragment a file type, you must either consolidate all active icons of that type into 1 stack and/or rotate them out of the active (up) position by the time you run out of cards.
Special Actions & Other Icons
Network (Action): You may move 1 card from anywhere in the grid to any position in the row or column where you played this card, even directly into a stack. You may move a stack and combine it with another stack of the same active file type using this action.
Recycle (Action): This is a secondary action available on every card. Instead of playing a card to the grid and taking the main action, you may discard one of the two cards from your hand to the recycle bin pile off to the side. You may then rotate or flip any 1 card in the grid. When flipping a card, you may also rotate it to any orientation before placing it back on the table. You may not flip a stack. Another use for recycling other than flipping a card is to move a card through a chain. (See "Chains" below under Full Game Rules; Page 22.)
Save (Action): Remove 1 card in this row or column from the grid, placing it in a "save" area in front of you. Treat this card as a third card in your hand that you may play on a future turn. You can never save more than 1 card at a time. If you take this action again while you still have a saved card, you must move the currently saved card to the recycle bin and replace it with the newly saved card.
Note: In the standard game mode, you may save this card over several scoring rounds. However, you will need to play it at some point before the end of the game.
Help File: Treat this as a "wild" file type in all situations. You can add it to an existing stack of any of the 4 regular file types. This also means that wild icons can match any other icon for a card rotate action. You can also use wild icons to form chains. (See "Chains" below under Full Game Rules; Page 22.)
File Tree: You may add this icon to any stack. It is not considered a file fragment, but you can use it to remotely access any 1 matching card or stack anywhere in the same row or column.
For example: You're attempting to score Notepad files this round.
- You have a stack containing 8 Notepad fragments that also contains a File Tree card.
- In the same row, you have a separate stack of 5 Notepad fragments that are too far away to move into position before the deck runs out.
- With the File Tree in the stack, you can access the secondary stack remotely and add it to the total for a score of 13.
Upon scoring a file type with a File Tree, you also remove the remotely accessed card(s) from the grid. Shuffle any removed cards into the new draw deck.
Scoring
In the standard game mode, each time the deck runs out, you must choose 1 of the 4 file types to score. (You can defragment a file type only when both the draw deck and your hand are empty.)
File Types to Score: Notepad, Graph, Paint, System. Each icon represents 1kb.
When scoring, first make sure you have only 1 stack of the chosen file type and that there are no individual cards with that active file type outside of the stack anywhere else on the table (unless you are using a File Tree). Count up the total number of active icons of that file type in the stack and mark it on the scoresheet. You may not score this file type again for the remainder of the game. There are 4 scoring breaks in a standard game, each of which is followed by removing the scored stack from the table and shuffling it along with any cards currently in the recycle bin to form a new draw deck.
After scoring a stack, randomly remove, "delete", 1 of these cards from the game, and then draw 2 cards and continue as before, with this reshuffled stack as your new draw deck. When the draw deck is exhausted again, and you've played the last card from your hand, it's time to score a different file type. The game ends after the fourth scoring. Compare your total score to the table on page 17.
You must choose a file type to score at each break even if you do not have a valid stack to score, in which case, you would mark a 0 for that file type and then reshuffle only the cards in the recycle area to form the new draw deck. If you are unable to score a file type and you do not have any recycled cards, there will be nothing left to form a new deck. In that situation, the game ends immediately, with all remaining unscored file types scoring 0.
Final Score Rank
| Score | Rank |
|---|---|
| 0-19 | Blue Screen of Death |
| 20-29 | Just buy a new computer. Problem solved. |
| 30-39 | You... deleted the recycle bin? Wh-How? |
| 40-49 | I took C++ in High School. I got a C+. |
| 50-59 | Safe Mode is for cowards. |
| 60-69 | Fatal Exceptional! (...sigh) |
| 70+ | Not only are you fully defragmented, you also managed to uninstall BonziBuddy! |
Cooperative Mode
The cooperative mode requires 2 Defrag decks so that everyone has their own deck of 18 cards. The setup and gameplay are basically the same as with the standard solo mode, with each player simultaneously taking 1 turn at a time.
The main difference in cooperative mode is that after each scoring break, you pass all of the cards you reshuffle to the other player in a 2-player game or to the player on your left if playing with more players. After the first scoring break, each player will likely have a different number of cards remaining, so if you run out before the other player, just wait until everyone has finished before scoring. Once players have completed their final scoring, average the scores together and compare it to the scoring table. This mode works best with 2 players, but you can form a circle with as many players as you like, with each player passing to the left.
Note: When taking a recycle action in cooperative mode, you have an additional option to take a single card from your grid and move it to the bottom of your teammate's deck.
Competitive Mode
The competitive mode also requires 2 Defrag decks so that everyone has a deck of 18 cards. Playing competitively against 1 or more players works the same as the standard solo mode, with each player using their own deck. The only difference is that you will compare your score to the other players rather than the scoring table. If there is a tie, compare individual file types beginning with each player's lowest file type scored. The highest of these determines the winner. If there is still a tie, then compare each player's second lowest file type scored, and so on from there.
In the unlikely event that there is still a tie, you will have to have to resort to a type-off. Dust off that old CD-ROM of Navis Deacon or whatever you kids use to measure WPM these days. The highest WPM wins. However, if you all type at precisely the same speed, you're each going to have to run to your respective computers and run a defrag IRL, and after several hours, perhaps days, the owner of the computer that finishes defragmenting first is the winner.
Scenario Play
Looking for higher difficulty and increased replayability? Defrag also comes with a Scenario Booklet, where you will find new challenges beyond the basic gameplay.
Full Game Rules
The above were introductory rules to help you learn and get familiar with Defrag. Now that you understand the basic gameplay, incorporate the following rules for the full game experience.
Advanced Special Action
Chains: A chain is a group of cards with matching file type icons on their adjacent sides. In the example, these 4 cards form a chain because (1) the Paint icons on the first 2 cards are touching, and (2) the Notepads on the second and third cards are touching. Chains can branch and turn in any direction, and they do not have to be in a straight line. Chaining is the only time, aside from rotating, the icons on the other 3 sides of the cards matter.
The purpose of a chain in the standard game mode is that (3) when you take a recycle action, instead of flipping a card over in the grid, you may instead (4) move any card or stack along an existing chain to either add it to a matching card or stack in the chain or swap positions with it.
(Diagram labels: recycle pile.)
Full Game Scoring
After scoring a stack, you may then have to permanently delete (remove) up to 3 cards after reshuffling, depending on what is remaining on the table. For each unique file type showing on a loose (unstacked) card on the table, remove 1 card from the deck. If all cards remaining on the table are currently in stacks, you do not need to remove any cards this round, regardless of how many stacks there are. (Note: Ignore any Help Files or File Trees.) See example below.
Next, draw 2 cards and continue as before, using the reshuffled cards as the new draw deck. When the draw deck is exhausted again, and you've played the last card from your hand, it's time to score a different file type. The game ends after the fourth scoring. Compare your total score to the table on page 17.
Example: In this example, you can see that the player just defragmented (scored) a System stack. Looking at the cards & stacks remaining in the grid, we can see that there is one loose (unstacked) Notepad and Paint card. This means the player will have to remove or "delete" 2 cards from the scored System stack before reshuffling to form a new draw pile.
File Type Bonuses
Upon scoring each of the 4 file types, you will receive a specific bonus as explained below.
Notepad: Score an additional KB per remaining card that is right side up, making the text legible. (With stacks, count the top card only.)
Paint: Score 2 KB per unique active file icon remaining on the table. Be sure to count Help Files and File Trees in this case. (With stacks, count the top card only.)
Graph: Score additional KBs equal to the difference between the most and least active file icons remaining on the table. The least must be a minimum of 1, not 0. (With stacks, count the top card only.)
System: Recover cards from the lost "deleted" pile equal to the number of stacks remaining on the table. If no cards are currently in the deleted pile, each stack cancels out a card you would lose this round (to a minimum of 0). Choose which card(s) to recover after losing cards for the current round, if any.
(Note: If you score System last, or if you prefer, you can score an additional 2 KB per remaining stack instead of recovering cards.)