Neon Gods

Neon Gods Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Overview

You are a gang leader. Build your gang and defend your territory or shed some blood to take over what others have built. At the end of every third round, players will gain blurp for the territories they control. After 9 rounds of play, the player with the most blurp wins control of the city.

Components

1 City Board
4 Player Boards
1 Recruitment Board
4 Player Blurp Markers
1 First Player Token
1 Round Marker
64 Gang Figures (16 in each color)
10 Event Cards
46 Gang Member Cards
24 Starting Gang Member Cards
4 Work Cards
4 Player Base Tiles
10 Tunnel Tokens
16 Skyscraper Tokens
10 Factory Tokens
10 Watchtower Tokens
10 Monument Tokens
10 Owl Tokens
15 Andy Tokens
50 $ Tokens
30 Product Tokens
16 Dead Zone Tiles
3 Pink Battle Dice
3 Blue Battle Dice
3 Green Battle Dice

Gang Member Card

Type
Name
Effect
Battle Dice

Event Card

Name
Effect

Work Card

Cost
Effect
Token Ability

Recruitment Board

Round Track
Blurp Exchange
Card Prices

The Blurp Exchange reads: "During the Daylight Phase a player may purchase blurp ONCE for one of the following exchange rates." The rates are 6 for 3, 10 for 6, 14 for 9, and 20 for 14 (that is, $ spent for blurp gained).

Player Board

Gang Name and Logo
Order Summary (Draw 1 Card; Recruit or Draw 1 Card; Move 2 Figures; Activate 3 Card Effects; Battle)
Card Slots (Draw Pile, Activated Cards, Battle Cards, Discard Pile)

Note on the player board: You can only have up to 5 cards in your hand at the end of your turn. Discard any additional cards.

Game Setup

To set up a game of Neon Gods, perform the following steps in order.

Set the city board and recruitment board in the middle of the play area.
Each player collects a player board and then the blurp marker, gang figures and starting gang member cards matching her player color. a. Each player places her blurp marker on the star space of the blurp track (city board). b. Each player shuffles her starting gang member cards to form a gang draw pile and draws 2 cards from her draw pile to form her starting hand.
Shuffle the non-starting gang member cards and event cards together to form a recruitment deck. Reveal the top 4 cards of that deck and place them under the recruitment board. If any event cards are drawn at this time, set them aside and continue to draw until four gang members have been drawn, then shuffle the set aside event cards back into the recruitment deck.
Place the round marker on round 1 (recruitment board).
Form a supply of the $, owl, and andy tokens (number side down), separated into piles. Place the battle dice near this supply.
Give each player 5 $.
Determine which player will be the first player and give her the first player token.
Select a scenario from the back of the rulebook and follow the setup instructions for that scenario.
Start the game by having the first player perform the first turn of the game.

How to Play

Neon Gods takes place over 9 rounds and 3 daylight phases. During each round, each player will take a turn, starting with the first player and proceeding in clockwise order. On a player's turn she must perform the following 5 actions in order:

Draw 1 Card
Recruit or Draw 1 Card
Move 2 Figures
Activate 3 Card Effects
Battle

1. Draw 1 Card

Draw 1 card from the top of your draw pile and place it into your hand. Any time a player would draw a card, but her draw pile is empty, that player shuffles her discard pile and forms a new draw pile.

2. Recruit OR Draw 1 Card

You may recruit 1 of the gang member cards on the recruitment board for the price listed above it. Once recruited, the card is added to your hand and a figure from your supply is placed onto your base.

Refill the recruitment board by moving all cards on the recruitment board down to fill in the gap and then place a new card from the top of the recruitment deck in the 5$ spot.

If you choose not to recruit a card, draw 1 card from the top of your draw pile instead.

Event Cards

Some cards on the recruitment board are events that players can purchase instead of a new gang member card. When purchasing an event card, carry out the effects immediately, refill the recruitment board, and then shuffle the card back into the recruitment deck. You do not place a figure onto your base when purchasing an event card.

Example event cards:

ROBO PARTY: Gain 3 blurp. Then shuffle this card back into the recruitment deck.
OWLS!: Place up to 3 owl tokens on 1 or more spaces. Each owl token in a contested space reduces the defender's battle value by 2. Remove all owl tokens from the contested space after the battle is resolved. Then shuffle this card back into the recruitment deck.

3. Move 2 Figures

Move up to 2 figures you control up to 3 spaces each. (You control any of your figures that are on the board.)

Movement

Figures move horizontally and vertically, but not diagonally. In addition, they:

Must stop when moving onto a space containing any enemy figures or andy tokens.
Must NOT stop on a space if it would cause the space to contain more than 2 of your figures (unless it is your base).
Cannot move onto an enemy base.

Tunnels: There are multiple tunnel spaces on the board marked by tunnel tokens. For the purpose of movement only, the tunnel spaces are considered adjacent. Moving a figure from 1 tunnel space to any other tunnel space counts as moving that figure 1 space. A tunnel token cannot be placed on a base, dead zone tile or a space that is already a tunnel space.

Controlled Spaces: If 1 or more of your figures is on a space that contains no enemy figures or andy tokens, you control that space. You do not control your base if it no longer has any figures on it.

Contested Spaces: If 1 or more of your figures shares a space with 1 or more enemy figures or andy tokens (see Andy Tokens), that space is considered contested. At the end of each turn, a battle will take place at every contested space. (See Battle.)

4. Activate 3 Card Effects

One at a time, choose to either:

Play a card to activate one or more of its effects

Draw 1 card.

Do this 3 times.

When activating more than 1 card effect on a single card, those effects must be resolved in the order they appear on the card.

Card Effect Symbols

Cards use the following symbols to describe their effects. The number before a symbol is represented in the descriptions below as X.

Move: Move up to X figures you control up to 3 spaces each. The previously described rules for movement apply. (See Movement.)

Gain: Gain up to X $ from the supply.

Draw: Draw up to X cards from the top of your draw pile.

Recover: Select up to X cards of your choice from your discard pile and place them into your hand.

Sell: Sell up to X product tokens from spaces you control. When you sell a product token it sells for $ equal to the number of spaces it is away from your base. For example, if a product token is 3 spaces away from your base, it sells for 3 $.

When determining the distance of a product token, you must always choose the shortest distance possible. Tunnel spaces are not considered adjacent for the purpose of determining sale price.

Example: Sell. The Mums Player can sell this product token for 4 $, because it is 4 spaces away from her base in a space she controls.

Work: Activate the effect of 1 or more work cards up to X times. Some work cards require an additional cost to activate their effect. You may activate a single work card multiple times in a turn.

Structures

Structures are identified by square tokens with a purple background. Some game effects allow you to put a structure into play. Structures can only be placed on a non-dead zone space you control. There may be multiple types of structures on a single space, but you may not place a second copy of a structure on a space where the same type already exists. A structure may have additional placement rules, listed on its corresponding work card.

Each structure has an ability, listed on its corresponding work card, while it is under a player's control. A structure is under the control of the player that controls or is defending the space it is on, regardless of who built it.

5. Battle

Resolve a battle at every contested space where you (the active player) have 1 or more figures. If more than 1 space is contested, you choose, one at a time, the order in which battles are resolved. You are considered the attacker and all other players are considered defenders.

To resolve a battle, follow these steps in order:

Play Cards. Starting with the attacker, each player that is in the chosen contested space can play up to 3 cards face down in front of her. Those cards can come, in any combination, from her hand or blindly from the top of her draw pile. If a player has no draw pile, she may shuffle her discard pile to form a new one. (Cards activated this turn are not in the discard pile yet.)
Reveal Cards and Roll Battle Dice. Players simultaneously reveal their cards. Each player rolls the dice revealed on their cards. Battle dice can have 2 different symbols on them. Each battle symbol adds to the player's battle value and each $ allows the player to take 1 $ from the opposing player. The defender resolves her $ symbols and then the attacker resolves her $ symbols.
Determine Battle Value. Each player adds the number of battle symbols she rolled to the total number of figures she controls on or adjacent to the contested space. (Figures in diagonal spaces are not considered adjacent.) Note: Some other game effects may add or subtract from the players' battle values.
Declare Victory. The player with the higher battle value is the victor and gains 1 blurp for winning the battle. The defeated player must return all of her figures from the contested space to her base. If there is a tie, the attacker is considered the victor.
Discard. Each player discards all of the cards they played during the battle.

Example: Battle

The Yellow Mums player moves one of her figures into a space occupied by a blue Disco Tykes figure, making this a contested space and triggering a battle at the end of the Mums player's turn.
At the end of the turn, both players choose three battle cards and reveal them simultaneously. The Mums player's cards show two blue and two pink dice while the Disco Tykes player's cards show one blue, one pink, and one green.
Both players roll their indicated dice. The Disco Tykes player rolls 1 $, so he immediately steals 1 $ from the Mums player's supply. The Mums player rolled 10 battle symbols and has 3 figures on or adjacent to the contested space (diagonals do not count), giving her a total battle value of 13. The Disco Tykes player rolled 7 battle symbols and has four figures on or adjacent to the contested space, giving him a total battle value of 11.
The Mums player has the higher battle value and wins the battle, moving her blurp marker one space on the blurp track. The Disco Tykes player moves his figure out of the contested space back to his home base and both players discard all of their battle cards.

Andy Tokens

Andy tokens start on the board face down. When a player enters a space with one, she must immediately flip it face up to reveal its battle value. During the battle step of your turn, if you share a space with 1 or more andy tokens you must battle them just as you would any other player; their battle value is predetermined by what is printed on the token. Winning a battle against an andy token gains you 1 blurp, just like when winning a battle against a player. If you roll 1 or more $ on your battle dice against an andy token, take 1 $ for each $ rolled from the supply, instead of from a player. When 1 or more andy tokens share a space, total their battle value and fight them as if they were 1 token. When andy tokens share a space with enemy figures, the attacker chooses which battle to resolve first.

If the player wins the battle, remove all andy tokens on that space from the board and place them back into the supply. If the player loses the battle, the andy tokens remain face up on that space and the player moves all of her figures on that space back to her base.

Owl Tokens

Each owl token in a contested space reduces the defender's battle value by 2. Remove all owl tokens from the contested space after the battle is resolved.

Battle Dice

There are 3 different colors of dice:

Blue dice are standard battle dice.
Pink dice are more likely to net a higher battle value than blue dice.
Green dice can contribute to battle values and steal $ from an opponent!

Ending Your Turn

Once you have finished all 5 steps, your turn is over. Place all activated cards into your discard pile. Play then continues with the next player in turn order (clockwise).

Hand Limit: If at the end of your turn you have more than 5 cards in your hand, discard cards of your choice from your hand until there are only 5 cards remaining.

Round End

The round ends once all players have taken a turn, and play returns to the player with the first player token. Advance the round marker 1 space and continue onto the next round.

Daylight Phase

At the end of every 3 rounds, players will enter the daylight phase as shown on the round track. During this phase resolve the following in order:

Each player gains 1 blurp for each space she controls (excluding dead zone spaces).
Each player gains blurp determined by any game effects, including the skyscrapers and structures she controls.
Starting with the current first player and going clockwise, each player may spend $ to purchase blurp at the price listed on the Blurp Exchange on the recruitment board. Each player may only do this once per daylight phase.
Pass the first player token clockwise.

Once the daylight phase is complete, advance the round marker and continue onto the next round, starting with the new first player.

Winning the Game

The game ends after the final daylight phase.

Note: Remember to adjust for any other game effects that might add or subtract from a player's blurp at the end of the game.

The player with the most blurp wins the game. In the case of a tie, the tied player with the most $ wins. If the game is still tied, the tied players must settle this like true brute joovs—with a staring contest.

Card Effects

When a card effect contradicts the rulebook, the card effect takes precedence. When a card instructs a player to remove a figure or token, return that figure or token to its supply.

Game Components

Most game components are limited. You cannot activate an effect that places tokens or figures that do not exist. For example, you cannot build a structure if there are no more of the corresponding tokens and you cannot add a gang member card to your deck if you have no more figures in your supply. Note that there is no game limit on $ tokens.

Scenarios

To play Neon Gods, players must select a scenario. For more scenarios visit PlaidHatGames.com or utilize the tiles and tokens provided to create your own scenarios.

Scenario Key

Dead Zones: Structure tokens cannot be placed on a space with a dead zone tile on it. Players are not awarded blurp for dead zone spaces they control during the daylight phase.
Player Bases: Each player has a base matching her player color. A player's base is where her figures come onto the board and where her figures return when defeated in battle. A player cannot move her figures onto an opponent's base.
Skyscrapers: Skyscraper tokens have numbers on them that denote their blurp value. During each daylight phase, each player will gain the blurp value of each skyscraper she controls. For the scenario setups, the skyscraper tokens worth 1 blurp are signified by a pink border, the 2 value by a blue border, and 3 value by a yellow border.
Andys: Andy tokens represent enemies that are not controlled by any player. They are always placed face down and revealed when a figure moves onto their space. When a figure ends its move on a space with an andy token, that space becomes contested. (For more info on battling andy tokens, see the Andy Tokens section.)
Tunnels: Tunnel spaces are considered adjacent for the purpose of movement only (they are not considered adjacent for determining battle values). Moving a figure from 1 tunnel space to any other tunnel space counts as moving that figure 1 space.
Products: Product tokens are placed on the board in the setup of some scenarios.
Owl Tokens: Each owl token in a contested space reduces the defender's battle value by 2. Remove all owl tokens from the contested space after the battle is resolved.

Work Cards

Used in every scenario (the printed scenario pages show the same four cards; the first icon on each card's cost is 1 work).

Create Product (cost: 1 work): Place up to 2 product tokens on a space you control that has a factory token on it. Product Ability: This token can be sold for $ equal to its distance from your home base. See Sell for more details.
Build Factory (cost: 1 work and 3 $): Place 1 factory structure token on a valid space you control. Factory Structure Ability: At the end of the game, gain the following amount of blurp depending on how many factories you control: 1 Factory (1 blurp) / 2 Factories (3 blurp) / 3 Factories (6 blurp) / 4 Factories (10 blurp) / 5 Factories (15 blurp) / 6 Factories (21 blurp) / 7 or more Factories (28 blurp).
Build Watchtower (cost: 1 work and 3 $): Place 1 watchtower structure token on a valid space you control. Watchtower Structure Ability: Add 3 to your battle value when resolving a battle on the space where you control this watchtower. Add 1 to your battle value when resolving a battle adjacent to the space where you control this watchtower.
Build Monument (cost: 1 work and 3 $): Place 1 monument structure token on a valid space you control that has a skyscraper token on it. Monument Structure Ability: During the daylight phase, gain 2 blurp for this monument.

Scenario Setup (all scenarios)

Each scenario has board setup diagrams for 4, 3 and 2 players. For every scenario:

Set up the city board as shown.
Put the work cards shown into play and place any corresponding tokens in piles near those work cards.
Each player places 6 of her gang figures on the base matching her player color.