Hackers&Agents
Hackers&Agents is a card game played with a specially printed deck. The game was originally developed in 2012 by Jason Bevis in New York. The game was original printed by The Game Crafter in Madison, Wisconsin.
Official Rules
Objective
Be the first to rid yourself of all the cards in your hand before every other player and obtain as few points as possible. Points are obtained by cards left in your hand after one player has placed all of his/her cards on the PLAYCARD pile. Each player scores penalty points for cards left in their hand. As soon as one player has reached 300 points the game is over and the person with the lowest score is the winner.
Contents
There are a total of 108 cards. Cards include:
- 18 blue Data Cards – 0 to 8
- 18 green Data Cards – 0 to 8
- 18 yellow Data Cards – 0 to 8
- 18 red Data Cards – 0 to 8
- 8 Encrypted Cards– 2 in each color
- 8 Log Cards– 2 in each color
- 8 Lead Cards– 2 in each color
- 4 SQL Injection Cards
- 4 Rootkit Cards
- 2 Hacker Cards
- 2 Agent Cards
Setup
Before dealing cards to each player ensure the 108 cards are shuffled thoroughly. To determine who plays first each player should pick a card from the deck. The lowest card chosen is the person who goes first. In the event that more than one person picks a number 0 from the deck those players should draw again until there is a winner. Place all the cards into the deck and shuffle one last time prior to dealing. After the first round of play the winner of each round must play first and the loser of the round must deal.
Play
Every player starts with eight cards dealt face down. The remaining cards are placed in a DRAW pile face down. Next to the DRAW pile a space should be designated for a PLAYCARD pile. The top card of the DRAW pile should be placed face up in the PLAYCARD pile, and the game begins! The next player must match the card in the PLAYCARD pile by the color, action, or number. For instance, if the card is a blue 5 the player must put down a blue card, any color 5, or an action card. If the player doesn’t have anything to match, the player must take (i.e. steel) from the top of the DRAW pile. If the person can play the card from the DRAW pile (i.e. get away clean), they may place the card on the PLAYCARD pile. Otherwise the turn goes to the next person. If the first person placed an action card then the action card determines the next sequence of play. When a player has no cards left, the round is over. Points are scored and play starts over again.
First Card Rule
If the first card played from the DRAW pile is an Agent, Hacker, or Lead card the first player has the option take that card and swap it with any other card in their hand placing the new card in the PLAYCARD pile.
Action Cards
Certain cards require that an action being taken when played. Each action card is described below. Encrypted– Lose Turn! The hacker has left encrypted files on the system and therefore it takes time to decrypt the information causing the next player to lose their turn.
- Log – Draw 1 Cumulative Lose Turn! The agent using forensic investigation has found evidence of the attack in a log file and the hacker’s is closer to being caught, therefore the next player pauses gathering more data by drawing 1 card and forfeiting their turn. Log cards are also cumulative whereas if two cards are played on top of each other the next person must then draw two and three, and so on.
- Lead – Play Another Card or Change Direction! The agent has a lead on the hacker and therefore has the option of placing a second card (according to normal rules of play) on the PLAYCARD pile or changing the direction of play. Multiple Lead cards may be played at one turn. If the player cannot play another card the Lead card forces a change in direction.
- SQL Injection – Change Color! A SQL Injection card can be played on any other card. The player placing the SQL Injection card on the
PLAYCARD pile has hacked the PLAYCARD pile and can therefore, choose any color they choose. The next player must continue play on the color decided by the player placing the SQL Injection card.
- Rootkit – Draw 5 Transparent! The Rootkit card can be played on any other card. The hacker has, as they say, powned (taken over) the next player’s hand forcing that player to draw 5 cards and forfeit a turn as a result of having to rebuild their compromised hand. The Rootkit card cannot change the color and is considered transparent meaning the rules of the previous card still are in effect.
- Hacker – Trade Hands Transparent! The Hacker card is the most cunning in the batch allowing the player to steel another player’s cards while leaving that player with the hacker’s mess of cards. The player placing this card on the PLAYCARD pile can request from any other player a complete swap of all cards. This is especially effective if one player has only 1 or 2 cards and the player with the hacker card has many cards. The Hacker card cannot change the color and is considered transparent meaning the rules of the previous card still are in effect.
- Agent – Requests Cards or Draw 2 Transparent! The agent is hot on the trail of the hacker and has the ability to request a Lead, Rootkit, or SQL Injection card from another otherplayer when this card is placed on the PLAYCARD pile. The person playing the Agent Card has priority in the selection of the card. If the player surrendering the Lead, Hack, or Rootkit card does not have any one of the three cards to surrender than that person must draw two cards from the DRAW pile. The Agent card cannot change the color and is considered transparent meaning the rules of the previous card still are in effect.
Last Card Rules
If the last card played in a hand is a Log or Rootkit card, the next player must draw the one or five cards. These cards are counted when points are totaled. If no one is out of cards by the time the DRAW pile is depleted, reshuffle and continue play. If the Hacker or Agent is the last card placed on the PLAYCARD pile there will be no swap of cards or request for cards. If the person playing the Agent card takes the persons last card then the round is over.
Considerations and Penalties
A player may choose not to play a playable card from their hand. If so, the player must draw a card from the DRAW pile. If playable, that card may be played, but the player may not play a different card from their hand after the draw. Confidentiality is a key principle of security. If a player makes a card suggestion to another player, that player must draw a card for giving information to a hacker. If a player makes more than one suggestion before their next turn then, breaking the honor among hackers, then that player will forfeit their next turn.
Winning and Scoring
When a player is out of cards, other players get penalized with points for each card in their hand.
- All cards through 8 = Face value
- Encrypted = 25 points
- Log = 25 points
- Lead = 25 points
- SQL Injection = 50 points
- Rootkit = 50 points
- Hacker = 100 points*
- Agent = 100 points*
The WINNER is the player with the lowest points after one player has reached 300 points.
- If the Hacker card is last card placed on the PLAYCARD pile the players overall points will be reduced by 50 for getting away as the hacker.
- If the Agent card is the last card placed on the PLAYCARD pile all other players must increase their points by 50 for getting caught by the agent.
Strategy Tips
- Tip 1: Gather as many lead cards as possible. A player with lead cards will appear to have many cards in their hand. However, in one turn of play the person can place up to 8 lead cards on the PLAYCARD pile and the last card in their hand ending the round.
- Tip 2: Use Agent cards to request cards from players with very few cards in their hand. If they don’t have one of the three requested cards they must draw two.
References
Hackers&Agents Rules