Null State: Terminal 01

Welcome to the Terminal.

"When systems collapse, morality is a liability: only control and notoriety remain." - Ov3rlrd

In a dark-net future dominated by rogue AI, the few operators skilled enough to take back control are the same ones fighting for notoriety. You are one of those operators.

Null State™: Terminal 01 is a medium-weight cyberpunk card game for 1 to 4 players (expandable up to 5). Your objective is clear: navigate volatile networks, stack your exploits in memory, disrupt international markets, and hack critical location grids to claim fame and lock your digital assets on the public blockchain.

Will you become the most notorious hacker on the net, or will you suffer fatal data loss?

The Hacking Loop: 8 Core Actions

On your turn, you must choose exactly one of eight tactical actions:

1. Scan: Ping the network and draw data cards equal to the current Network Scan die value (1 to 6). But beware: your hand limit is 7 cards. Anything more forces an immediate Data Purge (discard down to 7)!
2. Disrupt: Play data cards from your hand to adjust any Market Track (1 to 10), the Network Scan die (1 to 6), or the Crypto Die (1 to 6) — 1 step up or down per printed Fragment spent (HKT, CRD, PRT).
3. Program: Load encrypted data fragment cards from your hand into one of your 3 physical memory stacks (up to 7 cards per stack) to compile your exploits, or swap a card in a stack.
4. Discard Stack: Wipe a compromised memory stack clean to the discard pile to clear cache and start a new program sequence.
5. Trade: Buy 1 card from the White Hat, Grey Hat, or Black Hat markets. Discard data cards from your hand with total Fragments (HKT, CRD, PRT) meeting the deck's market track tier cost (Tier 1–3: 2 Fragments | Tier 4–7: 4 Fragments | Tier 8–10: 6 Fragments).
6. Hack: Execute a compiled memory stack against a face-up Location card. Your stack must match the location's security Fragment requirements (+1 extra per rival control cube present). If successful, claim a reward, trigger dynamic market yield bonuses, and place a control cube to compete for control.
7. Harden: Reinforce a location where you already have presence. Discard one data card for each required data type directly from an active memory stack to place an additional control cube there.
8. Blockchain: Commit a data card face-up from your hand to your public blockchain pile (up to a maximum of 20 cards). These cards are locked for end-game market multiplier scoring!

Market Strategies: The Three Hat Decks

As you trade, you will acquire market-modifying tools. Choose your strategy carefully:

End-Game and Victory: The Blockchain Payoff

The final round triggers when all locations in play for your player count have been revealed and successfully hacked at least once. Then, final scores are calculated:

• Fame: Earn points from hacked locations where you maintain full control (having more control cubes there than any other single player) plus peak market hack bonuses.
• The Blockchain Multiplier: For each of the six market tracks (AI Intel, Government, Financial, Personal, Market Intel, Dark Web), sum the total SYSM value of that type in your public blockchain pile. Score points for every 10 SYSM of that type based on the final market track tier:
  • Tier 1 to 3: 1 point per 10 SYSM.
  • Tier 4 to 7: 2 points per 10 SYSM.
  • Tier 8 to 10: 3 points per 10 SYSM.
• Crypto Dominance Leader: The player furthest along the Crypto Multiplier Track at the end of the game receives a flat +10 points bonus.

The operator with the highest combined score (Fame + Blockchain modifier + Crypto Dominance Leader bonus) wins.

Hack the Game: Custom and Procedural Decks

Null State™: Terminal 01 is built with a dynamic compiler engine, allowing you to customize your gameplay experience:

• Procedural Hometown Grids: Operators can compile custom Print-and-Play location decks mapped directly to real-world landmarks, local subnets, and geographic coordinates from their own hometowns or zipcodes!
• Future Open-Source Meta: Upon a successful Kickstarter campaign, we plan to open-source the entire design and rendering pipeline. This will allow the community to run generation scripts, balance custom cards, and construct their own custom decks.

Pioneer Release: The Road Ahead

This Pioneer Edition of Null State™: Terminal 01 represents our inaugural physical base game release, engineered for 1 to 4 operators. While this box features complete core gameplay loops, balanced decks, and high-fidelity layouts, it is just the beginning.

We are actively expanding the Null State ecosystem: + 5–6 Player Expansions adding expanded player counts and tournament modules. + Story and location modules featuring new regional grids and mechanics. + 100% Forward Compatibility — every future release game asset is built to integrate seamlessly with your physical base set.

Join us on the net, run your first hacks, and help shape the terminal meta!

Game Components

• 1 Gameboard (Market tracks, dice spots, scan tracker)
• 110 Data Cards (Poker size, containing data fragments)
• 24 Location Cards (Jumbo landscape, featuring real-world landmarks and server grids)
• 72 Market Cards (Poker size: 24 Black Hat, 24 Grey Hat, 24 White Hat)
• 4 Player Identity Cards (Jumbo horizontal: unique alias, portrait, backstory, and once-per-game special power)
• 4 Player Reference Aids (Actions and Command sets)
• 5 Custom Six-Sided Dice: 1 Red Black Hat, 1 Blue Grey Hat, 1 White White Hat, 1 Yellow Network Scan, and 1 Neon Green SYSM Crypto
• 48 Control Cubes: 12 in each of 4 player colors for tracking location presence
• 6 Wooden Disc Markers: 1 in each of 6 colors to track market values
• 1 Rulebook