Try to survive against grotesque creatures, a possible traitor, and infected, re-animated players! Can you find the Antidote in time?
After over two years of design and playtesting we are pleased to introduce Virus! A new and exciting board game from Michele Quondam and produced by Giochix! A 90 minute, 1 to 6 players, innovative, and deeply strategic board game.
The game is primarily in English; however, it will be possible to buy the Italian, French, or German Language Pack: any text contents will be added to your English box set.
Note: the miniatures included in the box are the 3D version, as shown in the picture.
8 Leader miniatures (28mm size) 40 Minion miniatures (14-22mm size) 4 Hero miniatures (22mm size) 148 Room cards, 60x60 mm 25 Clue cards, 60x40 mm 25 Exit/Event cards, 60x40 mm 15 Leader cards, 60x40 mm 5 Spy cards, 60x40 mm 8 Advantage cards, 60x40 mm 6 Blank cards, 60x40 mm 25 Wound cards, 60x40 mm 8 Breach tiles 4 Door tiles 16 Barrier tiles 1 Blank tile 1 Antidote tile 1 Variant tile 4 Boss markers 4 Legend tiles 12 Four-leaf tokens 16 Heart tokens 12 Adrenaline tokens 16 Book tokens 16 Shield tokens 16 Explosive tokens 64 Action cubes 64 Bullet cubes 4 player boards English Rulebook
A frightening new virus is rapidly spreading throughout the main cities of the planet. They call it; Virus Q.
People and animals infected with the virus begin to mutate rapidly; their forms twisted into horrible, bloodthirsty and nigh unstoppable nightmarish creatures. The last hope of the human survivors is to identify the Patient Zero and the initial point of the outbreak. Perhaps by returning to the source it may be possible to find an antidote and bring back humanity from the brink of destruction. However, not everyone has such lofty goals; there are those who wish to profit from this ensuing chaos and terror in order to seize power. They wish to establish a new world government by controlling the monsters created with the Virus. If an antidote were to be discovered it could foil their plans forever.
The virus had been created in a near inaccessible military laboratory. Within its walls, the virus was unleashed for the first time. The creatures that now stalk the corridors are a terror beyond imagination ...
The players represent the team of survivors that will sneak into the laboratory looking for an antidote for Virus Q. They must gather what few clues lay scattered throughout the interior of the laboratory as to the location of the antidote; whilst avoiding or fighting the monsters that are residing inside.
From the very beginning of play you will need to balance the energy spent searching between needing to move or defend yourself from the monsters stalking you.
It will not be easy to avoid injury or becoming infected by the Virus yourself. You will need to scavenge throughout the rooms to enhance your equipment and specialize to your needs.
In Virus, american-trash setting and game elements meet rules typical of “Euro” games, creating something entirely new!
Real-Time Mode will change your normal game play by bringing a new degree of tension to a level never seen before! But if you prefer a more quiet play it's also possible to switch off Real-time mode and play in a more traditional way keeping all the strategic depth of the game alive.
This game features a brand new combat resolving mechanic system called “Roll the Cube”; a fun and innovative system with an added layer of tactical depth.
Finally, the room placement and monster movement mechanics, "AI by players", with its few rules that combine perfectly with the other elements of the game, gives it an incredible strategic depth.
There are four different game modes: Solo, Cooperative, Semi-Cooperative or Competitive. Three different difficulty levels insure a level of re-playability for new comers and experienced players and provides a different atmosphere around the table each time.
The players will begin the game at the entrance to the laboratory and will have a fixed number of turns to escape the laboratory alive with the antidote. The main objectives are to unlock the exit of the lab and locate the antidote and escape the lab with it in hand. all while avoiding/fighting the monsters within.
Game phases
Each turn is made up of two separate phases; the first being Real-Time and the second being Slow-Time.
During the Real-Time phase: Players will have several different actions available; Move, Search, Place Traps, Activate Devices, Place Doors, Open Breaches, Build Barriers, etc. The main actions involve moving around and exploring new areas of the lab.
During the Slow-Time phase: players will move monsters, add new monsters, collect resources and spend them to acquire new powers and abilities.
Exploration
When exploring new areas; you will place new Lab Room cards. The new Room cards are drawn from your own personal stack. They are not put randomly on the table but are instead you will choose which cards to place and where. Which rooms you place and where is very tactically important; it defines not only the shape of the game board but will also directly influence many other aspects of play. They determine the amount of resources the character will gain during their path, enhance the possibility of finding clues as to the location of the andidote and even the number of monsters that will appear in the lab.
The resources
By placing new rooms and actively searching them players will be able to scavenge resources. You will need to place your cards to create areas of the same color: the more extensive the areas are the more resources you will likely find. Resources are obtained by multiplying the number of rooms in that area by the number of new rooms placed or explored. The resources earned in this way are spent during the Slow-Time phase; by buying elements to either place in the lab (barriers or breaches), use during combat (bullets), or as enhancements to your character (Resistance Adrenaline, Armor, Knowledge, or even Luck). Yes, you can buy luck. Any elements purchased will be used during the Real-Time phase.
Unlocking the exit
As soon as the players enter the laboratory the exit is sealed to prevent further contamination. To unlock the exit and escape the players must reach two specific rooms and activate them at the same time. The players will need to work together to accomplish several objectives simultaneously. This includes players who will act as designated “runners” attempting to reach the rooms and unlock the exit so that the party may escape. If the players are unable to escape the laboratory in the set number of terms the facility will self destruct killing anything still inside.
The clues
If the players are able to complete special rooms within the laboratory they will find clues. Clues are special cards that give details about where the antidote will be found; “In a room with three doors” or “In a room in a series of three blue cards” etc. Combining different clues will eventually lead you to the room where the antidote can be found and placed onto the game board. The players will need to retrieve the antidote from this discovered location and escape from the laboratory with it.
The monsters
The monsters are placed depending on the movements of the players: the more actions they take, the more monsters will appear. Then they will move by following the players and trying to get in their way. Their movement is determined by a simple system of rules; with the monsters moved by the players themselves. As the game progresses more powerful monsters. “bosses”, will begin to appear. Throughout the game all monsters will slowly become stronger. Move carefully as the monsters will be able to see you, hear you and even smell you!
The combat
Combat is handled in a strikingly innovative way and we have named this system; “Rol the Cube”. Players will throw their action cubes, bullets and any other tokens in their possession that they wish to commit on their player board. You will receive a positive result if the cubes fall onto the colored squares. A single exception being any squares in which more than one item occupies. Combining the different play elements between them you will be able to get more or less successful results and special effects. The positive results are then spent to destroy and/or flee from opposing monsters.
An example of “roll the cube”: tokens that fell on the squares are positive results. In this playtest photo, the grey cubes represent actions, the white ones are bullets. The player decides which and how many items from their reserve to roll. In this case, as a result we have 2 positive white cubes and 3 positive grey cubes: 2 x 3 = 6 successes. The other tokens unlock special effects: a positive shield toss allows the player to recover all not-cube elements spent in the roll, while a positive adrenaline toss allows to recover all rolled cubes. The Lucky Clover token (Luck: check if you like the roll, if not re-roll it) and the Book (Knowledge: double the positive bullet results) were not successfully rolled. The successes will be spent to dodge enemies (which requires 1 success for each creature) and/or to attack (which takes 3 successes for each damage point done).
The Spy
This variant throws the game off balance; one of the players could be an enemy lurking in the shadows, working to sabotage the other players. Who should you trust?
The contagion
Don't forget that players can become infected by the Virus themselves. Unfortunately they won't know until the very end of the game; all they will know is that they might have been infected. If an infected Player character dies they will become a Leader creature, through which the player will continue to actively play but for the opposing side!
