BioShock Infinite Rulebook Available
Find out how the fight for Columbia will be fought
We've all been clamoring for more info on BioShock Infinite: The Siege of Columbia. The board game is set in the same floating city as the critically acclaimed video game and features Booker and Elizabeth racing to escape Columbia while 2 or 4 players battle over the city as the Vox Populi and Founders.
The rulebook that will direct your epic struggle for power and victory in the clouds is now available for download here at PlaidHatGames.com. Click here (or right-click and choose "save link/target as..." for the 24-page, full color download. NOTE: The rulebook includes minor SPOILERS in regards to game locations and the general flow of the plot.
Once you've perused the rules, return here immediately and hit up the PlaidHatGames.com store to pre-order for a $25 pre-order discount and an Enraged Songbird alternative Founders card.
Having digested the rulebook myself over and over again the past couple weeks since I started receiving content to post on this game, I have to say it's one of the tightest and most exciting rulebooks I've read. I cannot WAIT to play this game. Whether you love the video game or are just an old-school "analog" game player, you need to get your hands on BioShock Infinite: The Siege of Columbia. Here are the highlights, although you owe it to yourself to read it for yourself:
- One player (or a team of two) plays the conservative, traditionally ruling Founders faction, while the other player or team leads the vicious Vox Populi revolution.
- Win by getting to 10 victory points. Points are earned by holding control of the six territories that make up the game board and by being the first to meet goals that appear from a deck of cards each round.
- Each player gets one major special ability for the game, courtesy of one of four leaders of their faction. Each player also has their own full, unique deck which distinguishes the Vox Populi from the Founders. Each has their own strengths. 5 cards are drawn for use each round.
- Each card has a special ability of some sort, plus three numbers representing the card's strength for influence, combat, and silver eagles (money).
- Players can upgrade all their cards of a certain type by increasing their value in one of the three aforementioned areas, or, sometimes, unlocking the cards' ability. (Some cards' abilities are unusable until they're unlocked.) Cards are upgraded by payment, by winning a battle, etc.
- During a round, players decide to use their cards either as influence to push that round's World Event in their favor, as strength in battle, or as money for structures (tokens) and units (miniatures).
- During a player's turn, that player can move up to four units one space each. If the units need to get around faster, they can cruise around on the Sky-Line as far as they want, but if a dice roll shows a Sky-Line move went bad, the player has to either lose the unit or discard cards. The Songbird and Airship miniatures can move up to two spaces along the Sky-Line without risk.
- Battles are very straightforward, and can be against Booker, the other player, or early on, against the other hostile forces in Columbia. Each player plays cards for their combat values and effects, and adds to that value by rolling a die for each unit in the battle (better units roll better dice) to determine the winner. The loser loses one unit and must move the rest of their units involved in the battle to one of their bases, while the winner holds the space and gets a free card upgrade.
- Booker and Elizabeth, both non-player characters, move around the board and progress along three possible story paths in their adventure in Columbia, with both sides taking advantage of and being disrupted by their impact on the game.
Download the whole rulebook for more details (remember, minor SPOILERS), and enjoy the beautiful artwork of the board below, created by our own John Ariosa and the talented Paul Guzenko. Paul also did the rest of the game's art. Miniatures sculpted by our own Chad Hoverter.
If you're new to our games, check out our game library and download the Phoenix Elves faction for free to play on Summoner Wars for your iPhone or iPad (the iOS tabletop game of the year according to Pocket Tactics, BoardGameGeek, and many others).
