Neon Uprising
The machines have hacked your party. Scrap every bot before the AI Overlords take over.
- Players
- 8 to 40+
- Length
- 2, 2.5, or 3 hours from the start. 3 is the party default.
- Features
- Hack cards, flags, husks, Uplink syncs, and the Scrapyard.
The premise
It's a war, not a glitch. Everyone at the party is human, with an implant in their head, and two AI Overlords are hiding among them. Nobody knows who the AI Overlords are, except the AI Overlords.
Cards move from hand to hand all night. Scan one and it's usually a power. Sometimes it's a hack: your implant is theirs now, and you're a bot under the machines' control. You keep playing; you're just on the other side.
When enough people flag the same person, the Programmer scraps them, and the Scrapyard, on every phone and on the TV if there is one, shows what they really were.
The sides
Humans
The Resistance. Everyone starts here. Humans win by scrapping all the AI Overlords, or by scrapping more bots than are still hiding, before the night ends.
Bots
The AI Overlords, and everyone they hack: the Network. They win if the humans run out of time. A wrong scrap helps them: it costs the humans a flag and a fighter.
That's all you need before the night. Each phone explains the rest to its owner, and only to its owner.
On their phones
Joining
A name and a costume, so people can find them.
Their home
Their run, the flags they have left, the Scrapyard.
Who they are
Their side and their powers, on their phone and nobody else's.
The Scrapyard
Every scrap, as it happens.
How a night runs
Guests scan the flyer
The QR on the flyer at the door opens the game. Each guest types a name, then scans the Test Chip so they know how a card works.
The Programmer starts the game
The host is the Programmer. They pick the AI Overlords in secret and press Start. From here every phone keeps its owner's secret.
Runs and cards
Phones send guests on runs: reach an Access Point, escort someone, carry a card. Finish one and the Programmer hands you a card. Cards get passed around; some of them hack.
Flagging opens
A sixth of the way in (half an hour on a 3-hour night), everyone gets 3 flags. Enough flags on one person and the Programmer scraps them. Scrapped guests are husks: still talking, still arguing, out of the game.
Syncs at the Uplink
Three times in the night the Uplink opens. Guests who gather there piece together a passcode, and the sensors hint at how many bots stand among them.
The Scrapyard
When the time runs out, or the humans win early, the Scrapyard shows the Network, everyone's role, the awards, and every flag raised all night.
What gets printed
Neon Uprising
Your party's name
- 1Scan the big code with your phone's camera.
- 2Type your name and join.
- 3When your phone asks, scan the Test Chip.
Test Chip
Scan it when your phone asks. It's only practice: this is how every card and spot works.
Flyer
Tape it by the door. The big code joins your party; the small one is the Test Chip, so everyone learns how a scan works before it counts.
Test Chip
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Scan this
Cards
20 to a page, with cut lines. Print on card stock, or tape each one to the back of a playing card. A new party has 120 unless you pick another number, and you can print any range or add more.
The Shed
Word CHROME
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
Under the Stairs
Word VOLTAGE
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
The Garage
Word SYNAPSE
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
The Fridge
Word HALOGEN
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
The Couch
Word CIRCUIT
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
Spot 6
Word PIXEL
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
Spot 7
Word STATIC
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
Spot 8
Word NEXUS
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
Spot 9
Word GLITCH
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
Spot 10
Word PLASMA
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
Spot 11
Word VECTOR
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
Spot 12
Word KRYPTON
Scan this, or tell the Programmer the word.
Access Points
12 to a sheet, with cut lines: one for each Access Point in your house. Name them after real places, give each a word, and tape them up where the hint says. A new party has 12.
The Uplink
When the Uplink opens, scan this for your letter.
Use Scan a card in the game. Code ALTAR
Uplink sign
Tape it in the room you pick for the Uplink. While it's open, guests scan it for their letter.
Letter or A4. Print it all at once or one part at a time, or save it as a PDF for a print shop. These are the real pages with sample codes; your party's codes are made when you create it, and only you (or a co-host with the party's PIN) can print them.
How the host runs it
Make a party, pick Neon Uprising, and print the kit. Rename the Access Points after the real places in your house.
On the night you run the console from your phone. Pick the AI Overlords, scan in their hack cards, choose the game length, and press Start.
During the game guests come to you: you hand out a card when someone finishes a run, and you scrap whoever the console says. A co-host can help from their own phone with the party's PIN.
The host doesn't play. You know who the AI Overlords are; your job is the war.
What you need
Guests need only their phones. You need a phone to run the game from and a printer, or a print shop, for the kit. A TV or a laptop is optional, and either does the same job: a big shared screen for the Scrapyard and the console. Nobody needs one; it just helps.
Fair warning
It's a game about flagging your friends to their faces. People will lie to you, convincingly, and you'll be wrong about someone you trust. Lying is allowed. Showing your screen isn't.
Ready to jack in?
Every printable included.