by lankyrobot

Player count: 2
Weight/Complexity: 3
Play time: 30 mins
Rating: 8.5


Gameplay
Compile: Main 1 is a dueling card game about two AI competing to gain an understanding of reality. Each player has 3 "protocols", concepts such as "light", "speed', "gravity" etc., which are drafted at the start of the game and determine the make up of their decks. Players then play a card each turn to their matching lanes on top of the cards that are already there, with many cards providing additional effects themed around the concept. "Death" cards have a heavy focus on deleting cards, while "speed" cards are all about movement, card draw, and playing extra cards. Each card has a numerical value, and when a players value reaches 10 in a lane, they are able to "compile" marking that lane as complete. Compile all three lanes, and you win the game. Seems simple enough?


Death 2 showing its power

Compile: Main 1 adds a series of complications to this initially simple formula. Many cards in the game have an effect that triggers when they are first played. Not only that, but these effects trigger any time they are revealed. Perhaps you need to delete an opponents largest card in the lane, but you can't because doing so would reveal an extremely powerful reveal effect such as "play a card". Or perhaps you realise that in order to prevent your opponent from winning, you need to return one of your own cards to your hand to reactivate the card that is beneath it. This mechanic is where Compile shines, with players not just playing their cards to the board but building a board of on reveal effects, face down cards that can be flipped for an effect, and passive abilities that hinder their opponents or help yourself. In my first few playthroughs, we struggled to understand how this could be leveraged, and would play into our opponents hands by accidentally revealing powerful effects even as we were trying to hinder them. Having played several games, I have now found sequences where I can activate 4 or more effects in a single turn in a beautiful cascade of chaos, sometimes by deleting or removing my own card! The more that you play and understand the game, the more often you begin to notice these sequences, or start to set them up ahead of time. Watching a sequence unfold on board and completely flip the tempo of the game is a wondrous thing. Compile is a drug, and finding these sequences of multiple effects in a turn is a huge dopamine hit that repeatedly has me coming back for more.

Components
The cards in Compile are clearly laid out, with distinct categories for the different types of effects (top box is for passive effects and start/end of turn effects, middle box is for reveal effects, and bottom box is for start/end of turn effects). The back of each card is a plain grey version of the card with the value 2 and no boxes, clearly indicating that it is a face down card with no type. Cards have a "cold foil" effect on the borders and numbering, which give the effect of a machinery or wiring that is excellent to look at. Each protocol has its own beautiful art work, and each card associated with that protocol uses a section of the full artwork as its background. Although this does help tie the cards together, I do think it would have been nice to see unique artwork for each individual card. For those who play card games a lot, it becomes second nature to begin identifying cards by their art rather than their text, so the lack of unique art can make it harder to distinguish and remember what each card does when played across the table by your opponent. The box is well spaced, so that the cards can still fit while sleeved and it appears that there is room too for future cards/expansions (e.g., Compile: Aux 1).


Foiling on the speed protocol

Other thoughts
Trading card games such as Magic or Flesh and Blood have always had an issue in my eyes. They are too expensive for any new comer to feel like they are getting the full experience of the game, yet they require constant new releases in order to keep the game fresh and interesting. I loved Netrunner when it was held by Fantasy Flight, as it provided exactly what I was looking for - a competitive card game where I could build unique decks and playstyles to fight my friends with, without having to pay extreme amounts to stay in the competitive scene. Compile feels similar, in that it is a standalone card game that appears to have the room for consistent expansions built in to the games model. While you are not able to directly build your deck per se, the room to draft the different protocols and discover the interactions between them still fulfills that same itch of discovery, while the cascading interactions that can be set up fulfill the itch of skill expression that is present in many TCG's. I should note however, that this game is not for everyone. Although the weight rating is low (ease of entry), the skill ceiling on this game is deceptively high. A couple of the people I have played this with have not necessarily found the same joy I have in discovering the ways cards interact and setting up large effects, and I think it is easy for a skilled player to dominate a game against someone who is learning for the first time.
Speaking of learning for the first time, the rules book does have some issues with it. Although the rules are relatively clear on how to play the basic game, several of the cards have interactions that have required me to refer to the forums in order to understand how they should be ruled. The designer, Michael Yang, can be found responding to a number of rules questions and assisting players on these forums. He has also stated that errata are going to be printed in future editions to help clear up these issues. In the meantime however, these can be a bit of a problem when first starting out in the game, but once you understand how a couple of cards are supposed to interact, it becomes smooth and easy to play.

Final thoughts
I highly recommend Compile to anyone seeking the TCG experience, without wanting to spend the excessive amounts of money on that hobby. In addition, I would recommend this game to anyone who loves building up a board state of effects and interactions that can trigger off of one another. I would avoid this game if you are seeking to play with more than 2 players, or you expect to consistently play it with new people/don't have a couple of friends who are also likely to enjoy the game and seek to play it as much as you do. I have docked a couple of rating points for the rules/card clarity issues. However, this game excels at what it sets out to achieve and I can't wait to pick up future expansions to supplement the 12 that come with the base game.

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