Number of Players: 1-5
Playing Time: 60 Minutes
Recommended Ages: 14+
This expansion introduces a game variant: the cop negotiation. In addition to their missions, the Heroes must also resolve tasks given during the game by Hauk, if they want to get the president pardon at the end. The Heroes may decide to help the cops or still betray them, resolving their secret objectives. But beware: if they want to escape alone, they must also look for an explosive extractor to remove the deadly charge from their neck!
It adds a command board, on which Bob Hawk is placed. The board is divided in 3 sections, related to the Cop action that we are about to see in more detail. Near the board some Task cards will be placed and revealed. These cards are the analogies of New York’s missions, but for the Heroes this time: they allow the Heroes to get Rewards cards by completing tasks.
At the beginning of the game, one of the case which contains a bridge diagram is removed; therefore, the cases will only contain the tape, the president’s bracelet, one bridge diagram and a new addition: The tracer, the device that Snake used to be tracked by cops if needed. With this bracelet, the owner will be able to use the helicopter to escape with the tape and the president - therefore ignoring the bridge diagram requirement.
The bridge whose diagram was removed is revealed and the adjacent tile is also immediately revealed, at the start of the game. This tile will be important, and we’ll explain why in a moment.
Each player begins the game with one card more, that allows them to complete a revealed task card, provided the requirements are met, or to activate the cop’s action each turn. With this action, the player will resolve effects on the Command board: to be precise, they will solve all the effects on the section in which Bob Hawk is currently placed, plus all the effects on the sections above him. During the game, Bob Hawk will move from section 1 to 3, so that the Cop action will become stronger over time.
In this expansion, the police promised the characters a presidential pardon, but there’s not enough pardons for everyone. At the beginning of the game, one of 4 cards is randomly chosen. This card determines the minimum amount of reward points globally required for players to be pardoned by the police once the president has been consigned (this requires the collective victory).
The aforementioned card stays face down during the game, and it will be revealed only when approaching the endgame, when ⅔ of the task cards have been resolved to be precise.
So, if a player wants to win by saving the president, they also need reward points, otherwise they won’t get the pardon and they will still lose the game.
What if you don’t have enough reward points?
Well, the amount of required points is revealed just before the last third of the tasks are revealed, and those are the ones that provide more points. So, you may focus on resolving the last tasks. Or, you may try and get the lone victory, but in this expansion this is also more complex than in the core game. In addition to leveling up and meeting their objectives, players will also need to retrieve the charge extraction, hidden in the item deck. Since the characters can’t get the X rays treatment, they will have to remove the charges by themselves when they escape alone…
This is not a stand-alone game. A copy of Escape from New York is required to play.
