I have always been drawn to small box games. I admire the craft it takes to distill a project down to its essence and truly make it shine. The constriction of a reduced box size seems to bring out the best in some designers. I have played some truly wonderful games that I can hold in one hand.
As a huge fan of Netrunner, the asymmetric CCG designed by Richard Garfield and later picked up by Fantasy Flight Games then Null Signal Games, I was drawn towards the small box of Compile. Designed by Michael Yang, with art from Keegan Moore, Nolan Nasser, and Allen Panakal its a game that has found its way into my convention bag. I’ve been playing a fair amount of it over the last little while, especially over my trip to Airecon.
The time felt right to review the game, though I admit I have not plumbed every possible combination. This review is going to look at both the original game and Main 2, the second core set. I also own the two auxiliary packs for both boxes, but they are not really worth talking about separately. Although Main 2 is a slightly trickier set of cards it is very similar to the core set and you could easily start your journey with this game by buying Main 2.
Although the game is thematically about competing AIs, nothing about Compile feels like slop. It is a finely tuned production with heavy duty cards (I think they are plastic). The art is evocative and psychadelic that looks like it could have been created by one of those music visualisers from the 90s.
You realise the liminal space that this game occupies right from the off. As you draft 3 protocols to form your deck you cast your eyes over the options of Love, Death, Fire, Apathy, Light, Metal, Time, Unity, and many more besides. These are evocative words that conjure emotions, and more importantly provides you with some cards. Each choice gives you 6 cards towards your deck, giving you 18 in total. These protocols are then lined up against your opponent’s and the two AIs go to war.
To win this battle you must Compile your 3 protocols. You can only do that at the start of your turn if you have at least 10 value on your side of the lane, and more than your opponent. When you achieve this, it discards all the cards in that lane. This happens on both sides of the field, effectively resetting that part of the board. Although that makes Compile a lane battler at its heart, the soul of the game is in the multiple ways you can use its cards.
Each card in Compile has 3 possible powers. It can do something when it is played, and they may only be played into the lane containing the protocol they relate to. It may also have an ongoing power. Many have a secondary ongoing power that is only active if the card isn’t covered. You see when you play cards into lanes each one after the first covers the previous card played.
This means the order of play becomes vitally important in getting the most out of your cards. Especially considering you can only play cards to the lane of the protocol they belong to. At least face-up. Another wrinkle. It is a wrinkly kind of game.
Of course the actual core of each card is the value it can contribute to your lane. That will range from 0-6 on most cards, but you can always rely on every card giving you a couple of points. You just have to play it face-down.
This unlocks some amazing plays and combos. Face down cards don’t have a protocol affiliation and can be played in any lane. When you flip them face up through the use of a power, they then stay in the lane they were in. Now you can play cards in lanes they don’t belong to. On top of that when you flip them over, the ‘when played’ effect triggers. You can flip cards multiple times over the course of a game triggering their power every time they land face-up.
Now we have the core of this laid out: battling over each lane, agonising over the order of play, but we aren’t done with the wrinkles. Oh no. We are going a bit mechanical here, more so than I usually do, but for Compile the mechanisms are the soul of the game. Engaging with and manipulating them is why you want to play this.
Most games of this type you would have some sort of card draw built into the cycle of a round. Compile doesn’t have such considerations. It leaves that up to the player to choose either to play or to Refresh, drawing cards up to their hand size. The Refresh doesn’t just give you new cards though, this is Compile and every moment you have to decide something is a fork in the road.
Every turn you check if you have Control: you have more value on your side of the field in two lanes. If you do you get to take the Control component. When you Compile or Refresh you relinquish Control but your reward for doing so is that you can rearrange the Protocols on either side of the battlefield.
Compile is one of those games that presents you with a toolbox but doesn’t fully reveal what anything in that box is for. You pull out a tool, see if it fits, combine them, and see what dastardly devices you can build. Building up in one lane might get you somewhere, but then your opponent swaps protocols on you changing your plans. Play a card, flip it over, fire its powers, combo it with other powers, flip it face down again. Repeat. Get some face-up cards with ongoing abilities. Powers fire off like a meteor storm, impacting the battlefield in spectacular ways. Seek the holes in your opponents defences. Go for the kill.
Every game of Compile is a thrilling battle with scope for big plays, cunning combos, and sly strategy. The possibilities of deck construction are almost limitless. Each time you draft the Protocols you are guided by the top level phrases on each one like ‘Discard for Effect’ on Fire, or ‘Flip Face-Down’ on Apathy. This allows you to put decks together with complimentary effects, or double-down on one course of action.
One final wrinkle, I told you it was wrinkly. When you draft these Protocols you line them up in the order you take them, giving you yet another angle to strategise over. I’ve definitely found some sets can counter others. When they go up directly against each other in a race to the highest value, every edge you can muster matters.
I said at the beginning that this was a review of both the original set, and Main 2. Honestly I haven’t found a huge difference between the sets. Main 2 is a little more ambitious with its powers, but either set would do you well as a starting point. The two mini expansions, Aux 1 and Aux 2, are basically extensions of each of those sets, providing some tweaks on the mechanisms each set has at its core. Honestly the main reason for having them separate is probably to do with production costs for the Main sets.
I’ve been playing Compile a lot lately as I find it to be a perfect 2-player game. The compact box and quality of the cards means it can be played anywhere. It is quick to explain, but tricky to get your head around. All the games I’ve played have had satisfying moves by both players, even if they didn’t lead to victory. It’s a game of difficult choices, cool combos, and tense battles. You’ll find a lot of game when you unzip this box.
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