This game is a slight adaptation of the game Whitehall Mystery, in which Jack the Ripper goes on a killing spree in the city of London, while being chased by 3 investigators.
Data takes the place of the Ripper, and the three engineers take the place of the investigators.
An overview:
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Finding Data is a hidden movement game. 3 engineers must find where the hidden Data is, and make a successful bug report before he can get away.
At the start of the game, Data chooses 4 white circles he must visit to beat the game, and then chooses one to start at. He then moves between circles, traveling across as many dotted lines (Paths) and black squares (Crossings) as necessary to reach an adjacent circle. Data is on a timer, and must reach an unvisited chosen circle within 15 moves of reaching the last. Data must move every turn. If for any reason he cannot reach a chosen circle or make a move, he loses the game.
When Data starts his turn on an unvisited chosen tile, (such as at the start of the game) his 15 turn timer is reset as he invades a nearby home, murders the occupants, and uses their internet connection to make a devlog post. Understandably, this causes a very large commotion, and the engineers know whenever this murderous devlog post is made, and where it was sent from.
Engineers start the game on one of six highlighted crossings in the center of the game board. Every time Data moves one circle, the engineers are allowed to move two crossings. (circles do not count as crossings, and are freely moved over) After their move, engineers are allowed to either investigate or make a bug report.
When investigating, engineers can look at as many adjacent circles as they like, in a specified order. If they examine a circle that Data has passed through, that circle is marked and their turn ends.
If choosing to make a bug report, the engineer chooses a single tile to attempt to catch Data in and give him the bug report. If Data is in the specified circle, the engineers win the game.
other notes:
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Data cannot move through a crossing that is inhabited by an engineer.
Multiple engineers cannot occupy the same crossing.
Engineers can choose to not move, but Data must move every turn or he'll lose. It's like he's a shark.
Engineers can move over a circle that contains Data, and they will be none the wiser.
In the game, there are also 3 special abilities that Data has access to.
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One of which is called Alley, and allows data to move to any circle on the map, so long as he does not cross a dotted line Path, or a body of water.
Realistically, this means he can move within a "block", which is an area surrounded by black dotted lines.
Another ability is Boat, or for our purposes, Crab. This functions the same way as Alley, but it only works for bodies of water, allowing Data to move between blue circles on the map if he doesn't cross a black dotted line. The flotilla of crabs he rides between ports cannot cross bridges, after all.
The last ability is Coach, or for our purposes, Carjacking. Data briefly borrows a vehicle from its owner, allowing him to move 2 circles instead of 1, and allowing him to pass through crossings occupied by engineers.
Data can only use each of these abilities twice in a game, and he cannot use them to end his turn on one of his chosen home invasion circles.
