Compile: Main 1

Before the game begins, players will draft protocol cards. Each player selects 3 protocol cards to be their personal protocols, which are placed face-up in front of them. The remaining drafted protocol cards are shuffled together to form a shared draw pile. Each player then draws 5 cards from this draw pile to form their starting hand.

The primary objective of the game is to be the first player to successfully 'compile' all 3 of your personal protocol cards. Compiling a protocol involves meeting specific conditions related to the cards played in its column.

During a player's turn, they have two main options for their action phase: either play a card from their hand onto one of the protocol columns, or draw cards from the shared draw pile until their hand contains 5 cards. Cards can be played face-up into a matching protocol column, or face-down into any column, where they count as 2 points but have no special effects.

A protocol can be compiled if the sum of the values of all cards in its column (both face-up and face-down) is 10 or more, and the current player has a higher total value in that column than their opponent. When a protocol is compiled, all cards in that column are discarded, and the protocol card is flipped to its 'compiled' side. If a protocol was already compiled and is compiled again, instead of flipping it, the player takes the top card from the opponent's draw pile and adds it to their hand.

The game concludes immediately when a player successfully compiles their third personal protocol. That player is declared the winner. This means players must strategically manage their card plays across their protocols to achieve this goal before their opponent.