The LOOP

To set up the game, place the Time-Space Board in the center of the table, consisting of seven Epoch sectors. Place Dr. Faux's Machine in the center of the board. Shuffle the Diversion Tiles and place seven of them face-down next to the seven Epochs, returning the rest to the box. Place three Vortex Tiles, the Energy Cubes, Rift Cubes, and a bag of Clone Tokens nearby. Place the HQ Board next to the Time-Space Board. Shuffle the seven Dr. Faux's Cards and place them in the first cycle slot on the HQ Board. Remove starting Artifact Cards (marked with an Agent symbol) from the Artifact Deck, shuffle the remaining cards, and place them on the HQ Board. Choose a game mode and difficulty from the rulebook, such as 'Diversion' on 'Employee of the Month' difficulty. Find the corresponding screen card and place it on the HQ Board. Reveal two Dr. Faux's Cards, placing one Rift Cube in each indicated Epoch and flipping the corresponding Diversion Tile face-up. Place one Energy Cube in each of the five other Epochs. Shuffle the revealed Dr. Faux's Cards back into their deck. Place a number of Clone Tokens from the bag into the indicated Epochs based on the number of players. Each player chooses an Agent, taking their Agent Tile, Figure, and six starting Artifact Cards. Place each Agent's figure in their starting Epoch as indicated on their Agent Tile. Each player shuffles their Artifact Cards and draws three, placing them face-up in front of them. Finally, choose the first player.

The primary objective of the game is for all players to collectively defeat Dr. Faux by successfully completing four Diversion Missions. This must be achieved before Dr. Faux's nefarious plans come to fruition, which means preventing a second Vortex Tile from being placed in the same Epoch, avoiding having four Vortex Tiles on the board simultaneously, and ensuring Dr. Faux does not complete his third cycle of actions. Players win or lose as a team, emphasizing cooperative strategy and coordination.

Each player's turn is structured into five sequential phases. First, Dr. Faux's Phase involves drawing Dr. Faux's Cards to determine where new Clones are added to the board and how Dr. Faux's Machine moves, potentially creating Rifts. Second, the Action Phase allows the active player to perform various actions such as moving their Agent, playing prepared Artifact Cards to trigger their effects, or 'creating loops' to prepare more Artifact Cards. Third, the Card Addition Phase lets the player draw one new Artifact Card from the available pool. Fourth, the Archiving Phase is where players can complete Diversion Missions by meeting their specific requirements, removing Rifts, and gaining small bonuses. Finally, the End of Turn Phase involves resetting the Agent Tile to its full charge side and discarding any remaining cards from hand, then drawing new cards up to three, reshuffling their discard pile if necessary.

The game of The LOOP is a fully cooperative experience, meaning there is no individual scoring. All players work together against the game's mechanics, specifically Dr. Faux. Success or failure is shared among the entire team. The goal is to collectively achieve the victory conditions, and if any loss condition is met, all players lose together.

The game concludes in one of two ways: either the players achieve a collective victory or they suffer a collective defeat. Victory is secured if all Agents successfully archive four Diversion Tiles by fulfilling their stated conditions. Defeat occurs if a second Vortex Tile needs to be placed in an Epoch that already contains one, if four Vortex Tiles are present on the Time-Space Board simultaneously, or if Dr. Faux completes his third cycle by exhausting his deck of Dr. Faux's Cards for the third time.