In Too Deep

From Burnt Island Games:

New Dawn City has long struggled to live up to its promise. Founded with the hope of being a haven of peace, prosperity, and equality, those ideals have long been abandoned. Corrupt leadership and a powerful criminal Syndicate have stripped away everything NDC was supposed to stand for. However there is hope. If irrefutable evidence of their Syndicate’s plot to take over the city is brought before the courts, they can be taken down once and for all.

As an elite agent in a secretive wing of the NDC police department, you’ve just been recruited for the most important mission of your career. You’ll have to risk everything, going undercover to foil the Syndicate, but the more you embrace the criminal lifestyle, the bigger the toll will be on you.

In Too Deep is a unique narrative that thrusts you into the future in a tense, strategic board game for 1-4 players. Draft characters and spend actions to complete objectives and collect sets. What side of the law will you end up on?

During a game of In Too Deep, you play an undercover agent taking control of the criminals in the city. By hooking into their minds, you can go along on crimes with them and even control their actions. The more jobs you complete, the more evidence you collect and file against the Syndicate.

In Too Deep is played over three chapters. There is a Syndicate plot you attempt to foil each chapter. Working with the group to defeat that plot can earn you rewards, but fail to contribute, and you may be punished.

These missions are depicted on Side Crime and Story Crime cards. To complete one, you must meet the requirements of the card exactly. Side Crimes can be completed at any time during your turn when the conditions are met, but Story Crimes are completed at the end of your turn. Story Crimes advance a particular narrative in the game. They must be completed in order. So before you can Mine the Route in the Prison Break storyline, you must first Infiltrate the Prison Staff. 

When completing a Story Crime card, you will always be faced with a moral quandary. One path offers more immediate rewards, but at a higher cost to your conscience. Taking the other path yields less benefits immediately, but can give you more control at the end of the game. Either way you choose, you receive rewards of Intel points, Evidence, and Dilemma cards. The last thing you resolve on a Story Crime card is Filing. You will be able to contribute Evidence towards either the Chapter Plot or the Final Plot. There are benefits to both, so you'll have to decide the right path for your investigation.

There is no single right path to victory, but you’ll have to walk a line between doing everything necessary to take down the Syndicate and betraying everything you stand for in the proce.