199X: SHUTDOWN

Better living through artificial intelligence… a dream for the future turned into an all-too-real nightmare with the shutdown of NextGen’s new arcology on its opening weekend. Intended to house 253,000 souls in an enclosed corporate city, it’s now instead become the playground of a newborn digital god: HELIX. Two weeks in, your impromptu crew might be the only people left with a hope of escape – but those who dare to delve deep into the Helix Spire may find impossible horrors and wonders alike waiting for them.

This is a future where megabytes are precious and lives are cheap.

199X: SHUTDOWN is a retro-throwback cyberpunk microgame using Jason Tocci's 24XX system. You play as troubleshooters trapped within the Helix Spire Arcology, fighting to survive the whims of a mad AI with your cybernetic Hardware, hacking Software, and human wits. For those who brave the bloody depths of synthetic horror, Wonders crafted by HELIX's own silicon mind await - powerful and valuable.

199X: SHUTDOWN a fully-functional standalone game, but is meant to also function as part of a larger cyberpunk toolkit alongside 199X: COMPLEX and 199X: INFEST; refer to those games if you want additional player options and further setting information.

Cover design and layout by Minerva McJanda. Base cover image credit to Viktor Jakovlev.