Submachine is a competitive card game. Gameplay consists of building a maze of rooms with other players. The goal is to be the first to play all cards from your hand.
It's based on the video game series of the same name. This puzzle and adventure series, created over a 10-year span from 2005 to 2015 has captivated the imagination of millions of players. It was brought to the big leagues with a complete remaster released on Steam in 2023.
One of the players takes on the role of the dealer. The deck is shuffled and each player gets dealt 9 cards.
The first player after the dealer places one room card on the table. This card initiates the rooms grid shared by all players. If the first player doesn't have a room card - the next player with a room card starts the grid.
Players take turns to place their room cards from hand to the table, assembling a grid of rooms one by one. They also use functional cards to manipulate the rooms grid, block or open passages, create new passages, or even block target players.
The game ends when one of the players wins by placing last card from their hand.
—description from the designer