DEAL
Take your hand of instruction cards. Damage reduces your choices.
PLANT 7 · DECOMMISSIONED 2049 · STILL RUNNING
INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION DIVISION
CLANKER
CALAMITY
INSTRUCTION MANUAL
Programmed movement · 2–8 units · Rally / Deathmatch
NOTICE: Read this manual before operating any Clanker on an active factory floor. Plant 7 assumes no responsibility for failure to read this manual, reading this manual, or being able to read after entering Plant 7.
FORM CC-7 / PLAYER OPERATIONS / REV. PROTOTYPE
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
NOTICE TO ALL UNITS
- Accept five instructions per shift. The link will not carry more.
- Commit the program before Plant 7 begins execution.
- Punch numbered clocks in order.
- Assume all machinery is active until proven otherwise.
- Do not confuse an avoidable hazard with an optional route.
- There has been no supervisor on site since 2049. Report hazards anyway.
⚠
THE PLANT IS THE OTHER PLAYER
Belts move. Rams fire. Turntables turn. Crushers descend. The schedule does not care what you intended to do next.
CONTENTS
PLAYER OPERATING MANUAL
QUICK STARTGet onto the floor in sixty seconds04
1 · THE SHIFTProgram, commit, execute, survive06
2 · THE DECKThe 112 instruction cards10
3 · YOUR UNITFacing, shoving, inspection laser14
4 · THE PLANTEvery machine on the floor18
5 · DAMAGEDents, jams, scrapping, rebooting34
6 · OTHER UNITSHumans, seats and reconnection38
7 · AI PERSONALITIESKnow the machine you invited40
8 · CONTROLSActions, not fixed buttons44
9 · GAME SCREENWhat all that machinery on your screen means46
10 · BUILD A ROUTEAdvanced plant operations48
FACTORY REGULATIONSWhen two rules meet54
QUICK REFERENCEPlant order and field notes60
WELCOME TO PLANT 7
Plant 7 was decommissioned in 2049.
NOBODY TOLD PLANT 7.
The machinery still operates on schedule. The payroll system still recognizes completion. The Clankers are still trying to clock in at every station on their route.
YOUR JOB: Punch the numbered Punch Clocks in order. Punch the last one and the route is yours.
QUICK START
ONE SHIFT IN FIVE STEPS
You do not steer a Clanker continuously. You write five instructions, commit them, and watch the factory explain why your plan was wrong.
PROGRAM
Load five cards into slots 1–5. This is the whole plan.
COMMIT
Lock it in. Once execution begins, there is no changing it.
EXECUTE
Everyone runs slot 1, then slot 2, through slot 5. Lower priority numbers act first.
PLANT
After every slot, the factory moves and fires. Then clocks stamp. At clock-out, repairs and reboots resolve.
FAST BELTS→BELTS + TELEPORTERS→RAMS→TURNTABLES→CRUSHERS→LASERS / BURNERS / WIRES→UNIT LASERS→CLOCKS
LOW IS FAST. Priority reads like a lap time: the smaller number gets there first.
1 · THE SHIFT
PLANT OPERATIONSPROGRAM FIRST.
PROGRAM FIRST.
REGRET LATER.
NO
CANCEL
BUTTON
CANCEL
BUTTON
RALLY
Punch the numbered Punch Clocks in order. Only the clock you need next is lit for you. You punch it by being on the checkpoint when the slot ends, after the plant has finished acting.
A Rally reaching the 300-shift limit without a finish is a draw.
DEATHMATCH
No clocks. The last player with a unit left wins. Shoving a unit into an immovable barrier deals a Dent, the host chooses 1–8 chassis per player, and scrapped units return at the quietest start.
At the shift limit, best condition wins; exact ties are shared.
U1→1→2→3RALLY: THE CLOCKS ARE THE COURSE
2 · THE DECK
112 INSTRUCTIONS. FIVE BAD IDEAS AT A TIME.
The deck is shared, reshuffled every shift, and every card has a unique priority from 10 to 1120. Lower resolves first.
MOVE:39 cards · 10–90
MOVE:216 cards · 100–250
MOVE:121 cards · 260–460
SLIDE:LEFT6 cards · even 480–580
SLIDE:RIGHT6 cards · odd 470–570
BACK:16 cards · 590–640
ROTATE:LEFT18 cards · even 660–1000
ROTATE:RIGHT18 cards · odd 650–990
ROTATE:180°6 cards · 1010–1060
HOLD—6 cards · 1070–1120
SLIDES
Move one tile left or right relative to your facing. Facing does not change.
HOLD
Do nothing. Because it resolves late, it also makes you an excellent target for everybody else.
FACING MATTERS
Moves, slides and your inspection laser are all relative to where your Clanker is pointing.
3 · YOUR UNIT
ONE TILE. ONE FACING. MANY PROBLEMS.
N
E
S
W
UNIT
03
03
SHOVING
Move into an occupied tile and you shove that unit one tile in your direction. Shoves chain. A wall anywhere in the chain stops everybody.
FACING
Being shoved never turns you. Your remaining program continues from the new position, still facing the old way.
INSPECTION LASER
Every unit fires forward automatically once per step, after movement is finished. One Dent to the first unit hit.
4 · THE PLANT
PLANT KEY
A tile is one square of floor. Every machine below occupies or controls one. Nothing on the factory floor is random: the machinery tells you what it is going to do. Whether you notice is a separate matter.
Builder-only objects are listed for completeness but are not part of normal match play.
5 · DAMAGE, SCRAPPING & COMING BACK
DAMAGE TAKES AWAY YOUR OPTIONS
0Fresh
1Free
2Free
38 cards
47 cards
5Slot 5 jams
6Slot 4 jams
7Slot 3 jams
8Slot 2 jams
9All 5 jam
10SCRAPPED
JAMMED REGISTERS
Starting at 5 Dents, registers jam from slot 5 downward. A jammed slot keeps the card already in it across shifts. At 9 Dents, all five are jammed and you are dealt no cards.
SCRAPPING
At 10 Dents the chassis is scrapped for the rest of the shift. At clock-out, a replacement returns with zero Dents.
REST & REPAIR
Book a Rest and you skip the entire shift: no program, no shooting and no checkpoints. One Dent repairs at the start of each slot, up to five.
REST IS NOT A SHIELD. You may still be shoved, carried and shot while repairs are happening.
6 · PLAYING WITH OTHER PEOPLE
TWO TO EIGHT UNITS. EMPTY SEATS ARE STILL OCCUPIED.
SEATS
The host chooses the number of units up to the route's available Starting Points. Empty seats are filled by AI immediately.
REJOINING
Your seat belongs to you. If you disconnect, AI keeps the unit moving; return and you resume at the next programming phase.
ARRIVING LATE
After the first shift is dealt, new arrivals go to the bench. The host can hand them an AI-driven unit.
UNIT 2 AI · 31ms
UNIT 3 AI · 28ms
UNIT 4 AI · 33ms
UNIT 5 AI · 30ms
UNIT 6 AI · 29ms
UNIT 7 AI · 32ms
UNIT 8 AI · 31ms
7 · AI PERSONALITIES
THE HOST CHOOSES A CHARACTER, NOT A DIFFICULTY.
The personalities are the difficulty curve. They differ in what they want and how hard they search for it.
Knows the hazards, knows a safe route exists, and generally takes it.
Commits hard to plans that were reasonable when programmed and catastrophic by execution.
Prices danger, then takes the line anyway when the shortcut is worth it.
Knows the path and largely refuses to respect the hazards on it.
Balances healing and dangerous routes with far more confidence than is healthy.
A battlebot that wandered into a Rally. Scrapping another unit may matter more than the clocks.
Opportunistic and aware of the whole floor. It can read programs already committed by other players.
A hunter crossed with the Supercomputer. It wants to scrap you, and it can see your committed program.
8 · CONTROLS
ACTION IS NOT A BUTTON
Controls are bindable. This manual names the action you want rather than pretending everybody's A button means the same thing.
ON A MENUMove through list · Change setting · Choose · Go back · Scroll page
ON THE FLOORPan · Zoom · Swing view · Turn view · Centre on unit · Cycle unit
PROGRAMMINGPick up / put down card · Fill slot · Clear slot · Commit · Rest & Repair
REFERENCEManual · Plant Key · Settings · Top-down view · Playback speed
YOUR MACHINE IS THE AUTHORITY. SETTINGS → CONTROLS shows the bindings actually assigned to you.
9 · THE GAME SCREEN
YOUR INSTRUMENT PANEL
This spread now uses the extracted prototype UI directly. Think of the screen as four jobs running at once: follow the floor, track the shift, watch the roster, and program your unit without panicking.
1 · OTHER UNITSShows every rival still on the floor, their color, clocks punched, and current standing.
2 · SHIFT PLATERoute title, current shift number, current phase, and the countdown timer.
3 · FACTORY VIEWThe active board. Hazards, walls, lifts, beams, and objectives all continue to matter while the UI is open.
4 · YOUR UNITPortrait, Lives, Dent track, and punched Clocks all live on the left side of the lower console.
5 · PROGRAMMING CONSOLEYour hand arches over the five Program Registers. Build a sequence, then lock it in.
6 · INCIDENT LOGExplains what just happened and gives quick feedback during planning and execution.
OTHER UNITS
- Unit color makes each rival easy to spot on the floor.
- Robot count shows remaining Lives.
- Clock count shows rally progress at a glance.
- Signal bars help sell that these are active units, whether AI or player-controlled.
SHIFT PLATE
- Route name stays front and center.
- SHIFT 001 identifies the current round.
- PROGRAMMING calls out the current phase.
- 25 is the countdown, using the big arcade readout treatment.
PLAYER CONSOLE
LEFT PLATE
Your pilot plate holds the portrait, Lives, Dent track, and punched Clocks. This is your condition report.
CARD HAND
The drawn action cards arc across the top edge so you can read the whole hand before filling registers.
PROGRAM REGISTERS
Five large slots keep the sequence obvious. Empty slots are unmistakable, and filled slots read left to right.
COMMIT CAGE
The flip-cover red button is perfect for the manual. It makes locking in your program feel deliberate and dangerous.
EXECUTION SPEED
Replay and simulation pacing live above the log so spectators and players can speed up or slow down the chaos.
INCIDENT LOG
The log is your witness statement. If something unexpected happened, this is where players check the sequence.
THE FACTORY FLOOR IS STILL THE STAR
The HUD frames the board rather than covering it. Belts, hazards, walls, lasers, objectives, teleporter pads, and unit positions remain readable so the player can plan around the real factory state instead of a simplified abstract diagram.
MANUAL CALL-OUT: The prototype already sells the tone. The yellow-black hazard trim, bolted steel panels, and caged commit button all feel like late-90s console manual art translated into a live UI.
10 · ADVANCED OPERATIONS
BUILD A ROUTE
ONE SQUARE AT A TIME
The Route Builder works at tile level: place the piece, rotate it, configure its properties, change storeys, save, open and test the actual 3D floor.
Tile means one playable square. Route means the complete floor. The builder can use stamps/sections as authoring aids, but the player ultimately plays one continuous route.
ROUTE SOURCES
LOCALWORKSHOPSTOCK
Local routes are yours. Workshop routes are Steam-managed subscriptions. Stock routes ship with the game. Opening a Workshop or Stock route for editing creates your own working copy rather than changing the source.
DUMMY UNIT · BUILDER ONLY
Drop a temporary unit onto the floor to test laser blocking, crushers, lifts and other machinery. It is not saved into the route and never appears as a gameplay tile.
FACTORY REGULATIONS
ONE SLOT. ONE PLANT REACTION.
The easiest way to understand the Plant is to stop looking for chain reactions. Your card runs first. When the slot ends, the Plant reacts. If that reaction puts you onto another machine, the new machine waits for the end of the next slot.
1YOUR CARDMove, rotate, slide, hold.
→
2PLANT REACTSThe machine you are on does its job.
→
3NEXT SLOTAnything you were delivered onto can act now.
NO CASCADING PLANT MOVEMENT. A Plant action can change where you end the slot, but it does not immediately trigger the machine you just landed on. That machine gets its chance after the next card has run.
EXAMPLE 01
BELT → TELEPORTER
→
The belt carries you onto the Teleporter at the end of this slot. You stay there. The Teleporter cycles you at the end of the next slot.
EXAMPLE 02
RAM → TELEPORTER
→The Ram shoves you onto the Teleporter. Same rule: no second Plant action this slot. The Teleporter waits until the next slot ends.
EXAMPLE 03
BELT → TURNTABLE
→
The belt can leave you standing on a Turntable, but it does not spin you immediately. The Turntable acts at the end of the next slot.
EXAMPLE 04
PLATE → GATE
→
A Pressure Plate is evaluated at the end of the slot. Its Gate change is therefore something you plan around for the next slot, not the movement that just finished.
REMEMBER IT THIS WAY:
CARD → PLANT → CARD → PLANT
The Plant never gets two turns because its first turn moved you somewhere interesting.QUICK REFERENCE
KEEP THIS PAGE BESIDE THE FACTORY
PROGRAM
Deal → load five → commit → slots 1–5 → clock-out.
PRIORITY
LOWER NUMBER RESOLVES FIRST.
RALLY
Punch numbered clocks in order. Only the next valid clock counts.
DEATHMATCH
No clocks. Last player with a unit left wins.
DAMAGE
First two Dents are free. Jams begin at 5. All slots jam at 9. Scrap at 10.
REST
Skip the shift. Repair 1 Dent at the start of each slot, max 5.
RUN CARD→PLANT REACTS→NEXT SLOT→RUN CARD→PLANT REACTS
Plant movement does not cascade. If a Plant action moves you onto another machine, that machine waits for the next slot.
PLANT 7 THANKS YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SERVICE.
Plant 7 is not authorized to terminate your continued service.
Plant 7 is not authorized to terminate your continued service.
CLANKER CALAMITY · PLAYER MANUAL PROTOTYPE · CONTENT SUBJECT TO CHANGE