Interactive Game Companion

The Scaling
Wars

A competitive strategy board game where tech giants battle for dominance over the AI economy. Expand your network, gather resources, and outmaneuver rivals.

Play

Design goal

Philosophy

You cannot dominate everything. You have to choose where to invest, where to expand, and when to disrupt a rival. That tension is the heart of the AI race.

Strategic styles

Playstyles
Foundation model
Prioritize Talent + Compute + Capital. Race for Research Leadership. Contest every benchmark. Expensive but prestigious.
Applied AI
Prioritize expansion and flexible trading. Spread your network wide. Convert resources efficiently. Speed over depth.
Cloud / Infrastructure
Dominate Network Links and key production spots. Longest Network is your win condition. Lock others out of key intersections.
Disruption
Use Strategy Cards aggressively. Steal resources. Block rivals' production. Win through chaos and pressure, not expansion.

Components

What's in the box
19 hex tiles
5 terrain types + Regulatory Zone
Strategy card deck
25 cards, 6 types
Resource cards
~20 of each resource type
Player pieces
5 Hubs + 4 Campuses + 15 Links each
Special cards
Longest Network + Research Leadership
Disruption marker
1 token, starts on Regulatory Zone

Hex board

19 tiles · 3-4-5-4-3 layout

Click any hex to see what it produces. The board is shuffled each game — this shows one possible arrangement.

Click a hex to inspect it

Select a hex
Click any tile on the board above to see its resource type, production rules, and strategic value.

Hex types

Tile counts
4
Compute clusters
→ Compute
4
Data lakes
→ Data
4
Talent hubs
→ Talent
3
Chip fabs
→ Chips
3
Capital markets
→ Capital
1 Regulatory Zone
No number token. Starts with the Disruption marker. Produces nothing.

Resources

5 types

Everything in the game flows through these five resources. You collect them from adjacent hexes when their number is rolled.

⚡
Compute
Compute clusters
4 hexes · most common
◈
Data
Data lakes
4 hexes · most common
◎
Talent
Talent hubs
4 hexes · most common
■
Chips
Chip fabs
3 hexes · scarce
◆
Capital
Capital markets
3 hexes · scarce
Production rules
AI Hub adjacent to hex+1 card
Mega Campus adjacent to hex+2 cards
Disruption marker on hex0 cards
Bank trade rate (default)4:1

Strategic scarcity

Design note
Chips are scarce by design
Only 3 Chip Fab hexes exist vs 4 of everything else. Chips are required for Network Links — the primary expansion tool. Early board fights will cluster around chip-adjacent intersections. This mirrors the real NVIDIA/TSMC bottleneck.
Capital is the late-game fuel
Only 3 Capital Market hexes, but Capital appears in almost every high-tier cost (AI Hub, Mega Campus, Strategy Cards). Players who secure Capital early gain a compounding advantage in the mid-to-late game.

Building

4 structure types

Spend resources to build. Each structure has different placement rules and strategic value.

Network Link
replaces roads
1 Compute 1 Chips
Must connect to your existing network. One link per edge. Primary expansion tool — controls the board and enables Longest Network VP.
AI Hub
replaces settlements
1 Compute 1 Data 1 Talent 1 Capital
Placed at open intersections connected to your network. Distance rule: no adjacent Hubs/Campuses on neighboring intersections. Worth 1 VP.
Mega Campus
replaces cities
2 Talent 3 Capital
Upgrades an existing AI Hub — no new placement needed. Adjacent hexes now yield 2 resources instead of 1. Worth 2 VP. The primary scoring structure.
Strategy Card
replaces development cards
1 Data 1 Talent 1 Capital
Draw from the shuffled Strategy Card deck. May be played immediately or held. Cannot play a card on the same turn it was bought.

Building rules

Key constraints
Network LinksMust connect to your existing network. One per board edge.
AI HubsOpen intersection only. Must connect to one of your links. Distance rule applies.
Mega CampusesUpgrade existing Hub only. No new location needed.
Distance ruleNo Hub or Campus may be placed adjacent to another on neighboring intersections.

Turn structure

Each turn
1
Roll 2 dice

Every hex with that number produces. Players with adjacent AI Hubs collect 1 resource. Mega Campus adjacency yields 2. If you roll a 7, resolve Disruption instead.

2
Trade

Trade with other players at any mutually agreed rate. Or trade with the bank at 4:1. Trading and building can happen in any order during steps 2–3.

3
Build, buy, or play cards

Spend resources to build Network Links, AI Hubs, Mega Campuses, or buy Strategy Cards. Play any cards from hand (except ones bought this turn). Do as many as you can afford.

Rolling a 7 — Disruption
1.Any player holding more than 7 resource cards must discard half, rounded down.
2.The active player moves the Disruption marker to any hex. That hex stops producing until the marker moves again.
3.If one or more opponents have a Hub or Campus adjacent to the new hex, steal 1 random resource card from one of them.
chip shortage regulatory freeze outage layoff wave prompt injection product failure

Setup order

Before first turn
A
Arrange the board

Shuffle hexes and lay out in 3-4-5-4-3 pattern. Place Regulatory Zone (can be random or center). Place number tokens on all producing hexes.

B
First placement (clockwise)

Each player places 1 AI Hub + 1 connected Network Link.

C
Second placement (counter-clockwise)

Each player places 1 more AI Hub + 1 connected Network Link.

D
Starting resources

Each player collects resources from all hexes touching their second AI Hub.

Strategy cards

25 cards · 6 types

Buy for 1 Data + 1 Talent + 1 Capital. Cannot play on the same turn purchased. Held secretly until played.

Aggression
Breakthrough
Move the Disruption marker to any hex and steal 1 random resource card from an adjacent opponent.
×5 in deck
Income
Talent Surge
Immediately gain 2 Talent resource cards from the bank.
×5 in deck
Income
Capital Injection
Immediately gain 2 Capital resource cards from the bank.
×4 in deck
Prestige
Patent Advantage
Counts toward Research Leadership. First player to play 3 of these gains the Research Leadership card (2 VP). Can be taken by any player who plays more.
×5 in deck
Expansion
Market Expansion
Build 2 Network Links for free. Links must still follow all normal placement rules.
×3 in deck
Hidden VP
Hidden Influence
Worth 1 Victory Point. Keep this card secret until the game ends or you win. Do not reveal until forced.
×3 in deck

Special awards

Claimable by any player
Longest Network
First player to build a connected chain of at least 5 Network Links claims this card for 2 VP. If another player builds a longer chain, they take it. The card moves; the VPs move with it.
Research Leadership
Gained by the first player to play 3 Patent Advantage cards, worth 2 VP. Can be taken by a player who has played more. Watching the Patent count is essential mid-game.

Player archetypes

Optional · 4 factions

Assign one to each player before setup. These passive bonuses push different strategic styles without breaking the base game balance. Recommended for your second and third playtest, not the first.

Frontier Lab
Foundation model · Research-first
Passive: The first Strategy Card you buy each game costs 1 less Capital.

Pushes the Research Leadership path. Combined with Patent Advantage cards, can lock down the 2 VP award early and force rivals to play catch-up.
Cloud Giant
Infrastructure · Network-first
Passive: The first Network Link you build each turn costs 1 less Chips.

Chips are the scarcest resource, so this compounds significantly over a long game. Natural path to Longest Network VP. Very strong if Chip Fabs cluster on one side of the board.
Consumer Platform
Applied AI · Trade-first
Passive: Once per turn, when you trade resources with another player, gain 1 extra Capital.

Incentivizes active trading diplomacy. Becomes stronger when the board gets congested and players need to trade to unblock. Pairs with a flexible, spread-out expansion style.
Enterprise Titan
Capital-heavy · Upgrade-first
Passive: When upgrading an AI Hub to a Mega Campus, pay 2 Capital + 2 Talent instead of the full 3 Capital + 2 Talent.

Accelerates the upgrade path and compounds fast. Best paired with strong Capital Market positions in setup. Rush 3–4 Mega Campuses before others can contest them.

Victory points

First to 10 VP wins
Each AI Hub1 VP
Each Mega Campus2 VP
Longest Network card (5+ links)2 VP
Research Leadership card (3 Patents)2 VP
Each Hidden Influence card1 VP
10
Victory Points on your turn = you win the AI Race

Sample win paths

Routes to 10 VP
Expansion route
5 AI Hubs5 VP
Longest Network2 VP
Research Leadership2 VP
1 Hidden Influence1 VP
Upgrade route
2 AI Hubs2 VP
3 Mega Campuses6 VP
Research Leadership2 VP
Balanced route
3 AI Hubs3 VP
2 Mega Campuses4 VP
Longest Network2 VP
1 Hidden Influence1 VP
Influence route
4 AI Hubs4 VP
1 Mega Campus2 VP
Research Leadership2 VP
2 Hidden Influence2 VP

Dice roller

For playtesting

Use this during your paper prototype sessions when you don't have physical dice handy.

–
–
Roll to begin

Probability table

2d6 outcomes
2·
2.8%
3··
5.6%
4···
8.3%
5····
11.1%
6·····
13.9%
7 ······
16.7%
8·····
13.9%
9····
11.1%
10···
8.3%
11··
5.6%
12·
2.8%
7 is the most likely outcome (1 in 6 rolls). A disruption occurs roughly every 6 turns on average.