Compile: Main 1

How to play Compile: Main 1 — the basic idea

Both players begin with three uncompiled Protocols. Each one occupies a separate line on the table, with an opposing Protocol directly across it. By playing Command cards into your side of those lines you create value and use card effects to change the state of play. A line can be compiled only when you meet the threshold and lead your opponent in that same line.

When you compile, cards from both sides of that line are deleted to the respective players’ trash piles, and you turn your Protocol to its Compiled side. Your opponent’s matching Protocol does not also compile. The first player to have all three of their own Protocols compiled wins the game.

This is not a points-based game where the highest overall card value wins. Your goal is to win the individual three-line race. An opponent may have more total value across the table but still be behind because you have compiled two lines and are poised to finish the third.

Setup: draft three Protocols and build 18-card decks

Compile: Main 1 has 12 Protocol sets. Each set consists of a Protocol card and six matching Command cards. Arrange the Protocols where both players can see them. The official rules use a 1–2–2–1 snake draft:

1. The first player takes one Protocol.
2. The second player chooses two.
3. The first player takes two more.
4. The second player chooses the final one.

The rules specify that the youngest player drafts first and therefore plays first; if you choose a different starting player by agreement, keep the same snake-draft structure for balance. Each player now has exactly three Protocols.

Take the six Command cards associated with each of your three selections, mix those 18 cards into a personal draw deck, and draw five cards to start. Arrange your Protocols from left to right in the order drafted, with their Loading… sides facing up. The two facing Protocols form one line, so there are three contested lines across the middle of the table.

Place your remaining deck and an empty trash area to the side. The game includes a Control component, but its rule is optional for a first play. Leave it unused until you understand basic card actions and the Compile check.

Turn structure: Start, Check Compile, Action, End

On your turn, first resolve applicable Start effects from cards on your side. In games using the optional Control rule, you then check whether you have higher total value in at least two lines; doing so gives you the Control component.

Next comes the decisive step: Check Compile. If you qualify in a line, you must compile it, and doing so is your only action that turn. After that, the normal action step would be to play one card or refresh your hand, so you skip that choice when you compile.

If you are not compiling, choose one normal action: play a card or refresh. Then check your hand size; if you have more than five cards, discard down to five to clear your cache. Finally, resolve applicable End effects from your side.

The separate Check Compile step matters. Merely reaching 10 during your Play action does not instantly flip a Protocol: the line must still meet the requirements when its Compile check arrives on a later turn.

Compile rules: 10 value AND more than your opponent

You compile a line only if your value in that line is at least 10 and strictly greater than the opponent’s value there when you reach the Check Compile step. Ten is not enough on its own, and matching the opposing number is not enough either.

Worked example: Suppose one of your lines totals 11 and the opposing side totals 9. At your next Check Compile step, assuming no effect changed those values first, you meet both conditions and must compile that line. If you have 11 against 11, the line remains unresolved because you do not lead. If you have 9 against 6, you lead but have not reached the minimum value.

Compiling deletes all Command cards in the line from both players’ sides, placing them in their respective trash piles. Flip only your Protocol to Compiled. You may compile only one line per turn, even if two separate lines already qualify. The first player to have all three Protocols on their Compiled sides wins immediately.

Key clarification: this threshold is a start-of-turn check in the game’s sequence, not a general end-of-turn scoring phase. Cards played during a turn can set up a Compile, but opponents may still get a turn to disrupt the line before that Compile check.

How Command cards work: face-up and face-down play

When you use the Play action, take one card from hand and put it into a line on your side of the field. You may play it face up only into a line matching the card’s Protocol indicator, unless a particular card’s effect permits an exception.

Alternatively, you can play a Command card face down into any of your three lines. A face-down card contributes 2 value and has no active Protocol identity or commands while hidden. This makes it useful for meeting a numerical target or placing a card in a line where its face-up Protocol would not normally belong. But you forgo its text until another effect reveals or flips it.

The face-up option gives you the Command card’s normal printed value and effects. Many effects can draw, flip, shift, return or delete cards. Their timing can change the status of an entire line, so check the consequence of a reveal before building a stack that depends on hidden information.

Remember the basic placement restriction: your cards normally go onto your own side. Interacting with the opponent’s side is done through the card effects that explicitly allow it, not by simply playing a face-up Command into the opponent’s stack.

The three text areas on a face-up card

One of Compile’s important learning steps is recognizing how much of a face-up card remains active when newer cards cover it.

• Top command — persistent: stays active while the card remains face up, even when another card covers it.
• Middle command — immediate: resolves when the card is played face up, flipped face up or newly uncovered in a way that activates it.
• Bottom command — auxiliary: generally works only while that card is uncovered, at the end of its stack.

When you stack a new card, keep the previous card’s value and top text visible. The uncovered card is the one furthest from the Protocol header. An effect that simply targets a card generally can affect only uncovered cards unless it specifies covered cards or all cards.

This also explains why flipping or shifting cards can be so disruptive. A newly uncovered Command can activate its middle effect again, changing the value or card order just as you thought you had secured a Compile.

Refresh your hand and manage the trash pile

Refreshing is a full action: draw until you have five cards in hand. You cannot voluntarily refresh while holding five or more cards, and if you have no cards that can be played you must refresh. You do not first discard your current hand; you simply fill it to five.

If your personal draw deck runs out while drawing, shuffle the cards in your trash pile to rebuild the deck, then continue drawing as needed. Merely having an empty deck does not trigger an automatic reshuffle. The official rules distinguish drawing from effects that attempt to interact with the top card of an empty deck.

Refresh timing is a tactical decision. Filling your hand gives you more choices but spends the entire action you might have used to improve a line. If you are close to Compiling on your next turn, consider whether your existing hand already contains enough answers to a possible disruption before choosing to draw.

The cache limit is separate from refreshing. Card effects may temporarily increase your hand above five; at the Check Cache step, discard down to five. A player can sometimes hold a larger hand during intermediate effects, but normally not past that check.

Optional Control component: two-line majority

The publisher recommends omitting Control for the first game. Once comfortable with the normal system, introduce the component and its extra decision.

At your Check Control step, if you have a higher total value than your opponent in at least two of the three lines, you take Control. Control is useful because when you later compile or refresh while holding it, you first return it to the neutral position and may rearrange one player’s Protocol cards.

Rearranging changes the left-to-right positions of the Protocol headers but does not move the Command-card stacks underneath those lines. This can suddenly make a previously matched face-up card belong to another line, subject to applicable effects and the printed rules.

Control rewards broad influence rather than just the biggest value in one lane. It creates a reason to compete on two fronts even when only one line is currently close to the Compile threshold. The rule text is specific: the component changes position at its designated checks and uses, not simply whenever you think you are ahead.

What does ‘recompile’ mean?

Finishing a Protocol does not make its line unusable. You can continue playing Command cards into a line whose Protocol has already been Compiled, and if the line later meets the threshold and lead conditions, you can recompile it.

On a recompile, remove the cards from both sides of that line just as in a normal Compile. Because the Protocol is already on its Compiled side, it does not flip again. Instead, the player who recompiles takes the top card of the opponent’s deck and becomes that card’s owner. Ownership remains with the new owner unless another effect changes it.

Recompiling can provide a useful card and disrupt an opponent’s setup, but it is still a full turn’s Compile action. Before pursuing it, evaluate whether advancing a not-yet-completed Protocol would bring you closer to the third Compile and the actual victory.

The 12 Main 1 Protocols: what to expect

There are 12 Protocols available in Main 1, and only six enter a normal game because each player drafts three. Every Protocol brings six distinct Command cards, creating different synergies depending on the draft.

• Spirit: flipping, shifting and drawing.
• Death: deletion and drawing.
• Fire: spending cards for effects.
• Metal: protection, drawing and flipping.
• Gravity: shifting, flipping and drawing.
• Life: flipping, drawing and playing from the deck.
• Light: drawing, flipping and shifting.
• Plague: forcing discards and flipping.
• Darkness: drawing, shifting and manipulation.
• Water: returning cards, drawing and flipping.
• Psychic: drawing, information and shifting.
• Speed: drawing, playing and shifting.

These are broad summaries of the effects, not complete ability text. Read your actual cards carefully. For a first game, choose concepts with abilities you can understand rather than assuming that one particular trio is always strongest.

Beginner strategy: how to choose winning lines

1. Check the opponent’s value before chasing 10. A line at 10 cannot compile while its opposing value is 11; you need to overtake as well.
2. Count your next turn, not just this one. Compiling happens at the designated check. The opponent may be able to reduce your total, flip a crucial card or add enough value in their own stack before that happens.
3. Use face-down cards for flexible value. They can help any line but give up the immediate power of a face-up Command.
4. Protect persistent top-text effects. Covering your own card does not always silence it; recognize which effects keep helping while buried under newer Commands.
5. Value a timely refresh. Spending a turn to regain hand options is safer when you are not about to lose a key contested line.
6. Keep track of the three-Protocol objective. Compiling the same line again may be interesting, but only three distinct Compiled Protocols produce the standard victory.
7. Add Control later. Its two-line requirement and Protocol rearrangements enrich strategy but make a first teach noticeably harder.

This section is independent editorial analysis based on the published rules. It is not a set of unofficial rule changes, nor a claim of personal playtesting.

Compile: Main 1 versus Main 2 and Aux 1

Main 1 is the 2024 original release with twelve Protocols and the rules described in this article. Main 2 is a later release from 2025 that adds a different collection of twelve Protocols using the same underlying Compile system. It has its own product listing and rules download; do not treat those new Protocols as if they were included in Main 1.

Aux 1 is an optional smaller expansion containing the Love, Hate and Apathy Protocols, with their Command cards. According to Greater Than Games, a copy of Compile is required to use Aux 1.

For a first purchase or first teach, Main 1 alone provides the complete basic duel. Mixing additional Protocols increases draft variety but does not change the central idea that you must compile all three of your own Protocols to win. Confirm any cross-edition rules with the relevant publisher sheet.

For further official information, see Compile: Main 2, Compile: Aux 1, and the publisher’s Compile series page.

Who will enjoy Compile: Main 1?

Compile suits pairs who enjoy interactive card combinations, positional battles and tactical interference. Games move quickly by the publisher’s standards, but the decision space is not necessarily light: several card effects can interrupt one another, and reading active persistent text is essential.

The basic system offers a useful learning progression. In the first game, focus on the 10-point and greater-than conditions, face-down placement and how the three Command-text areas behave. Then add Control and experiment with Protocol combinations. Repeated plays become more interesting as you learn which card effects create surprise shifts between the three lines.

If you like short head-to-head card games, also consider Air, Land & Sea, which uses three theaters rather than three Protocols; Battle Line, built on formation contests; or Agent Avenue, which uses concealed offers and set-based movement. The distinct appeal of Compile is the way layered Commands can flip, move or delete cards mid-combination.

Compile: Main 1 FAQ

How many people play Compile: Main 1?

Two. The publisher lists a 30-minute play time, while some experienced-game descriptions suggest that individual games may finish sooner.

How many Protocols does each player draft?

Three from the twelve included. The drafting order is 1–2–2–1, and the selected Command cards make one 18-card deck for each player.

How many points do you need to compile?

At least 10 value and more value than the opponent in that same line at the Check Compile step.

Can you compile two Protocols in one turn?

No. A player may compile only one line per turn, even if multiple lines qualify.

Can I play a card into an unmatched Protocol?

Normally you can only play a face-up Command into its matching Protocol line, but a face-down card may be played into any of your three lines. Some printed card effects can override normal restrictions.

What value does a face-down card have?

Two. While face down it has no active commands or Protocol indicator.

Does a top Command work when another card covers it?

Yes, while that card remains face up. The auxiliary bottom text usually stops being active when covered.

When do I refresh my hand?

Refresh is one of your normal turn actions. You draw up to five cards, and cannot voluntarily refresh while already holding five or more.

What happens if the draw deck is empty?

When you need to draw, shuffle your trash to make a new deck. An empty deck on its own does not cause an automatic reshuffle.

Is the Control component necessary for a first game?

No. The official teaching instructions recommend omitting it in a first play.

Is Main 2 an expansion for Main 1?

Main 2 has a separate 12-Protocol lineup using the same game system. Aux 1 is explicitly a smaller expansion that needs a copy of Compile.

Official rules and editorial scope

• Greater Than Games — Compile: Main 1 product, contents, age and play time
• Greater Than Games — Main 1 official English rulesheet (publisher-hosted Dropbox link)
• RulesPal — searchable text of Compile: Main 1 rules
• Greater Than Games — Main 2 details
• Greater Than Games — Aux 1 details

Rules, edition and component details checked October 16, 2026. This page covers Compile: Main 1 with separate notes for optional Control and other releases. Worked threshold examples and strategy commentary are original explanations rather than excerpts from the rulebook. No hands-on playtesting is claimed. We do not use publisher artwork without permission.