Welcome to Cryptara Prime: A Strategy Guide for New Game Players!

Cryptara Prime is our fictitious planet that has an internet made up of subnets. You start as an entry level hacker in Aurelia (subnet 001) with 5,000 credits, a Scrapdeck 386 computer system, 30 datacrons (gigs) of storage, 30 security forces and 25 honeypots. You get 60 turns a day, and they don't carry over. Here's how to make them count.

You will use the Scanner, Systems, Buildings menu choices the most. The Computer page tells you what's in your computer system and how much storage to store secrets that you sell. Systems is typically used in the loop in step 1 below.

1. Learn the loop: hack, then sell - This is how you gain wealth

Buy Low - Sell High!

Syndicates are spread all over the network universe. You can buy and sell data across the subnets. There is no hacking here. DataHouses are private systems that you can score data via your hack tools at a discount rate to what the Syndicates are charging. So, you can take from DataHouses for a little of cost effort investment and sell to Syndicates to earn wealth.

This is a turn based game similar to BBS Games of the 1990s. How you use your turns??

Your bread and butter is the data run. DataHouses let you hack data out at a cost effort that's about 40% below market price. Syndicates buy it back at full price, and you can haggle with them for a better deal. Routing a hop costs 1 turn and connecting to a system costs 1 turn. Once you're connected, every transaction is free, so fill your storage before you leave. You can also buy and sell data between Syndicates. Syndicates Systems are not hacked, only DataHouses, so beware when going after a DataHouse.

If you decide to go after a DataHouse, after each hack, check Where to sell this data under the trading table. It lists the charted Syndicates that buy what you're carrying, best payout first, with the turns each trip costs. Route & Connect gets you there in one click. With empty storage, the same panel suggests what to hack next. This lets you stay on one page and jump between buying and selling quickly. Where to sell this data also works if buying from one syndicate and you want to sell to a rival syndicate. Syndicates love to trade data between themselves so you can just loop between buying and selling to gain wealth!

You get so many turns a day, and don't waste them. Before jumping to a system's subnet, check the hops and turn count. Look on the Scanner Page and Systems Page.

2. Stay in the Imperial Core at first

Subnets 001 to 010 are the Imperial Core. Raids and attacks can't touch you there, and the Colonial Defenders' detection tools don't run. Use your first days there to learn the trade routes and build up credits. Further out the profits are bigger, but so are the risks.
Build Wealth, buy HoneyPots and Security Forces. So keep 001 handy for upgrades in storage, security force additoins, and honeypots.

3. Don't wear out your welcome

Should you decide to venture out on more subnets beyond 010, the Colonial Defenders notice familiar systems. Connect to the same DataHouse more than twice in 24 hours and your chance of getting caught climbs with every extra visit, even in the Core. Getting caught kicks you off, costs you the turn, takes a small fine from the credits you carry and burns a honeypot. Rotate between several DataHouses instead of hammering one. If you build up enough wealth and buy honeypots, you can attack the Colonial Defenders to remove their defenses and even deploy your own Honeypots in a subnet to help thwart your presence with a defense.

4. Spend early credits on storage

More datacrons (gigs) means more profit on every run, which makes storage the best early investment. You can buy storage at the Computer Store in Aurelia. Each datacron storage costs a little more than the last, but it pays for itself quickly.

5. Honeypots keep you alive

Outside the Core, honeypots are your computer's only defence. Federal Security Forces raids, Colonial Defenders and rival hackers all have to burn through your honeypots before they reach your computer. Raids get more frequent the further you go from Aurelia. Before heading out, top up your honeypots to your computer's limit (25 credits each). A seized computer costs you your storage, your data and everything in your Room. You can also deploy these on subnets to help keep them off your trail.

6. Keep your money safe

If you lose your computer, your credits on hand are safe from a raid, but a rival who takes you down loots 25% of what you carry. Credits in a building's vault can never be looted. Once you own a building, bank your profits there. However, you can lose your building and all your wealth if you did not protect it with security forces and honeypots. Rival Players can attack your room and take it over! There are unclaimed buildings too to be had.

7. Build an empire with buildings

Trading makes money one run at a time. Buildings make money while you sleep. Buy a Shell Company at the Imperial Network Building (20,000 credits) and set it up in a subnet outside the Core, or claim an abandoned building. Then:

• Recruit scammers at the Computer Store or Aurelia Prime and assign them to the building. Scammers earn nothing until they're in a building.
• Every hour they pay credits into the vault, dig up data you can download and sell, recruit security forces and set up honeypots (1 a day per 1,000 scammers).
• A crew grows 5% a day by itself, up to the building's capacity.
• Build up the Security Stack. Level 1 gives you the vault, and higher levels add defenses, a counter-hack turret and 10% more output per level.
• Assign security forces to defend it. Security forces only ever go to buildings.
• Take advantage of unclaimed buildings you find off a subnet. Always check.
• Beware! I added a Vending Machine need for your Scammers. You have to keep them stocked with food and beer or they could desert you! Keep this stocked from your daily earnings on the Buildings Page and remember to think ahead for the next coming day.

8. Hold territory with honeypots

Once you're established, deploy honeypots to hold a subnet. A defensive field claims it, so rivals can't deploy there until they clear it. An offensive field also springs on rival computers that route in and can take them down.

9. Explore and chart the net

Your first visit to a subnet beyond the Core earns experience and can turn up data dumps, crypto wallets or old network maps. Watch out, though: some juicy-looking servers are traps. Network charts (1,500 credits) put a whole zone on your map so you can find better routes without spending turns. Imperial Hacker News tells you where the Imperial Network Building is.

Quick checklist for day one

1. Find a DataHouse and a Syndicate close together inside the Core.
2. Run data between them until your turns run out.
3. Spend your profits on storage.
4. Fill up on honeypots before your first trip outside the Core.
5. Save for a Shell Company, and bank everything in its vault once it's running. This earns you credits each day.
6. If you do venture out beyond 001-010 and get caught hacking, your 386 computer is seized and you return to the start of the game. Only wealth you had stored in buildings and back rooms is saved.

When you start to gain wealth, you can buy Network Charts and explore other subnets that have systems on them. But beware as anything outside 001-010 can become risky on the network. Other players may hack you or your buildings too! And, the Federals are also looking and if you are caught and do not have enough honeypots to hide their attempts, you could lose your PC and start over with the 386 again. You dont lose your building. But other Hacker Players can grab it if you dont have sufficient security Forces guarding your building.

Found a interesting subnet you want to Farm? You can help deploy subnet defenses. Typically, you use this in the risky subnet numbers above 010.

BUILDING ATTACKS BY OTHER PLAYERS

• How it’s lost: a rival attacks your building with their security forces. They have to burn through its honeypots and then defeat its security forces. You can build up counter-hacks, for example a counter-hack turret from Security Stack level 3 also thwarts them as they route into the subnet. Once its security forces are at zero, you can lose your building and the wealth.
• What the rival gets: claiming only changes the owner, so the whole building goes with it. That’s the vault and its credits, the scammers, the stored data, its honeypots and the Security Stack.

How to defend your building thats making you money from Scammers?

Well - Security forces guard your buildings and you got those in 001 by recruiting and assignment. The same way you got Scammers recruited.

Your computer runs on honeypots, but your buildings need security forces. A building can't be taken while it has security forces: a rival has to burn through its honeypots first, then defeat every one of its security forces before they can walk in and claim it. If they do, they get everything inside: the vault and its credits, the scammers, the stored data and the Security Stack. A building with no security forces can be claimed by any passing rival without a fight, so never leave one empty.

Assign plenty of security forces as soon as you own a building (50 credits each), and top up its honeypots too so attackers waste themselves on decoys first. Your scammers help by recruiting security forces and setting up honeypots every day.

Next! Build up the Security Stack: each level makes the building's defenses harder to break, and from level 3 a counter-hack turret fires on any rival who routes into the subnet. An offensive honeypot field in the same subnet adds another trap they have to get through. If you get a "Building under attack" message, get back there and reinforce it before they finish the job.

Upgrading your Computer?

You upgrade by buying a new computer type at the Imperial Network Building (look on the system tab where it is located). It’s listed under the shops on the Systems page with a Route & Connect button. Once you’re connected, the computer types are listed there to buy.

• Cost: your current computer is traded in at half its price, so a Scrapdeck 386 knocks 10,000 credits off.
• What carries over: your storage moves across, at least the new type’s base and at most its limit. If your data doesn’t fit, the lowest-value class is wiped first. Your Room isn’t affected.
• The types: from Scrapdeck 386 up to Quantum Throne. Each has its own storage limit and caps on how many honeypots and security forces it can use.
• Choosing one: a Darkfiber Server (75,000 credits) holds up to 250 datacrons, so it suits data runs. A Blackice Sentinel (90,000 credits) only goes up to 80 datacrons but can carry 3,000 honeypots, so it suits trips far from Aurelia.

Good luck out there, and remember: in-game hacking only! No real systems are harmed in the making of this fortune.