FLATMISSION

Six hours. Nine letters. One very bad idea.

Somersault over the robot. Search the drawer. Someone behind you shouts “now!” a second too late. If you played Impossible Mission, you know. FLATMISSION is a new spy game in that spirit: one somersault you have to learn, furniture to search while the robots patrol, and a clock that is your only life. Find nine torn letters before 06:00, then turn round and tell them you had it the whole time.

1–2 playersPlatformPuzzleSpySplit-screen race

Pre-order FlatboyAlone with someone shouting “jump!” over your shoulder, or two agents racing for the same door.

One letter. Then back in.

The pocket computer opens and a letter fuses in gold, then it's back into Station Zero to search the furniture with the robots on patrol. You will want to grab the stick and do it faster.

Fusethe torn letter on the pocket computer

Flipover the robot. Same distance, every time.

Swearat the clock. It never stops.

Real gameplay, straight off the table's screen.

1986. Under the ice. Six hours to 06:00.

Under the Svalbard glacier lies Station Zero, an old aurora-research well. Dr. Vesper Noll, thrown off the programme she built, has taken it over and wired it to AURORA LANCE, a ring of orbital mirrors that can focus the sun on any city on Earth. At 06:00 she fires. FLAT, the Frost Line Action Team, drops Agent KIT RASK in through the ice gate.

The abort word, nine letters, was punched across nine cards. Noll tore them up and hid the pieces in her furniture. So you run, somersault past her robots, search the bunks, fridges and server racks with your back to them, and fuse the letters on your pocket computer in the shafts. Then down to the CORE at the bottom of the middle shaft: type the word at the door, and get past two MECHs to the abort console.

Two ways to play.
Three levels of nerve.

The long one

Mission

One agent, five missions. Each win is a harder station: more rooms, faster robots, a faster clock, LIFTERs from mission 3, and from mission 4 the lights fail every ten seconds and only the robots glow. Win the fifth and Noll is caught. The score carries over, and the top ten keep three initials.

Face to face

Rivals

Two agents, one shuffled station, a split screen: 14 rooms, two pieces a letter, a faster clock. First to abort the Lance wins; if both clocks run out, most letters wins.

Your nerve

Rookie, Agent, Ghost

ROOKIE: 16 rooms, two pieces a letter, dealt straight and in their colour. AGENT: 24 rooms, three pieces. GHOST: 30 rooms, four pieces, faster robots, and a search starts over if you let go.

6hours on the clock

9letters in the abort word

24hand-made rooms, shuffled

5missions to catch Noll

~30lines from Dr. Noll