According to a recent study, there are now 10 million androids in New Angeles, working mostly low-paying jobs across all industrial sectors.

In a city of nearly one billion people—where humans must compete for jobs with the ten million androids literally built for efficiency—you need to develop some valuable skills if you want to stand out. But if you can develop these skills, carve out your own niche, and market yourself, you might just find several of the world's largest megacorps bidding for your services…

In an earlier New Angeles preview, we looked at the ways that megacorps work their deals—making offers, proposing counteroffers, and then negotiating and cajoling each other to support one initiative or the other. However, when all the wheeling and dealing is done, only one of those corps is going to walk away with the asset at stake. There are thirty-four assets in New Angeles. Most of these assets are human. Some are androids. All are extremely talented—and unique.

Your goal in New Angeles is to accrue capital. Specifically, you need to accrue more capital than your rival, or if you're the dread Federalist, you need to accrue twenty-five capital while sinking the rest of the city. And throughout your efforts, the assets you win will prove invaluable.

Assets Acquired

In New Angeles, the men, women, and androids that you'll acquire as "corporate assets" can set you apart from your rivals. Let's be clear: the game is asymmetrical from the word "go," as your corp and the others each draw a different set of Action cards and gain capital from different triggers. But your starting positions are equivalent, even though they're different.

Assets allow you to shatter the equivalency. They usher forth new opportunities and create new, more dynamic board states. Some introduce new triggers for the acquisition of capital. Some introduce lasting effects that you can leverage to win new deals. Others still trigger powerful abilities immediately once they're claimed, and are then discarded.

Altogether, the thirty-four assets in New Angeles introduce thirty-four different abilities with which you can reshape your path to greater fortunes… Let's meet some of these talented individuals!

Gurren Imaishi

The reward for claiming this finance guru's services is about as simple and clear-cut as you can get. But that certainly doesn't make it trivial. Five capital will see you a long way toward victory.

Floyd 2X3A7C

Like Gurren Imaishi, this crime-solving machine offers an immediate reward, but it doesn't immediately push you toward your victory condition like Gurren Imaishi's five capital. Instead, it puts you in a better position to win or influence more deals, promote the city's health (or ruin), and plan a course of action. And the increase to your hand size is no small thing, either, especially if you can win a Braintrust.

Braintrust

In New Angeles, you need Action cards in your hand, or you're nobody. Without Action cards, you can't make counteroffers or support either side of a deal. No one has any reason to win your support. By doubling your card draw, from three to six, Braintrust ensures that you're able to make more strategic plays and remain an active player longer in the round. The reduction in hand size means that you'll only be able to keep four Action cards in your hand after your turn ends, which slightly limits your ability to win other key assets—but not by much.

Monica Singh and Marco Cubrero

Gaining capital once is good, maybe even great. But gaining capital turn after turn is even better. And if you gain that capital by stealing it from your rival? That's the dream. These two talented "assets" are best addressed only through unofficial channels. Let your underlings be the ones to meet with them. Always maintain plausible deniability.

Caprice Nisei

Bribery can be effective. Sometimes it's even best to offer other corps genuine deals in order to get what you want. But there are also subtler methods of steering deals. Caprice Nisei is "definitely not" a telepathic clone, but she is, nonetheless, extremely good at helping you determine exactly what another corp intends—so that everyone else can respond accordingly.

Alex Westlund and Hernando Cortez

Given all that the game's assets can add to your corp—and the fact that each is unique—sometimes the best talent you can hope to recruit is the talent that someone else already won. But since those assets aren't headed back to the bargaining table, if you really hope to win their services, you need to first win the services of people like Alex Westlund and Hernando Cortez. Both of these gentlemen allow you to snare assets from the other corps.

Sunny LeBeau

Finally, we have Sunny LeBeau, the Net's top cop. She grants access to two Action cards each time the city's threat rises. But why? Is she helping you find ways to quell the threat? Or is she secretly working for the Federalist and trying to profit off of the increased threat? Either way, two more Action cards are two more Action cards, and that's all good.

Now Hiring

In New Angeles, the world's greatest megacorps are always on the lookout for the next great talent. But when you consider that a city of nearly one billion people yields only thirty-four talents worthy of your attention, the bidding wars are bound to be fierce.

If you want to convince these people (and androids) to join your team, you're going to need to show vision, you're going to need a clear strategy, you're going to need to be able to demonstrate your ability to execute, and above all, you're going to need to prove that you've got a plan to make a fantastically giant pile of money.

New Angeles is on its way to a retailer near you. If you haven't already, be sure to pre-order your copy today. Then be sure to check back for more previews and other New Angeles news!