NOD//Xtract is a browser-based extraction roguelike set in a living hacker network. You play as an operator — someone who breaks into high-security systems, steals data, and escapes before the system traces your connection back to you. Every run is procedurally generated from a seed, so no two infiltrations play out the same way. The world is persistent and shared: other operators affect the same targets, the same market, and the same network conditions you do.

From the Safehouse, go to the Prepare tab. Pick a target from the list — start with something rated SEC 1–3, it costs less to enter and the nodes are forgiving. Select a rig (your starter Low Signature rig is fine), equip at least one tool, then hit Initiate Infiltration. Inside the run, read each node carefully before choosing. Your choices have mechanical consequences — risk is real.

Trace is how much the target system knows about you. It rises with every action you take. Reach 100 and the system has enough to burn you — the run ends immediately and you lose your payload. Keep it as low as possible. Extract before it gets dangerous.

Bandwidth is your connection stability. It goes down with every action, more steeply on failed choices. Hit zero and your connection drops mid-run — you also lose your payload. Think of it as oxygen. Every node costs some. Budget accordingly.

One of three things happened. Your Trace hit 100 — the system detected you. Your Bandwidth hit 0 — your connection dropped. Or you hit a trap node that fired before you could disarm it. Each choice in the game has a success chance that scales with the target's security level and how deep you are. Failure is normal. The run is designed so you can exit early — extract when your payload looks good rather than pushing until something breaks.

The market responds to collective supply. When operators sell a lot of the same data type in a short window, the price modifier for that type drops. This is intentional — the market is shared across all operators, so volume from anyone affects the price you see. The modifier recovers over time as the 2-hour demand window rolls forward. To get better prices, sell when others haven't been — or hold hot data until the window resets.

Data you extracted recently carries a hot multiplier — it's worth full value for 90 minutes after you pulled it. After that it goes cold, dropping to 85% value. The Inventory page shows a countdown timer on each hot packet. You do not have to sell immediately, but selling within the window gets you the best price. The timer is per-packet, not per-session — data you extracted three days ago is cold regardless of when you log in.

They are crafting materials used to unlock certain high-tier blueprints. Exploit Parts drop when you survive a trap node during a successful extraction. Cold Data drops when you extract classified data from depth 6 or deeper. Both are listed on your Profile page. Some blueprints require them alongside credits and fragments — check the blueprint details in the Market before crafting.

Fragments are a secondary currency that drop from successful extractions — more reliably from deep runs and classified pulls. They are used alongside credits to buy blueprints and craft items. Unlike credits, you cannot earn fragments by selling data. They only come from running. If you are short on fragments, go deeper or prioritize classified archive nodes.

Through blueprints. Buy a blueprint from the Market using credits and fragments, then craft the item in the Crafting lab. Some blueprints are gated behind faction standing — you need to reach a threshold with a specific faction before they appear. A few high-tier rigs require Exploit Parts or Cold Data to craft in addition to the standard costs. The blueprint listing shows all requirements before you buy.

There are three factions: Cyber Syndicate, Corporate Security, and Rogue AI. Your standing with each rises and falls based on how you play. Clean ghost runs reward Corporate. Deep extractions and classified pulls reward Syndicate. Surviving trap nodes rewards Rogue AI. Gaining standing with one faction costs the rivals a point each.

Standing unlocks things: at 30 you become an Operative with access to faction contracts. At 50 exclusive blueprints open up. At 75 you get faction-specific run modifiers that give passive bonuses during infiltrations. Faction affiliation is a long-term strategic choice — you cannot max all three simultaneously.

Ghost Rating is your operator's cumulative reputation. It increases with every run based on depth reached, trace score, and whether you used the deep push mechanic. It does not decrease. It is displayed on the leaderboard and on your profile. Mechanically it also scales the cost of pre-run spending options — the better your rating, the more those bonuses cost. Think of it as a rough measure of experience and risk taken over time.

After enough runs the game prompts you to choose an operator discipline — a permanent specialization that shapes how your passive bonuses work going forward. The three disciplines are Ghost (trace reduction and stealth bonuses), Extractor (payload capacity and reward multipliers), and Saboteur (trap survivability and Rogue AI faction bonuses). You choose once. The choice is reflected on your profile and subtly affects runs from that point on.

Not in the traditional sense — you do not share a run with other players. But the world is persistent and shared. Other operators hit the same targets, which raises security levels and pressure. They sell data into the same market, which affects prices. Their extractions and failures show up in the activity feed and as traces on targets. You feel other operators even though you never interact with them directly. Asymmetric multiplayer with active roles — Sysadmin, Broker, Fixer — is on the long-term roadmap.

Almost nothing in NOD//Xtract is permanently losable. If a run fails, you lose the payload from that run — but your credits, tools, rigs, standings, and ghost rating are all safe. The one exception is rig durability: craftable rigs take damage on failed runs and can be destroyed if you burn through all their durability pips. The starter Low Signature rig is indestructible and always available as a fallback. Damaged rigs can be repaired at the Safehouse for credits before they break.

Several things make a target harder. Security level is the most visible — higher SEC means higher trace costs per choice and worse success chances deep in. Pressure builds when operators run a target repeatedly without giving it time to recover — high pressure increases trace risk further. Depletion reduces loot quality when a target has been hit a lot recently. You can see all of these on the target card. A target with high security, high pressure, and an active collapse event is genuinely dangerous — pick your battles.

The network generates events automatically based on operator activity. Individual targets can go HOT (elevated loot, elevated risk) or COLD (reduced security, maintenance window). At the network level, three window types can fire: an Extraction Surge when activity and success rates are high, a Ghost Window when operators are running clean, or a Chaos Cascade when failure rates spike or network pressure builds. These windows modify contract yields, faction standing gains, and run conditions for their duration. They are visible in the Status tab of the Safehouse.