This is a documentation for Board Game Arena: play board games online !
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1. Setup
Each player begins the game with the following three cards in their Party:
- Knight
- Mage
- Rogue
Leave space for your Reward area.
Cards are divided into six decks according to their Rank, from Rank 1 to Rank 6.
The game begins with the Rank 1 Deck. Reveal cards from it until there are 4 face-up cards on the Board.
The remaining Rank Decks will be used later as the game progresses.
The starting player is determined at the beginning of the game. Play proceeds clockwise.
2. Taking a Turn
The game is played in turns.
On your turn, you may use up to 2 cards from your Party, one at a time.
When you use a card:
- Resolve its Icon Ability.
- Resolve its card effect.
- Finish resolving all effects before using your next card.
A card that has already been used this turn cannot be used again.
After you have finished using cards and resolving all effects, your turn ends and play passes to the next player.
At the beginning of your next turn, all cards in your Party become available to use again.
3. Icon Abilities
Each card has one of three Icon Abilities:
Explore, Recruit, or Subjugate.
Explore
Take 1 card from the Board and add it to your Hand.
If an effect allows you to Explore multiple cards at once, take all of those cards before resolving your Hand limit.
Whenever cards leave the Board, the Board may be refilled.
Recruit
Take 1 card from your Hand and add it to your Party.
A card added to your Party during your turn may be used during that same turn, provided you can still use another Party card.
Recruit allows you to improve and change your Party as the game progresses.
Subjugate
Take 1 card from your Hand and add it face-up to your Reward.
Cards in your Reward contribute Victory Points at the end of the game.
Cards placed in your Reward are no longer available for use.
4. Using an Icon Ability Without a Card
If you have not yet used a Party card during your turn, you may choose to perform Explore, Recruit, or Subjugate once instead.
If you do so, you cannot use any Party cards for the rest of that turn.
Therefore, on your turn you choose between:
- using up to 2 Party cards, or
- performing 1 Explore, Recruit, or Subjugate without using a Party card.
5. Card Information
Each card contains the following information.
Rank
A card's Rank ranges from 1 to 6.
Higher-Rank cards generally become available later in the game and are more powerful.
Icon Ability
The icon indicates which ability is performed when the card is used:
Explore, Recruit, or Subjugate.
Card Name
The name of the card.
Card Effect
The card's unique effect.
Card effects are resolved when the card is used or when the conditions written on the card are met.
Victory Points
The value shown at the bottom-right of the card is its Victory Point value.
At the end of the game, cards in your Reward score this amount.
Normally:
- Rank 1–4 cards: 1 VP
- Rank 5–6 cards: 2 VP
Some cards may provide additional Victory Points through their effects.
6. Party and Hand Limits
Your Party and Hand each have a maximum size of 4 cards.
Card effects may temporarily increase either area to 5 or more cards.
If this happens, do not Exile cards immediately.
First, completely resolve the current Icon Ability and all related card effects.
After all effects have resolved, if your Party or Hand contains more than 4 cards, choose cards to Exile until only 4 remain.
Exiled cards are removed from the game.
Your Party must contain no more than 4 cards before you use another Party card and before your turn ends.
7. Refilling the Board
The Board normally contains 4 face-up cards.
Whenever the number of cards on the Board falls to 3 or fewer, immediately reveal cards from the current Rank Deck until the Board contains 4 cards again.
This is called a Board Refill.
If the current Rank Deck becomes empty during a Board Refill, advance to the next Rank Deck.
8. Advancing to the Next Rank
When the current Rank Deck becomes empty, the next Rank Deck becomes active.
The game progresses in the following order:
Rank 1 → Rank 2 → Rank 3 → Rank 4 → Rank 5 → Rank 6
The new active Rank Deck is then used to refill the Board.
9. Bonuses
Whenever the game advances to the next Rank, check the cards currently on the Board.
Place 1 Bonus on each card whose Rank is lower than the new active Rank.
For example, when the game advances from Rank 1 to Rank 2, each Rank 1 card remaining on the Board receives a Bonus.
When a card with a Bonus leaves the Board, the player who took that card adds the Bonus to their Reward.
Bonuses contribute Victory Points at the end of the game.
A Bonus cannot be added to a Hand or Party.
Exiling Cards with Bonuses
If the game advances to the next Rank while a card with a Bonus is still on the Board, that card and its Bonus are Exiled.
For example, a Rank 1 card that received a Bonus when Rank 2 began will be Exiled if it is still on the Board when Rank 3 begins.
Rank 6 cards never receive Bonuses.
10. End of the Game
There is no Rank Deck after Rank 6.
Once the game reaches Rank 6, no further Rank advancement occurs.
When the final Rank 6 card leaves the Board, the game ends at the end of the current turn.
Players then calculate their Victory Points.
Your final score is the total of:
- Victory Points printed on cards in your Reward.
- Victory Points gained from applicable card effects.
- Bonuses in your Reward.
The player with the most Victory Points wins.
11. Tiebreakers
If two or more players are tied for the most Victory Points, compare the total Rank of the cards in their Parties.
The player with the higher total wins.
If there is still a tie, compare the total Rank of the cards in their Hands.
The player with the higher total wins.
Card effects on Rank 3 or Rank 6 cards in your Hand or Reward do not activate at the end of the game.
Only cards in the appropriate area can apply their scoring effects.