Game Objective and Winning

The player with the most Goal Cards when the game ends is the winner.

Setup

One of the players acts as the dealer to setup, they are responsible for shuffling and distribution of the cards during the setup. 

Clan Cards: Each player receives one Clan Card, after looking at it, they place the clan card face down in front of them, any clan cards that are left, add them to the ‘middle pile’. 

Dealing Hands: The Dealer gives each player FOUR cards from the object cards deck in the pack. 

They place the FIRST Object Card face down next to their Character Card without choosing. Players can peek at their own cards, but cannot show or swap. 

The other THREE cards are kept in hand.

The Dealer takes one extra card for themselves. 

Players can look at their own card at any point.

The remaining object cards are added to the ‘middle pile’.

Final Shuffle: The remaining cards that are now in the middle pile are shuffled with the Flash Cards to form the Draw Deck and placed in the middle. Any cards that are discarded, The Discard Pile, is placed next to it moving forward.

Dealer's Pass: The Dealer selects one of the four cards from their hand (excluding the object card on the table) and gives it to the player on their left. 

Starting Player: The player to the Dealer’s left starts the game. Play proceeds clockwise.

Hand Count: When it is NOT the players turn, each player should have 3 cards in hand and 2 cards face down on the table: One object, One character card. (The object card on the table does NOT need to relate to the character card on the table)

Core Mechanics

A. Card Management (Draw/Discard)

Piles: The Draw Deck and the Discard Pile are placed in the middle of the table.

Recycling: If the Draw Deck runs out, the Discard Pile is immediately shuffled, turned face down, and becomes the new Draw Deck. A new, empty Discard Pile is started next to it.

B. Goal Cards

Goal Cards are the winning criteria. They must be held in your hand or as a face down/up card next to your Character Card to count at the end of the game.

Creation: Your Character Card has a grid/pattern of associated Object Card symbols. If you possess two or more of your own character's Object Cards that are adjacent on this pattern horizontally and/or vertically (not diagonally), those cards count as a GOAL CARD. You can chain your goal cards.

Having an object card from the grid by itself doesn't make it a Goal Card.

You can chain more than two cards as far as they are horizontally or vertically next to each other. In the example above, if the player also had the Trident, with the seaweed, it counts as a Goal card. If they just had Hula Hoops and Trident, the cards would remain as object cards!

C. Character Power Dynamics (Combat Chart)

In a fight, the character type of the Object Card that's on the table, referred to as "played", determines the winner.

The Cycle of Gameplay

When it's not the player's turn, they should have three cards in hand, so if its not the player's turn and they have an extra card in hand, they must discard one card at random from their hand. If they have less, as soon as the player finds out, they should draw cards until they have three cards in their hand when it's not your turn. 

The game proceeds in rounds in a clockwise rotations, following a sequence of stages / steps when it's the players turn:

THE BATTLES

Before end of turn and passing a card, each player can choose to do nothing or pick another player to battle with:

• Do Nothing: Players who chose this action, they do nothing in this stage and end their turn by passing a card to the player on their left. 

• Pick a Fight: The attacking player announces their target.

The Fight 

-> Both the attacker and defender bring forward the "played" Object Card currently placed next to their Character Card.  

->  Both cards are turned faced up simultaneously if not already up. 

The winner is determined by the Character Power Dynamics based on the Object Card's character type, not the player's.

If they have the same Character’s object card, the tie holds, no one wins! 

Post-Combat: Both players return their Object Cards to the space next to their Character Card, but they are now placed face-up until it is replaced. 

Winner's Reward: The winner can choose one of the two options, ONLY ONE! 

1. Swap one of their own cards with one of the loser's cards, excluding the played character card on the table, without revealing the cards (unless the card is already face up). They can NOT swap Character Cards that's played but (assuming there are more character cards in the game than players) if it's in the hand, it is okay to swap their cards between the winner and loser of the fight (without revealing to others).
   OR

2. Flip Played Card: The winner can flip back their object card to face down position.

THE ENDING

Any player can call out “Nuke!” at any point after the first rotation, even if it's not their turn. When Nuke has been called, the game carries on till the end of dealers' upcoming turn. The dealer's passing card goes to the top of the draw deck instead of the player on the left!

Whoever calls out Nuke, reveals their cards first. If (for any reason) they do NOT have a pair of Goal Cards or more, they discard all of their cards and are eliminated from the game. The remaining player left-of-the-dealer draws an additional card at the start of their turn instead of catching a card from the dealer. The game resumes without that player. 

If the player that calls out Nuke, does in fact have a pair of Goal Cards or more, everyone else reveals their cards. The player that has the highest number of Goal Cards wins the game! 

In case of tie:

• Tie breaker 1 (Aggressive End): If tied, the player that called "Nuke!" first wins.

• Tie breaker 2 (Character Superiority): If the tie still holds, the winner is the tied player whose Character Card is superior to the others, based on the Character Power Dynamics chart.

• Tie breaker 3 (Clone vs.): If the tie condition still holds, it means the players have the same Character card. The character card that is a Clone, loses! 

Optional Rule: Timed Endgame

Before starting the game, players may agree to use this rule to enforce a hard time limit. 

The Recycle Limit: If the Discard Pile has been shuffled and recycled to form a new Draw Deck n times (recommend x2), the next full round of play (end of Dealer's turn) is the final turn. The game ends immediately after this round, regardless of any declarations.

Good reference point: a deck for (first timers) usually takes 30 to 45 min for 5 players to runout.

Technical Specs

Components: 100-Card Deck (14 Characters, 13 Flash Cards, 73 Objects).

Player Count: 2–14 Players. (best experience 5–8 Players)

Playtime: + 45 Minutes.

Mechanics: Hand Management, Grid-based Set Collection, Hidden Information, Player Elimination.

Item Cards of Each Clan