Before the battle begins, both players ban one ability. This ability cannot be used by either player. Then, player one chooses one ability. Player two then chooses two abilities. After that, player one chooses their last ability. Player two decides who goes first. Both players start with their hands out, with one finger up on each hand.
During your turn, you may do one of three moves. You may only do one move per turn. The three moves are attacking, splitting, and using an ability.
You may attack by hitting the opponent with a hand. The amount of fingers on the attacking hand will be added to the hand being attacked. For example, player one has a hand with one finger, and player two has a hand with two fingers. If player one hits player two, one finger is added to player two's hand. Therefore, player two has three fingers. As a result, player one has three fingers. A hand can hold up to four fingers. A hand with five fingers is eliminated. For example, player one has a hand with two fingers and player two has three fingers. If player one attacks player two, player two's hand is eliminated, because player two's hand now has five fingers. Note that any amount of fingers above four kills a hand.
Splitting is done by moving your fingers from one hand to another. For example, player one has two hands alive. His right hand has four fingers and his left has one finger. Player one can split and give one finger from his right hand to his left hand. The result is three fingers on the right hand and two fingers on the left hand. Splitting can also be done to revive a dead hand. If player two has only one hand alive, and it has two fingers, she can split and revive the other hand, leaving her with one finger on each hand.
The last move is using an ability. Not all abilities can be used on your turn. To learn the abilities, go to the abilities section of this website.
The game ends when a player eliminates both of the opposing player's hands. Whoever does this first wins the game.
If you are still uncertain on how to play, or you want to improve your understanding of the game, go to the live games section.