RE-ANIMATED DEAD / CURRENT BETA RULES
THE FIELD GUIDE
41 cards. Three knockouts. One graveyard. Learn the rules used in the current solo and private-challenge games.
Characters must enter play
Before Begin Battle or End Turn completes, Characters left in your hand automatically fill an empty Active slot and then open Bench spaces, in hand order. Your chosen Active stays in place. The Bench holds at most five Characters; excess Characters stay in hand. This also applies when skipping an attack.
Win the graveyard
Each player has the same 41-card deck. Score three knockouts, or win when your rival cannot complete a required draw. Reaching three KOs simultaneously is a draw. An empty deck alone is not a loss until a required draw fails. Conceding awards the game to your rival. Private challenges also enforce the time limits below.
Know your cards
Characters have BI (Bone Integrity: health) and PP (Poison Power: attack damage). Your Active attacks; your Bench holds up to five Characters. Traits attach to your own Active or Bench Characters. Actions resolve once and go to your discard. Each player may have one Arena. Tap a corner i to inspect a card without playing it.
Opening setup
Shuffle and draw five cards. Choose an Active Character if your hand contains one, then optionally add Bench Characters, equip Traits and play an Arena. Actions cannot be played during setup. Your rival cannot see your setup until battle starts; their Bench stays hidden throughout the match. Select Begin Battle. Any remaining Characters automatically fill open Active and Bench spaces. Online setup locks when you ready up; both players must be ready. The first player is chosen randomly. If a player has no Character when battle begins or during play, available Characters enter their empty field automatically. If none are available, a mulligan makes both players draw one card, repeating until the empty fields are filled. In 2v2, all living players draw one each; eliminated players do not draw. No Pass Turn click is needed. A failed required mulligan draw still causes deck-out.
Your turn, in order
First, Poison damages each Poisoned Character on your side. Resolve the whole Poison batch and check for victory. If your Active is empty, promote the oldest Bench Character. Then draw one card plus all required extra draws, including on the first turn. During Main, play cards, switch once, or re-animate eligible Characters. There is no general card-play cost: costs apply where specified, such as re-animation.
Attack and switch
Attack uses your Active’s current PP, adds any attack Arena bonus, and subtracts the defender’s damage reduction, to a minimum of zero. Poison-applying Traits poison the surviving target. Attack once per turn. After attacking, you may use your once-per-turn Switch, then select End Turn. You cannot play more cards or re-animate after attacking. More contains Skip Attack if you prefer to pass. If either Active is missing, pass instead of attacking. Switching exchanges your Active with a chosen Bench Character once per turn and preserves damage, Traits, and Poison. Temporary PP from Quick Boost expires at turn end.
Poison and knockouts
Poison deals 10 damage at the start of the affected Character’s owner’s turn, whether Active or Benched. Toxic Garden adds 10. Damage reduction, including Toxic Cloak, applies; damage cannot go below zero. Poison status does not stack, and a Character may have only one Poison-applying Trait. A Character at zero BI is knocked out: its owner discards it and its attached Traits, its Poison is removed, and the rival earns one KO. The oldest Bench Character automatically replaces a knocked-out Active. Poison does not transfer to that replacement.
Re-animation
Choose an eligible Character from your own discard and discard exactly its printed re-animation cost in hand cards as payment. It returns to your Bench with printed BI and PP, without its old Traits, Poison, or modifiers. You need a free Bench space. Each Character can be re-animated only once per game. Full Broadcast Ritual waives payment for any eligible Character in your discard, including one discarded without being knocked out. Paid re-animation and Ritual share the same once-per-Character limit. An empty Active automatically receives the oldest Bench Character before a mulligan is needed.
Arenas and card effects
Replacing your Arena discards your previous one. Both players are affected: Neon Graveyard adds 10 to attacks; Toxic Garden adds 10 to Poison ticks. Identical Arena effects apply once, while different Arenas can both operate. Use the card inspector for each Trait or Action’s specific effect. Search Actions let you choose a Character still in your deck. Mic Drop Hat discards the top enemy deck card; this alone does not trigger deck-out. Required extra draws can trigger deck-out.
Private challenge clocks
An invitation must be accepted within 240 seconds of creation or the game is cancelled, even if the host is connected. Joining starts a fresh 120-second setup clock for each player. Each valid setup move resets that player’s clock; ready players have no move clock while waiting. During the match, the current player has 120 seconds between valid moves. A turn handoff gives the next player a fresh 120 seconds. Independently, joined players have 120 seconds from their last heartbeat to reconnect. Missing either deadline forfeits the game. Both players timing out ends without a winner.
Reconnect, results, and rematches
Reconnecting, refreshing, inspecting cards, invalid moves, and retrying an accepted move do not reset the move clock. Hidden tabs stop heartbeats, so phone sleep or switching apps may start the disconnect window. Guest players must return in the same browser with its saved seat credential; clearing browser storage loses that credential. Sign in before creating or accepting a challenge to bind your seat to your account. Signed-in players can use Your player on another device to resume within the same deadlines and see saved match results. Results show who won or lost. Both players must accept a rematch; it starts fresh decks and setup. Leaving the result screen closes the room for both players. Expired rooms require a fresh challenge.
Solo practice differences
Solo has no move or connection timers. Undo is a practice convenience before attacking, not a competitive action. First turn is chosen randomly, and Characters use their printed health, including on re-animation. Private challenges have no Undo. Solo records are stored in this browser, and reloading abandons the current solo match.
Current beta rulings
These are the rules enforced by this beta: Arenas affect both players and identical effects do not stack; Ritual accepts any eligible own discarded Character; empty fields recover through automatic mulligan draws; Bench promotion uses the oldest Character automatically; and Poison-applying Traits cannot duplicate on one Character. Future balance changes should update this guide alongside the game.
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