How to Play Fantasy Realms: Deluxe Edition

Game Objective

In Fantasy Realms, the objective is to form the best possible card combinations. Players draw cards from the deck or the discard area to create a hand that maximizes their score. Victory goes to the player with the highest score at the end of the game.

Setup

1. In a standard game, deal seven cards to each player.
2. Choose a starting player randomly. Play proceeds clockwise.
3. The remaining cards form the draw deck.
4. The discard area should be a space where discarded cards are visible to everyone.

Setup Variations:

• With the Cursed Hoard expansion (Extra Suits): Deal eight cards to each player.
• With the Cursed Hoard expansion (Cursed Items): Shuffle the Cursed Items deck separately and deal one face-up Cursed Item card to each player.
• Two-player Realms variant: No player starts with cards.
• Chaos Realms variant (3-7 players): All players receive seven cards (or eight, if playing with Extra Suits).

Gameplay Flow

The game progresses in turns, proceeding clockwise from the starting player.

A Player's Turn:

During a player's turn, they have a choice:

1. Draw the top card from the deck.
2. Or take any face-up card from the discard area.

The first player of the game must draw a card from the deck.

At the end of each turn, the player must discard one card to the discard area. All cards in the discard area must be spread out so they are visible to everyone.

Actions with Cursed Items (if in play):

If playing with Cursed Items, during your turn, you can choose one of three options for your face-up Cursed Item card:

1. Do nothing with your Cursed Item card. It remains face-up in front of you, and you can use it on a later turn.
2. Discard your face-up Cursed Item card at the end of your turn. It goes to a separate face-up discard pile (not the main discard area). Then, you draw a new Cursed Item and place it face-up in front of you. If the Cursed Items deck runs out, shuffle the discards and reuse them.
3. Use the Cursed Item card. Some cards grant an action that replaces your regular turn; others can be played at any time during your turn, including before drawing from the deck or discard area, or after discarding. When you use a Cursed Item, turn it face-down and keep it in front of you. All face-down Cursed Item cards score at the end of the game (most, but not all, will have negative points). At the end of your turn, draw a new Cursed Item card to replace the one you played.

No matter which option you choose, at the end of your turn, you must always have exactly one face-up Cursed Item card and any number of face-down cards. You can check your face-down cards at any time, but never your opponents'.

Actions and How to Play

The main action in a turn is to draw and discard a card, aiming to optimize the combinations in your hand.

Card Structure:

Each card contains four pieces of information:

1. Name: Each card has a unique name.
2. Suit: Each suit has its own color. There are ten suits: Army, Leader, Wizard, Weapon, Artifact, Beast, Land, Weather, Flood, and Flame, plus three Wild cards. Extra suits (Building, Outsider, Undead) are marked with a skull.
3. Base Strength: Base strengths range from 0 to 40.
4. Bonus or Penalty: Every card has a Bonus or a Penalty (some have both), based on the other cards in your hand.

Bonus and Penalty Terms:

• WITH: If a card receives a Bonus WITH a certain other card or card type, it can only receive that Bonus once. Example: If you have the Magic Wand and two WIZARD, you only receive the +25 Bonus once.
• FOR EACH: A card that receives a Bonus or Penalty FOR EACH of a particular card type can receive that Bonus or Penalty once for each card you possess of the named variety.
• BLANKS/BLANKED: Certain Penalties state that they BLANK certain other cards. A card that has been BLANKED has no name, Bonus, Suit, or Penalties, and no Base Strength. A card is BLANKED unless one of the named cards is in your hand.
• CLEARS: A special type of Bonus is the ability to CLEAR Penalties or parts of Penalties from other cards. A card that has had its Penalty cleared still retains its Suit, Base Strength, and Bonus. Clearing occurs before any Penalties are applied.
• Wild Cards (Doppelgänger, Mirage, Shapeshifter): These cards take on the name and suit of any other card in the game from one of the named suits – it does not have to be a card in your hand. The Base Strength always remains 0. You can also choose not to use a Wild card's ability and keep its original suit and name.
• Book of Changes: Transforms the suit of another card. This must be done before any Bonuses or Penalties of any card are applied. It does not change the card's Penalties, Bonuses, or Base Strength. The card's name is also not changed, and any Bonuses on other cards that mention this card's name remain the same.

Order of Contradiction Resolution:

In rare cases where a chain of cards affects each other, follow this order:

1. First, decide what the Doppelgänger, Mirage, and Shapeshifter are, in that order.
2. Next, use the Book of Changes.
3. Then, follow any instructions that call for the clearing of a Penalty or part of a Penalty.
4. Finally, apply all Penalties, starting with cards not BLANKED by any other cards.

Specific Suit Rules (with Extra Suits):

• BUILDING: No special rules.
• OUTSIDER: The Genie and Leprechaun in the OUTSIDER suit allow new cards to be added to your hand at the end of the game. These draws happen before any BLANKINGS, Doppelganger effects, etc., and before any UNDEAD score. When using these three cards in any combination, you can never have more than nine cards in your hand for any reason. If at any time you have more than nine cards in hand, you must immediately discard cards to the discard area until you reach nine cards. Cards discarded in this way cannot have been used to draw extra cards.
• UNDEAD: Refer to the manual for details on this section.

End of Game and Scoring

End Game Trigger:

The game ends when there are ten cards in the discard area.

With the Cursed Hoard expansion (Extra Suits): The game ends when there are twelve cards in the discard area.

Two-player Realms variant: The game ends when both players have seven cards and there are at least twelve cards in the discard area. If playing with Extra Suits, the game ends when both players have eight cards and there are at least fourteen cards in the discard area.

Chaos Realms variant: The game ends when the time limit expires.

Scoring:

At the end of the game, add the Base Strengths, applying any Bonuses and Penalties, of all cards in your hand. Cards only care about what is in your hand (except Mirage and Shapeshifter which can copy the name and suit of a card you don't have). Ignore any cards that are Blanked. Cards held by your opponents have no effect on your hand's score.

Face-down Cursed Item cards score at the end of the game (most, but not all, will have negative points).

Victory Condition:

The player with the highest scoring hand wins. In case of a tie, the hand with the lowest total Base Strength wins.

Tips for Winning

• Pay attention to the Bonuses and Penalties of the cards in your hand to form the best combinations.
• Observe the cards in the discard area, as they can be crucial for completing your combinations or denying those of opponents.
• Carefully consider using Wild cards like Mirage and Shapeshifter to copy names and suits of cards you don't possess, in order to activate Bonuses.