How to Play
Monsters of War: Official Rules
Game Components
● Players: 2 or more. (A full deck set supports up to two players; add decks for more players.)
● Monsters Cards (42 cards)
● Gambits of War Cards (20 cards)
● War Cards (10 cards)
● Total Cards 72 cards (52 in the Battle Deck, 20 in the Gambits Deck)
Objective
Be the player who has won the most cards across their Spoils of War Pile and Battle Deck after three full rounds ("Days of War").
Setting up for Battle
1. Prepare Decks: Separate the cards into three initial piles:
○ Monsters & War: Combine the 42 Monsters of War cards and the 10 War Cards.
○ Gambits: The 20 Gambits of War cards.
2. Deal Gambits: Shuffle the Gambits of War Deck and deal out all 20 cards one at a time, face-down, to each player. This is your personal Gambits Deck.
3. Deal Battle Decks: Shuffle the combined Monsters & War pile (52 cards) and deal out all cards one at a time, face-down, to each player. This is your Battle Deck.
4. Starting Position: Each player places their Battle Deck and Gambits Deck face-down in front of them. Players may not look at their cards until they are played.
Gameplay: The Days of War
1. The Battle (Standard Play)
Play proceeds simultaneously, one card at a time.
1. Both players simultaneously flip the top card of their Battle Deck face-up into the center area, known as the Battlefield.
2. Determine Winner: The player whose Monster Card has the higher Attack Power wins the battle.
3. Spoils of War: The winner takes both cards and places them face-down into their personal Spoils of War Pile.
4. Play continues with both players flipping the next card from their Battle Deck.
2. The War Sequence
A War is triggered if either of the following occurs:
● A player draws and plays a War Card.
● (Optional Rule) Both players simultaneously play a Monster Card with the same Attack Power.
When a War is triggered, the following sequence occurs:
1. Initial Cards Remain: The cards that triggered the War (the initial pair) remain face-up in the Battlefield.
2. Lay Down Cards: Each player places two cards face-down from their Battle Deck on top of the initial cards in the Battlefield. ○ Exception: If two War Cards triggered the War, each player places four cards face-down instead of two.
3. Draw Gambits: Each player immediately draws the top one card from their Gambits Deck. These cards must be played immediately. ○ Gambit Effect: Gambits of War cards modify the next played Monster Card (e.g., add Attack Power, shuffle the deck, etc.). The rules for the specific Gambits must be followed. (See Gambit Card Effects (Example: Ambush) Below.)
4. Final Attack: Each player simultaneously flips the top card of their Battle Deck face-up onto their stack of face-down cards. This is the War Attack Card.
5. Determine War Winner: The winner is the player whose War Attack Card, modified by any active Gambit of War effects, has the higher Attack Power.
6. Spoils: The winner takes all cards in the Battlefield (the initial cards, the face-down cards, and the War Attack Cards) and places them into their Spoils of War Pile.
7. Discard Gambits: All Gambits of War cards used in the War are discarded to a separate discard pile.
3. Continuing War (A War Card Drawn During a War Sequence.)
If a War Attack Card is drawn during a War Sequence (after all Gambit effects are applied) result in a continued War.
1. The War immediately repeats.
2. Discard the Gambits used in the previous War.
3. Repeat the full War Sequence (Steps 2-7 above), drawing a new Gambit, laying down more cards, and flipping a new War Attack Card.
4. End of a Day (Round)
● A "Day of War" (Round) ends when one player runs out of cards in their Battle Deck.
● Shuffling for the Next Day:
○ Both players gather all the cards from their Spoils of War Pile.
○ They shuffle these cards together to create a new Battle Deck for the next Day.
○ The game proceeds to the next Day of War (up to 3 total).
Winning the Game
The game can end in one of two ways:
1. Standard Win (Most Common): After three Days of War (Rounds) have passed, the game ends. Each player counts all the cards remaining in their Spoils of War Pile and their Battle Deck. The player with the most total cards wins the game.
2. Sudden Victory: If a player collects all of the Battle Cards and Spoils of War Cards from the other player(s) during any Day, that player wins the game immediately.