Amfibido: A dojo duel Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Setup
  • Discard Pile
  • Cooldown Zone
  • Board Layout
• Cards
  • Card Levels
  • Card Anatomy
  • Card Types
• Gameplay
  • 1 → Draft Phase
  • 2 → Action Phase
  • 3 → Fight Phase
  • 4 → End of Round
  • The Next Round
  • End of Round Example
• Keywords
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Meet the Fighters

Game Overview

In Amfibido, players draft teams of fighters and compete in head-to-head dojo battles. The objective is to win 4 rounds before your opponent to become the Grand Sensei. Each round consists of battles across three lanes, referred to as dojos. To win a round, a player must win battles in two out of the three dojos.

Setup

1. Sort the 5 level decks I to V and shuffle each in a separate deck.
2. Each player places dojo cards 1, 2 and 3 and a cooldown zone card in front of them, aligned with the matching dojo cards of their opponent.
3. Place the scoreboard next to the play area.
4. Place the round marker on round 1 of the score board.
5. Place a player token on the 0 of both score paths of the score board.
6. Randomly choose a starting player.
7. Each player draws 3 cards from the level I deck.
8. Skip the first game - Shuffle the Sensei deck and deal 3 cards to each player. Each player chooses 1 to keep and places it face-up on the sensei spot, and puts the other 2 cards on the bottom of that deck. You may look at your starting hand first.

Discard Pile

There is a common face down discard pile. Fighters and equipment that get replaced are retired, and are moved to the discard pile.

Cooldown Zone

Each player has a cooldown zone, this keeps track of cards that cannot be used in the next round, but will be added back to your hand after that round.

Board Layout

The board diagram labels the areas as follows: the level decks I to V down the left side; Opponent and You rows, each with a hand of cards, three Dojo 1 / Dojo 2 / Dojo 3 lanes, and a Cooldown Zone; a Discard Pile on the right; and a Score Board on the right.

Cards

There are 4 different card types: fighters, equipment, actions and sensei. All cards have a card type and level. A card can also have a base power, fighter type and an optional ability.

Card Levels

The card level indicates the strength of the card, you will get access to higher level cards when the game progresses.

• I - White Belt → Novice fighters
• II - Yellow Belt → Adept fighters
• III - Red Belt → Experienced fighters
• IV - Black Belt → Elite fighters
• V - Pink Belt → Champions

Card Anatomy

The example card (Gecko) is labelled: card type, level, base power, fighter type, and ability. Cards can have all kinds of abilities. This example card has an action ability (marked with the ability icon): it can be used during the action phase by paying the underlined cost. Its text reads: "Discard a card: Switcheroo this fighter."

Card Types

Fighters - Put these into your dojo's to fight for you. They have a base power, a fighter type and abilities. You have to field a fighter in a dojo to compete in that dojo.

Equipment - A dojo can have one piece of equipment that the fighter can use in the fight. Equipment often gives a power boost that is added to the fighter's base power. In addition, there are many equipment with special abilities.

Actions - Action cards have various powerful effects that will aid you in the game and are discarded after use. Combo moves are a type of action that adds a power bonus and are played on top of a fighter to add their bonus power. You can play multiple combo moves on a fighter.

Combo moves are played on a fighter, and are attached to that fighter until the end of the round. So the power boost will also be applicable if the fighter moves to another dojo, or if the fighter is transformed into a different fighter.

Sensei - Choose a sensei to teach your fighter's additional skills. The sensei ability will be in effect during the entire game. Action abilities on sensei's can be used once each round during the action phase.

Sensei are an optional addition to the game. When learning to play the game it it is recommended to play without them.

Gameplay

The game is played in rounds. The first player to win 4 rounds wins the game. Each round has 4 phases:

1. Draft Phase – Pick new cards
2. Action Phase – Add cards to your dojos
3. Fight Phase – Resolve the fights
4. End of Round – Recover & reset

The player who wins the most dojo fights wins the round, and moves up their score marker on the game board. After end of round, the next round begins unless a player has already won 4 rounds.

1 → Draft Phase

At the start of each round players draft cards to add to their hand. The cards dealt are based on the round number shown by the round marker.

Each player simultaneously:

• Draws 3 cards from the indicated levels
• Picks 1 card to keep, and adds it to their hand
• Passes the remaining 2 cards to their opponent
• Picks 1 card more from the 2 cards received from their opponent
• Places the last card face-down in the discard pile

Starting with the 3 initial cards you draw in the setup, and drafting 2 additional cards, players start round 1 with a total of 5 cards.

2 → Action Phase

Add cards to your dojos.

Players alternate turns, starting with the starting player. On your turn, you must choose exactly one action. After you take your action, your turn ends and play passes to your opponent. Turns continue to alternate back and forth in this way until both players pass.

On your turn you may:

• Play a fighter card - Put one of the fighter cards from your hand in one of the three dojos.
• Play an equipment card - Put one of the equipment cards from your hand in one of the three dojos.
  • → If a fighter or equipment is already in a dojo, replace it with the new one and move the old one to the discard pile.
• Play an action card - Resolve the card's effect, then place it in the discard pile. If it's a combo move, place the card on top of a fighter instead—it stays in play until the fight is resolved.
• Activate an action ability on a fighter, equipment or sensei - Pay the associated underlined cost of the action ability, then resolve the effect.
• Pass - Once you pass, you can't take any more actions this round. The other player is allowed to keep taking actions until they also pass. The fight phase starts when both players have passed.

3 → Fight Phase

Resolve the fights.

After both players pass, resolve the fight in each dojo.

• If neither player has a fighter in a dojo, the result is a draw.
• If only one player has a fighter in a dojo, they automatically win the fight.

When two fighters are present:

• Compare the total power of the two fighters in a dojo.
• The fighter with the highest total power wins the fight.
• If the total power of two fighters is equal, the result is a draw.

Total Power is made up of:

• Base power fighter - the number printed on the fighter card.
• Base power equipment - the number printed on the equipment card (+1 in the example shown).
• Power from abilities - the bonus from abilities (+2 in the example shown).
• Power from combo moves - the bonus from combo moves (+3 in the example shown).

Abilities and Combo Moves are counted when resolving the fight. For example: "Jane has a Tree Frog in her dojo, this gains +3 additional power from a combo move. She played a Roundhouse Kick combo move (+3) on it. The fighter gains +6 power in this phase."

Tip: Keep track of cards that are discarded with effects that give bonuses to other cards. For example discarding a card with an effect that gives it additional power. This makes it easier to check the state of the game when the fight phase starts.

You win a round by:

• Winning 2 or 3 fights, or
• Winning 1 fight and drawing the other 2.

A round ends in a draw if:

• All 3 fights are draws, or
• Each player wins 1 fight and draws another.

The player who wins the most fights this round claims victory and advances their score marker one space along the score path. If the round is a draw, the score marker stays on the same spot.

4 → End of Round

At the end of the round you reset the board following these 4 steps:

Step 1 → Players return cards from their cooldown zone to their hand. Do this first because cards added to the cooldown zone this round should stay there until next round.

Step 2 → Combo moves are discarded. Combo moves with the boomerang icon are placed in the cooldown zone instead.

Step 3 → Return all fighters that lost the fight to the players hand. Fighters that won or drew the fight and equipment remain in the dojo. Knocked out fighters are placed in the cooldown zone instead. Fighters can be knocked out with the knockout ability or when it's explicitly mentioned on the card.

Step 4 → Move the round marker to the next round. If multiple rounds have ended in a draw and round 9 begins, leave the round marker on round 8. Continue drawing cards from the level IV deck until the game concludes.

The Next Round

The winner of the round becomes the starting player of the next round. If the round is a draw, the non-starting player of this round becomes the starting player.

If a player has won their 4th round, the game ends and that player wins the game.

End of Round Example

The manual illustrates the end of round with a worked example board. Its callouts read:

• Step 1 - Cards in cooldown go back to the hand.
• Step 2 - Combo moves are discarded. Combo moves with boomerang go to cooldown.
• Step 3 - Loses and goes back to the hand. Knocked out fighters go to cooldown.

Keywords

Active deck - The active decks are the level decks currently available for drawing at the start of each round, based on the round marker.

Transform - Fighters or equipment transform to a random fighter or equipment of the next level.

• Retire the fighter or equipment, then reveal cards from the next level's deck until you reveal a card of the type you are transforming. Put that card into the dojo. Then put the other revealed cards on the bottom of the deck in a random order.

When you transform a level V card, it will transform into another level V card.

Boomerang - Boomerang cards are put into the cooldown zone at the end of the round. They can be used again after the next round.

Knockout - Fighters that are knocked out are placed in the cooldown zone instead of the going back to the hand after the fight, and won't be able to fight in the next round.

• Fighters with the knockout ability will knock out the opposing fighter when they win the fight.

Switcheroo - You may switch the fighter or equipment in a dojo with another fighter or equipment in your dojo's, or move it to an empty spot.

Neutralize - Neutralized abilities are ignored, including additional power bonuses. This only applies to card abilities, not the base power or fighter type of the card.

Frequently Asked Questions

Boomerang: I play a combo move with Boomerang on one of my fighters, then replace it with another fighter, what happens?

Combo moves that are attached to fighters that are retired are immediately discarded to the discard pile.

Switcheroo: What happens when I play a combo move on my fighter when I have a White Belt and I then Switcheroo my fighter to another dojo?

The total power will be checked when the fight is resolved, after both players have passed. In this case the fighter will not get 3 additional power.

Sparring Boots (I) and Snapping Turtle (II): I have a Sparring Boots in my dojo and I win the round with a Snapping Turtle in the same dojo, what happens?

You are allowed to determine the order of effects of cards you control. This means you can either have the Snapping Turtle retire, or return it to your hand.

Twin Sai (III) and Giant Salamander (IV): I replace or transform my Twin Sai, am I still allowed to have a second equipment in my dojo?

Yes, the second equipment will always stay in that dojo, even when the effect is neutralized. You may also switcheroo either of the equipment to another dojo.

Focus (I) and Gamble (IV): What happens with revealed cards?

Cards that you reveal from the top of a deck are always put back on the bottom of the deck in a random order.

Komodo Dragon (V): How does Komodo Dragon work exactly?

Additional power gained from combo moves apply to both dojo's because they are played on the Komodo Dragon. Power bonus from equipment only applies to the dojo the Komodo Dragon is fighting in.

Rebirth (II), Metamorphosis (III) and Silent Lee: Does Metamorphosis give 3 additional power when played on a fighter that is equipped with White Belt?

No, if a card has no power value, it does not give additional power with effects. This also counts for Silent Lee with equipment without base power.

Meet the Fighters

Discover the unique fighters of Amfibido, each with their own fighting style and special abilities. Every warrior bears an embroidered crest on their outfit—a symbol of their origin and chosen discipline.

• Frogs - Specialty: Karate. Ability: Frogs receive additional bonuses from combo moves due to their expertise in various combat techniques.
• Toads - Specialty: Kung Fu. Ability: Toads can channel the willpower of other fighters in your hand, aiding their growth in combat.
• Salamanders - Specialty: Ninjitsu. Ability: Salamanders excel at wielding all kinds of weapons. They receive additional bonuses from weapons and sometimes wield multiple weapons.
• Crocodiles - Specialty: Boxing. Ability: Crocodiles are trained in strength, packing a powerful punch. Some can even knock out their opponent with a single blow.
• Turtles - Specialty: Wrestling. Ability: Turtles are bulky and powerful wrestlers, but their size comes with a disadvantage.
• Snakes - Specialty: Jiu-Jitsu. Ability: Snakes are skilled in cooperation and gain strength in numbers.
• Lizards - Specialty: Street Fighting. Ability: Lizards, fierce street fighters, will do anything to gain an advantage, having honed their skills through sheer experience.
• Spawn - Specialty: Metamorphosis. Ability: Spawns are unstable and ever-changing. They can transform into new forms when triggered.