Attack on Titan: Deck-Building Game
Attack on Titan: Deck-Building Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
168 Game Cards
- 28 Courage Starter Cards
- 12 Thrust Starter Cards
- 80 Main Deck Cards
- 14 3D Gear Cards
- 3 Titan Appears Cards
- 20 Wound Cards
- 10 Titans on Attack Cards
- 1 Randomizer Card
Other Components
- 8 Oversized Hero Cards
- 10 Oversized Archenemy Titan Cards
- 5 Wall Tiles
- 10 Wall Tokens
- 8 Hero Standees
- 4 Hero Bases
- 1 Round Token
- 1 Titan Trap Token
- 18 Damage Tokens
- 1 Rulebook
Overview
In Attack on Titan: Deck-Building Game, you take on the role of Eren, Mikasa, Armin or one of their Scout Regiment allies to save the last bastion of humanity from the Titan onslaught! While you begin armed with only your Courage, you will add more powerful Allies, Equipment, and Maneuver cards to your deck to help you defend the walls of your city from being destroyed. Modifying your deck as you play is what makes this a "deck-building game." You will need to work together to survive. In the end, you win or lose as a team!
Win or Lose as a Team
Your team wins the game by defeating all three Archenemy Titans! (Players do not need to defeat all the standard Titans to win.)
All players lose the game at the end of a round if any of the following conditions are met:
- All five Walls are breached.
- The Castle (main deck) is empty.
- Three or more Heroes have died in a 2- or 3-player game. Two or more Heroes have died in a 4-player game.
Anatomy of a Card
- Card Name: The name of the card. Two cards are considered different if they have different names.
- Card Type: The different card types are Ally, Equipment, Maneuver, Location, Starter, Titan, and Titans on Attack.
- Subtype: Subtypes are used to group specific cards into additional categories. Most cards do not have a subtype. The card to the right is a Level 1 Archenemy Titan. The card below it is a Move card.
- Game Text: This tells you what the card does. Most card text is only resolved when you play the card. Location and Titan cards have text that is active once they enter the Districts.
- Victory Point Value: This is a fully cooperative game. Your score does not matter at the end of the game. There is only one card in this base game that references the VP value of a card. Otherwise, this number is primarily for combining cards from this game with other competitive Cerberus games.
- Cost: This number is how much Power you need to spend to buy or defeat this card.
- Wall Damage: Found only on Titan cards. This is the amount of damage this Titan deals to the Wall in its District at the end of each round.
- Set Tag: The base game or expansion this card is from.
- Hit Points: Found only on Archenemy Titan cards. This is the amount of damage you need to deal to this Titan before you may attempt to defeat it.
Game Setup
1. Select Heroes and Build Starter Decks
Deal each player two random oversized Hero cards and they choose one to play. You may discuss which Hero to choose with your teammates to maximize your synergies. Next, grab the Hero standee that matches your Hero, place it into a plastic base, and then place it on your oversized Hero. Each player begins with a Starter deck of seven Courage cards and three Thrust cards. Set the unchosen Hero cards and standees to the side of the play space and return the rest of the Starter cards to the box.
2. Sort Oversized Archenemy Titans
Separate the Archenemy Titan cards into three separate stacks based on their Archenemy Level (the number next to the subtype "Archenemy"). Choose one random Archenemy Titan of each Level and stack them face down to the play area with Level 1 on top and Level 3 on the bottom. Do not look at these cards. Return the rest of the Archenemy cards to the box without looking at them.
3. Build the City Districts and Stacks
Place the five Wall tiles (with the breached side face down) in a line in the center of the play area with each tile oriented in the same direction. Each Wall tile represents a single District. Place two Wall Sina tokens on the leftmost Wall tile. Then, place two Wall Rose tokens on each of the next two Wall tiles. Finally, place two Wall Maria tokens on each of the two rightmost Wall tiles.
Place the 14 3D Gear, 10 Titans on Attack, and 20 Wound cards into three separate stacks to the right of the Wall tiles. 3D Gear and Wound cards are placed face up. Titans on Attack cards are shuffled and placed face down. Rotate these stacks parallel to the Walls to help distinguish them from the Districts.
4. Build the Main Deck
Set aside the three Titan Appears cards. Shuffle all of the remaining standard-sized Equipment, Ally, Maneuver, Location, and Titan cards together to start the main deck. This deck should contain 80 cards. Split the shuffled main deck into four equal piles, each with 20 cards.
A. Place the Titan Appears 3 card face down on top of Pile #4 to start the main deck. B. Place the Titan Appears 2 card face down on top of Pile #3 and place Pile #3 on top of the main deck. C. Place the Titan Appears 1 card face down on top of Pile #2 and place Pile #2 on top of the main deck. D. Place Pile #1 on top of the main deck.
5. Fill the Districts
Now place the main deck (referred to as the "Castle") to the left of the Wall tiles. Place one card from the bottom of the main deck into each District (below each Wall tile) starting with the outermost District and working inward toward the Castle. Then, return any Titans in a District to the bottom of the Castle (starting with the innermost District and working outward). Do not replace the cards you put on the bottom of the Castle. This may cause some Districts to have no cards at the start of the game. The three stacks of cards and the Castle are not part of any District.
Once you have arranged the Castle, the Walls, and the stacks, it will look something like the setup diagram in the rulebook. Your opening cards in the Districts will vary.
Each player shuffles their 10-card Starter deck and draws five cards. At the start of each player's first turn, they will place their Hero's standee on the inside space (below any Wall) of any District.
Gameplay
Round Structure
- At the start of each round (including the first), add cards from the top of the main deck to the Districts equal to the number of players plus one. For example, three total cards are added each round in a 2-player game (not three per District).
- As a group, choose a player to be the first player this round. Give them the Round Token.
- The player with the Round Token takes their turn and then flips the token over. Play proceeds clockwise. The Round Token remains with the first player.
- When the player to the right of the first player has completed their turn, the round is over.
Adding Cards to the Districts
The Castle (main deck) represents the central population of your city and the origin of the new cards that are added to the Districts. Each District consists of a Wall with one "inside space" below the Wall and one "outside space" above the Wall. At the start of each round, cards equal to the number of players plus one are added to the Districts from the Castle.
Whenever a card is added to the Districts, add it to the District with the fewest number of cards inside its Wall. Locations and Titans are not considered when counting cards inside a District's Wall. A tie is broken in favor of the District furthest from the Castle.
There can be multiple cards inside and outside the Wall of each District. Titan cards are always placed into outside spaces. Ally, Equipment, and Maneuver cards are always placed into inside spaces. Locations are placed onto Walls (more on Locations below). When a standard Titan first appears in a District, resolve its text, which may include an Ambush against any Heroes in that District. If you still have more cards to add to the Districts, pause adding more cards until you have finished resolving the Titan's text. Then, continue placing cards.
If a Titan Appears card is added to a District, the next Archenemy Titan is added to that District (see Titan Appears Cards below for more details).
When adding cards to the Districts each round, one player should take all the cards (e.g., four cards in a 3-player game) into their hand off the top of the main deck before placing any cards, so you don't forget how many you already placed while resolving Titan Ambushes. Make sure to keep the cards in the same order they were on top of the deck.
Adding Cards Example: Each round in a 3-player game, four cards are added to the Districts. If we start with the same initial Line-Up as at setup, Card #1 is placed into District 2 since it is empty. Now the Districts are all tied for the fewest number of cards. The next card will be placed into District 5, since it is the outermost of the tied Districts. Card #2 is a Titan! It is placed outside the Wall opposite Christa Lenz. At this time, Mikasa, who is in the same District as the Titan, resolves its Ambush. The Districts are still tied (only count cards inside the Wall), so Card #3 is also placed into District 5. Card #4 is placed into District 4, which is now the outermost District with the fewest cards inside its Wall. Now that the players have seen all the new cards, they decide who will go first this round.
Determining First Player
Each round, after adding cards to the Districts, the players as a group decide which player will go first in that round. The chosen player receives the Round Token. If players cannot arrive at an agreement, the player that currently has the Round Token chooses another player to give the Round Token. If this is the first round of the game, give the Round Token to a random player.
Initially, turn order is usually not important. Later in the game, players with cards that help other Heroes may want to go earlier in the turn order. Once the Archenemy Titans are in play, you will want to decide who has the best chance of defeating them. Having the other players go before the most powerful Hero gives the other players a chance to soften up the Archenemy Titan for the killing blow.
Taking Your Turn
You take your turn by playing cards from your hand face up in front of you for all players to see. Aside from Wound cards, which must be played first, you may play the cards in your hand in any order you choose. Each time you play a card, resolve the game text on that card from top to bottom. Leave the cards you play in your play zone in front of you. Do not put played cards directly into your discard pile.
Cards have a variety of abilities, the most common of which are generating Power and Move. Keep track of the Power and Move that the cards you play generate. At any point during your turn, you can spend your Power to buy or defeat cards in your space and spend your Move to travel to adjacent spaces. A turn can consist of both buying cards for your deck and defeating Titans, if you have the Move you need to travel inside and outside the Walls. You do not have to play all the cards in your hand before you start making purchases or moving. You may play additional cards after buying and/or moving.
You may choose to end your turn when you are done playing cards, buying cards, and moving. You do not have to play all the non-Wound cards in your hand or spend all your Power or Move before ending your turn. However, cards you do not play and unspent Power and Move do not carry over to your next turn. It is normally a good idea to play all your cards and spend as much of your Power as you can. Remember that you cannot end your turn with any Wound cards in your hand. Once you have finished your turn, you will refresh your play area (see "Ending Your Turn" below) and draw five cards from your deck. The player to your left will then begin their turn, unless that player has the Round Token in front of them. If they do, proceed to the End of the Round.
Buying and Defeating Cards
You may buy/defeat cards in your Hero's space and other spaces you move to during your turn. Each side of the Wall has only one space, not one space per card. If there are multiple cards in your space, you may buy any of them. Inside the Walls, you can buy cards to add to your deck. Cards you buy inside the Walls are immediately placed into your discard pile. Discard piles are always face up and may be looked through at any time. You will need to journey outside the Walls to defeat Titans.
You can buy and/or defeat any number of available cards with combined costs less than or equal to the total Power you have generated this turn. Remember you can only buy cards that are in your space. For example, your Courage cards each give you +1 Power. If you play four of them and no other cards with any Power bonuses, your total Power for the turn is 4. You can buy a single card with cost 2, 3, or 4, or even two cards each with a cost of 2, assuming these options are available to you. Unlike all other cards in the game, you can buy 3D Gear cards during your turn no matter where your Hero is. You may buy more than one 3D Gear during your turn. Wound and Titans on Attack cards cannot be bought.
Buy vs Defeat: You buy Ally, Equipment, and Maneuver cards by paying their cost. When you buy a card, it goes to your discard pile. You defeat Titan cards by paying their cost. Defeated Titan cards are returned to the game box.
Moving Your Hero
If your current space does not have the cards you want, you can use Move to reach other spaces. Like Power, the total amount of Move on the cards you play determines which spaces you can reach. For example, Thrust cards each give you Move 2. If you play two Thrust cards in the same turn, your Move total is 4 this turn.
Moving from your current space to an adjacent space reduces your Move total by 1. Each inside space of a District is adjacent to the outside space of its District and the inside space of each neighboring District. Each outside space of a District is adjacent to the inside space of its District and the outside space of each neighboring District. You can move between inside spaces, between outside spaces, and across Walls in any combination. Note that the Districts on each end are not adjacent to each other. You would need to spend Move 4 to travel between District 1 and District 5.
You do not have to move immediately when you play a card that generates Move. Just keep a running total as you play cards and you can start to spend your Move at any point during your turn.
Resolving Card Abilities
Each time you play a card, immediately resolve the game text on that card from top to bottom. The abilities on cards you play are mandatory unless it says, "you may." If you cannot fully resolve the text on a card, resolve as much of it as possible. When an ability tells you to draw a card, that card is drawn from your own deck. When a card ability refers to "this District," it means the current District of the Titan or Hero's standee.
Ending Your Turn
- Announce that you are ending your turn. Your turn is now over.
- Put any cards remaining in your hand into your discard pile.
- Resolve any "end of turn" abilities.
- Put all non-Wound cards you control into your discard pile. Lose unspent Power and Move.
- Draw five cards from your deck, shuffling your discard pile if needed.
- The player to your left starts their turn, unless that player has the Round Token in front of them. If they do, proceed to the End of the Round.
End of the Round
Once each player has taken a turn in the round:
- Each Archenemy Titan regenerates 1 Hit Point per player.
- Resolve "end of each round" Titan Ongoing abilities.
- Each Titan damages the Wall in its District. Heroes sharing a space with a Titan may prevent this damage by gaining Wounds.
- Check if any of the loss conditions have been met.
- Flip the Round Token over to the Start of Round side and then start a new round.
Example Turn
- On your turn, you have four Courage cards and one Thrust card in your hand. Playing all these cards generates 4 Power and Move 2.
- The card in your current space has a cost of 5, which you cannot afford. You could choose to stay in your current space and spend your 4 Power to buy two 3D Gear, which each cost 2.
- However, an adjacent District has a card you really want, so you spend a Move to get there.
- You spend your 4 Power to buy Swords in your new space and put the card into your discard pile. Your Power is all spent, but you still have Move 1 remaining. You could stay where you are or move.
- You decide to spend your last Move to hop over the Wall. While you don't have the Power to kill the Titan right now, being in its space at the end of the round means you can prevent the damage it would deal to this District's Wall by gaining a Wound.
Wounds
Your Heroes may become Wounded while engaging with the Titan threats. When you gain a Wound, take a Wound from the Wound stack and put it into your discard pile. Once you shuffle your discard pile, these Wound cards will be in your deck and eventually in your hand. During your turn, if you have any Wound cards in your hand, you must play all of them before playing any other cards. If you draw a Wound during your turn, you must play it before playing any other cards or ending your turn. You may spend your Power and Move while you have a Wound in your hand. This means that if you draw a second Wound mid-turn, you can still use the Power you have already generated to buy cards before you die. Unlike all other cards, when a Wound is destroyed, it goes back to the Wound stack.
Wound cards have the "Ongoing" keyword, so they are not put into your discard pile at the end of the turn you play them. While you control a Wound, if you play or gain another Wound before your next turn, your Hero dies (see next section for more details). Gaining multiple Wounds at once does not kill your Hero if you don't already control any Wounds.
Hero Death
When your Hero dies, if it is your turn, your turn immediately ends, even if you are about to land a finishing blow on a Titan. Whether or not it was your turn, place all Wounds you control and any in your discard pile back on the Wound stack. Any Wound cards in your deck remain there. Destroy all cards in your hand and any other cards you control. Put your Hero's card and standee to the side of the play area, creating a memorial of fallen Heroes.
Choose a new Hero from among those that were not chosen for this game. Now draw your new hand of five cards, and play continues. At the start of your next turn, place your new Hero's standee in the inside space of any District.
Ambush
An Ambush is a surprise attack from a Titan or Titans on Attack card. Standard Titans only Ambush Heroes in their District when they first appear. Archenemy Titans Ambush Heroes in their space at the end of each round. Ambushes on Titans on Attack cards only affect the Hero that drew the card, unless it says, "each Hero."
When a Hero is Ambushed, they may use a Defense card to protect themselves. Each affected Hero who does not use a Defense resolves the Ambush card's text. If multiple Heroes must resolve the same Ambush, start with the Hero closest to the player with the Round Token and go clockwise. If an Ambush causes you to discard or destroy a card in your hand, do not immediately draw a replacement card. You will have fewer cards to use during your next turn. If an Ambush gives you a choice, you must choose an option that you can fully complete, if possible.
If an Ambush destroys a card you control, reduce your Power total by the amount of Power that card generated (even if you already spent that Power) and ignore any of the destroyed card's lingering effects. A destroyed card still counts as being played but you no longer control destroyed cards.
Destroy Cards Example: If Miche Zacharius is destroyed, you would reduce your Power by 2 and would not draw any additional cards for defeating Titans this turn. You do not undo fully resolved effects like the card destroyed by Pay Tribute, nor the placement of the Titan Trap token.
Ambush Example: You and another Hero are in the same District when a Titan (9-Meter) appears. You are earlier in the turn order, so you resolve the Ambush first. You decide to discard Cloak from your hand to avoid the Ambush. The Defense ability on Cloak lets you draw two cards and destroy a Courage in your hand. Your teammate does not have a Defense card in their hand and must resolve the Ambush. They do not have an Ally in their hand to discard, so they must gain a Wound.
Defense Cards
Defense cards have the bold keyword "Defense:" in their game text. These cards allow you to avoid the negative effects of an Ambush. To use a Defense card, it must be in your hand. Players are not required to use a Defense card when Ambushed. Once a Hero avoids an Ambush, they cannot use any more Defense cards against that Ambush. Most Defense cards give you a reward when you use them to avoid an Ambush. The reward is listed after "If you do" on your Defense card. This text is ignored when playing a Defense card during your turn. Defense cards only protect the Hero utilizing it, unless the card specifically says "each Hero" in its Defense text.
Most Defense cards require you to discard them to avoid an Ambush; this is not playing the card. Do not resolve any of the text above the word "Defense:" or trigger any abilities that require you to play a card with the Defense card's card type. If an Ambush would have no effect on a Hero, such as gaining a Wound when the stack is empty, you may still use a Defense against it.
Titans
These gargantuan enemies of humanity appear in two varieties. Standard Titans represent the meandering Titans that are easily killed by the highly trained Scouts. Archenemy Titans represent more dangerous Titans and require teamwork to defeat. When either variety of Titan appears in a District, place it in the outside space of that District. At the end of each round, Titans deal damage to the Wall of the District they are at based on their Wall damage value. When you defeat a Titan, return it to the game box instead of gaining it.
Standard Titans
These Titans have a red card frame and cost 5 or less. Whenever a standard Titan first appears, it may attack the cards and Heroes in its District. If there is any text above the Titan's Ambush ability, resolve that text first. This may destroy cards in the Titan's District and cannot be prevented with a Defense card. Then, resolve the Ambush text against any Heroes in the Titan's District (both the inside and outside space). All the text on standard Titans only applies when it first appears, not every round.
Standard Titans must be defeated in one shot by spending Power equal to their cost. You must be in the same space as a standard Titan to defeat it.
Archenemy Titans
Archenemy Titans are larger cards with a black card frame and cost 6 or more. At the start of each game, three Archenemy Titans are set aside and enter the game via Titan Appears cards. In addition to a different card frame and larger size, Archenemy Titans have Ongoing abilities, Hit Points, and can regenerate.
Titan Ongoing Abilities
Archenemy Titans have Ongoing abilities that are active while they are in the Districts. Most Ongoing abilities resolve at the end of each round, even if there are no Heroes in their District. A Defense cannot be used against a Titan Ongoing ability unless it causes an Ambush. If there are multiple Titan Ongoing abilities, resolve them in order from lowest to highest level.
Titan Appears Cards
When a Titan Appears card is added to a District, immediately resolve its text. This takes the next Archenemy Titan from those set aside at the start of the game and adds it to the District the Titan Appears card was added to. This Archenemy Titan is placed into the outside space of that District and will now terrorize the Heroes and try to destroy Walls. The Titan Appears card is returned to the game box.
If a card ability would cause a Titan Appears card to be played, destroyed, or otherwise removed from the Castle, perform that action on the next card in the Castle and return the Titan Appears card to the top of the Castle.
Hit Points
Archenemy Titans have Hit Points that must be whittled down before you can attempt to kill these monstrosities. A Titan's Hit Points are found inside the blood drip icon at the bottom right of the card, next to its cost. While in the same space as a Titan, you can spend Power to deal damage to its Hit Points. Deal 1 damage to the Titan for each Power spent. Power used to damage a Titan cannot also be used to buy or defeat cards. Some cards, such as Cannon, have abilities that deal damage without spending Power. Damage is only applied to Archenemy Titans and never to standard Titans.
When damage is dealt to an Archenemy Titan, place damage tokens on it equal to the damage dealt. You cannot place more damage on a Titan than its Hit Point value. Damage persists between rounds. While an Archenemy Titan has damage equal to its Hit Points, a Hero can rise to the challenge and attempt to defeat it by paying the cost of the Archenemy Titan in Power (not damage). The same Hero can add the last damage to a Titan and continue spending Power to attempt to defeat it in the same turn (more details on defeating Archenemy Titans below).
Regeneration
During the end of each round, each Archenemy Titan regenerates 1 Hit Point per player in the game. Remove damage from the Titan by removing damage tokens from it, making change as needed. After regenerating, a Titan will never have damage on it equal to its Hit Points, so it will need to be dealt more damage before an attempt to defeat it can be made next round.
Regeneration Example: at the end of each round in a standard difficulty 2-player game, you would remove 2 damage from each Archenemy Titan in play.
Defeating an Archenemy Titan
Before you can attempt to defeat an Archenemy Titan in your space, two conditions must be met:
- The Archenemy Titan must have damage on it equal to its Hit Points.
- You must have a total amount of Power equal to or greater than its cost (including discounts from cards like Kill Shot and Swords).
If both conditions are met, you can declare that you are attempting to defeat the Archenemy Titan. However, Archenemy Titans are more unpredictable than standard Titans and fight back.
After playing all the cards you want to use to defeat an Archenemy Titan, draw and resolve the top card of the Titans on Attack stack. While you do not have to play every card in your hand before attempting to defeat an Archenemy Titan, you cannot play more cards from your hand to aid the kill attempt after resolving the Titans on Attack card. It can be advantageous to hold a Defense card in your hand as many Titans on Attack cards have Ambush effects that you can protect yourself from with a Defense card in your hand. Most Titans on Attack cards also increase the cost of the Titan, so you may need to generate more Power than the printed cost of the Titan to be able to defeat it. Remember that any text prior to the word "Ambush" on Titans on Attack cards cannot be prevented with a Defense card.
Now, compare the Archenemy Titan's total cost (with modifications from Titans on Attack cards) to your current Power total (minus any cards that were destroyed by Titans on Attack cards).
- If your remaining Power is less than the Archenemy Titan's total cost, you fail to defeat it and you lose all the Power you have generated this turn.
- If your remaining Power is equal to or greater than the Archenemy Titan's total cost, spend Power equal to its cost and defeat the Archenemy Titan, returning it to the game box.
If you have cards remaining in hand, those may now be played, but only to move and buy cards, not to help defeat the Archenemy Titan you tried to defeat.
Put resolved Titans on Attack cards in a face-up discard pile near the stack. Players may look at the Titans on Attack cards in the discard pile. This reconnaissance will let you know what you won't have to contend with during further kill attempts. The cost increases gained via Titans on Attack cards are removed at the end of the turn. After resolving the last Titans on Attack card from the stack, shuffle the Titans on Attack discard pile to form a new stack.
Defeating an Archenemy Titan Example: You generate 10 Power and choose to leave a Signal Flare in your hand. The Peering Titan in your space already has max damage on it, so you try to land the killing blow and announce you will try to defeat it. You draw Grab from the Titans on Attack stack. Grab's Ambush would destroy the Pay Tribute you played this turn, which would reduce your Power to 7. That would cause you to fail to defeat this Titan, but instead you use the Defense on Signal Flare to avoid the Ambush and prevent the destruction of Pay Tribute. You still have enough Power to defeat Peering Titan and return it to the game box.
Wall Tokens and Wall Damage
Wall tokens represent the Wall's "Hit Points." At the end of each round, Titans deal damage to the Wall in the District they occupy based on their Wall damage value. Resolve Wall damage starting with the District closest to the Castle and moving outward. If there are multiple Titans in a District, add up the Wall damage value of each Titan present and deal the combined damage simultaneously. Each point of damage to the Wall removes one Wall token. If Titans deal more damage to a Wall than it has remaining Wall tokens, remove all the Wall tokens and the rest of the damage has no effect. When the last Wall token on a Wall is removed, the Wall is breached; flip the Wall over to its breached side. If there is a Location on the Wall, leave it there after flipping the tile.
Heroes sharing a space with a Titan can choose to prevent the removal of Wall tokens in its District by gaining Wounds. Each point of damage blocked requires a Hero to gain a Wound. Gained Wounds are placed into your discard pile. If there are multiple Heroes present and multiple points of damage being dealt to a Wall, players may choose to divide the Wounds as they wish, blocking all, some, or none of the damage coming to the Wall. If a Hero gains multiple Wounds, they are all gained at once. If the Wound stack is empty, players cannot prevent Wall damage by gaining Wounds.
If you control a Wound, gaining Wounds at this point will kill your Hero. A Hero controlling a Wound can make a valiant sacrifice and take all the Wounds to save a Wall.
Once a Wall is breached, the Titans in that District are free to devour! When Titans at a breached Wall would deal any damage, they instead destroy all non-Titan cards in the inside space of that District. (Locations on the Wall of that District are safe.) Then, move each of the Titans at the breached Wall to the adjacent outside space of the adjacent District closer to the Castle. Titans only move if they would deal damage to an already breached Wall. They do not move the same turn they breach a Wall. Players cannot gain Wounds to prevent the Wall damage that would destroy cards in a District.
If the Titans have already breached the Wall closest to the Castle, they do not move and instead assault the Castle. If the total Wall damage of Titans at the District closest to the Castle is greater than the number of cards inside the District that were destroyed, reveal cards, one at a time, from the top of the Castle equal to the difference. Add each revealed Titan and Titan Appears card to the District farthest from the Castle and destroy the rest of the revealed cards. These added Titans will Ambush the District they are added to like normal and deal Wall damage when that District resolves Titan Wall damage.
Wall Damage Example:
- District 1's Wall has already been breached, so the Titan there uses its Wall damage to destroy all cards in the District. Armin is there but cannot prevent this by taking Wounds. There is only one card inside District 1's Wall, so the extra Wall damage dealt by the Titan there reveals the top card of the Castle. A Titan is revealed and is placed outside District 5's Wall.
- There are no Titans in District 2, so no Wall damage is dealt there.
- District 3 has a Titan, but Eren prevents its Wall damage by gaining a Wound.
- The Titan in District 4 spends its damage to destroy the cards inside the Wall there and moves to District 3.
- The Titan added to District 5 from the excess Wall damage dealt in District 1 removes the last Wall token on District 5's Wall, causing the Wall to be breached.
While it might be a strategic choice to allow an outer Wall to fall rather than taking several Wounds, you should try to keep the inner Walls up to prevent the Titans from assaulting the Castle.
Additional Rules
Oversized Hero Cards and Standees
Each playable character is represented by an oversized Hero card and Hero standee that they use to travel around the Districts. Your Hero card gives you access to one or more unique abilities. Your Hero's ability can only be activated once during each of your turns unless it states it happens "each time" a specific event occurs or has a payment ability. Most abilities can only be used on your turn, but "each time" abilities and passive abilities (such as Mikasa's) function outside your turn as well. Most of these abilities require you to play or defeat specific types of cards, so keep your ability in mind when deciding what cards to buy and defeat.
Locations
When a Location enters a District, place it on that District's Wall (even if the Wall is breached), under any Wall tokens. Each Wall can only have one Location. If that District's Wall already has a Location, put the Location on the nearest Wall without a Location (players choose if there is a tie). Most Locations have Ongoing abilities that each Hero may use once during each of their turns. A Hero must be in the same District as the Location to use its ability. They can be in the inside or outside space of that District.
Payment Abilities
Most Locations and some Heroes have abilities with a cost, noted as an action in bold text before a colon (:). To spend Power / Move on these abilities, reduce the amount of Power / Move you have generated this turn. Power / Move spent on these abilities cannot be used to buy or defeat cards / move around. If you do not have enough Power / Move to pay the full cost, you cannot use the ability. These abilities can be used any number of times during a turn unless otherwise noted.
Controlling Cards
You control the cards in your play zone, which are the cards you recently played, including Wound cards played during your previous turn. You do not control cards in your hand, deck, or discard pile, or cards you controlled that were destroyed.
Destroying Cards
When you destroy a card, place it into a face-up pile of destroyed cards away from the play area. You no longer own or control your cards that you destroyed. Destroying Starter and Wound cards can improve your deck greatly! However, be careful not to destroy all your Thrust cards before buying other cards that generate Move.
Discarding Cards
When an ability tells you to "discard" a card, it means to put the card from your hand into your discard pile. Cards that you have already played this turn are not in your hand and cannot be discarded. Aside from Defense cards, players do not resolve the game text of cards they discard.
Gaining Cards
When you gain a card, take that card from the space or stack indicated and place that card into your discard pile (unless instructed to place it somewhere else) at no additional cost.
Shuffling Your Deck
At any point during the game, if there are no cards in your deck and you need to draw or reveal a card from your deck, immediately turn your discard pile face down and shuffle it to make it your new deck. Then, carry out the action on your newly shuffled deck.
Do not shuffle your discard pile and make it your deck as soon as your deck is empty.
Game Variants
Adjusting Game Difficulty
Whether your group is new to deck-building games, or masters of them, you may want to modify the challenge level to make it more appropriate for your group. The below options are arranged from easiest to most challenging.
Civilian: Same rules as Rookie below plus return the Titans on Attack stack to the box. It won't be used in this game.
Rookie: Replace one Courage in each player's Starter deck with a 3D Gear. After adding cards to the Districts in the first round, put all Titans in the Districts on the bottom of the main deck in a random order.
Standard: The normal rules as written on the previous pages.
Veteran: When attempting to defeat an Archenemy Titan, draw a number of Titans on Attack cards equal to the Archenemy Titan's Level instead of just one. (See the Female Titan clarification for more details on drawing multiple Titans on Attack cards.) Archenemy Titans regenerate 2 Hit Points per player each round instead of 1 HP per player. When a Wall with a Location card on it is breached, destroy that Location card.
Nightmare: Everything from Veteran above plus draw one Titans on Attack card when attempting to defeat standard Titans.
Solo Game Modifications
When playing this game by yourself, follow these additional setup and gameplay modifications.
Solo Setup
Choose three Heroes to form your squad and place their oversized Hero cards and standees in front of you. Create one Starter deck. Your three Heroes will share the same deck. At the start of your first turn, place all three Hero standees into the same inside Wall space. Each round, you will only take one turn until you win or lose!
Solo Gameplay
Start of Round: Choose one Hero to be the "active Hero." Put the Round Token on their card. Your active Hero is the only Hero that takes a turn this round. You may only use your active Hero's abilities and buy cards from their space this round. Add two cards to the Districts.
Momentum: Starting the round after the second Archenemy Titan appears, add three cards to the Districts at the start of each round, instead of two.
Overcrowding: After adding cards to the Districts, destroy a non-Titan card with the lowest cost from each District with four or more cards within its Wall.
Move: You may split your Move between all Hero standees no matter which Hero is active.
Standard Titan Ambush: Only your active Hero is affected by Ambushes from standard Titans.
Titan Ongoings: All Heroes are affected by Archenemy Titan Ongoings. You may only use a Defense card from your hand to avoid a Titan Ongoing Ambush against your active Hero unless it says, "each Hero" (or Mikasa is in your squad).
Wounds: Wounds gained by any Hero go to your shared discard pile. When you play a Wound, place it onto your active Hero's oversized card. It is controlled by that Hero and stays there until the start of that specific Hero's next turn. That Hero will die if they gain or play another Wound before they become active again. Each time you defeat an Archenemy Titan, return Wounds on all Hero cards to the Wound stack.
End of Round: Any of your Heroes may gain Wounds to prevent the removal of Wall tokens. Don't forget Heroes control the Wound on their oversized card, so gaining Wounds to save a Wall while they have a Wound on them will cause that Hero to die.
Hero Death: Only destroy Wound cards on that Hero, in your hand, and in your discard pile. Do not destroy any non-Wound cards in your hand or that you control or Wound cards on other Heroes. Do not draw a replacement Hero or more cards into your hand. You will have fewer Heroes to use for the rest of the game. If an active Hero dies, your turn immediately ends. If your last Hero dies, you lose the game!
Specific Card Changes in Solo Gameplay
Christa Lenz, Old Survey Corps HQ: When you pass/trade a card, put a card from your hand on another Hero's oversized card, as long as they don't already have a non-Wound card on their Hero. That Hero must play that card the next time they are active. This card is considered "gained" by that Hero, so putting a second Wound on a Hero would cause them to die.
Commander Pyxis: Draw an additional card for each other Hero in your District.
Fuel Cannisters: If there is another Hero in your District, gain a second 3D Gear to your hand.
Hange: Hange's abilities are always active, even while not the active Hero. You still check Hange's space to determine how many cards you draw at the end of your turn, not the active Hero's space.
Mikasa: Mikasa's abilities are always active, even while not the active Hero.
Resupply: If there is another Hero in your District, draw one additional card.
Specific Card Clarifications
3D Gear: During your turn, you may put this card on the 3D Gear stack to generate the additional Power and Move. You do not have to return the card immediately when you play it. Note: You cannot use the return to stack ability to generate the additional Power after revealing a Titans on Attack card.
Christa Lenz: To "pass" a card, take a card from your hand and put it into another player's hand. The other player gains the card and keeps it for the rest of the game.
Female Titan: Fully resolve the first Titans on Attack card before revealing the second. Draw a second card even if the first card would reduce your Power enough to fail to defeat this Titan. Do not draw a second card if the first card kills you.
Gunther Schultz / Ian Dietrich: You get the +2 Power even if you cannot do the first ability on the card.
Kitz Woermann / Petra Rall / Reel In: If you draw a Wound with these cards, you may discard / destroy it with the second ability on these cards before having to play it. A card fully resolves before you deal with any other card abilities.
Kill Shot: This card can reduce a Titan's cost to zero. Treat negative costs as being equal to 0. A Titan with a cost of 0 can be defeated without spending any Power.
Marco Bodt: You cannot move a Titan inside the Wall with this card.
Mikasa: She can also use Defense cards to protect other Heroes in her District and adjacent Districts. Each Defense card will protect only a single Hero, unless the card says "each Hero." This includes Ambush abilities from Titans on Attack cards resolved by other players. This ability may be used when it is not her turn. Mikasa resolves the reward ability of the Defense even when using it to protect another Hero.
Old Survey Corps HQ: To trade cards, choose a card from your hand to put into another player's hand. Then, that player chooses a card from their hand to put into your hand.
Reel In: You must choose the Hero to draw a card the moment you play this card. You cannot use the Move generated by this card prior to resolving the rest of the game text. Move you generate goes into a Move pool, while game text resolves immediately.
Reiner Braun: This card stays in your hand after revealing it to avoid an Ambush. Mikasa can use this Defense to have multiple Heroes avoid a single Ambush and she draws a card for each use.
Running Titan: You can still damage this Titan with cards that have abilities that deal damage even if you haven't played two or more Move cards this turn.
Steaming: Regenerating twice means the Titan heals 1 damage per player in the game, and then does it again. The Titan will regenerate again at the end of the round. (If playing on Veteran difficulty or higher, the Titan would instead heal 2 damage per player twice.)
Swing Away: Avoiding an Archenemy Titan means you have used a Defense card against an Ongoing Ambush or Titans on Attack Ambush. If you are not being Ambushed, you cannot defeat a Titan with this card. Defeating a standard Titan does not stop the Ambush from happening to other Heroes present.
Titan Trap: Titans in the same District as the Titan Trap token cannot use their Wall damage to remove Wall tokens or destroy cards. Players cannot take Wounds from the Wall damage of Titans in the same District as the Titan Trap token. The Titan Trap token does not negate Titan Ongoing abilities.
Trost: A Hero does not need to be in this Location's District to use its ability. This Location automatically reduces the total damage dealt to this District's Wall by 1. A single Titan with a Wall damage of 1 would remove no Wall tokens nor (if this District's Wall is already breached) destroy any cards. This Location does not prevent Titans from moving after trying to damage a breached Wall.
FAQ
Q: Can we repair damage to Walls or fix a breached Wall? A: No, not in this base game.
Q: Can I buy a card before moving, mid-move, after moving, and after defeating a Titan? A: Yes.
Q: What is a Move card? A: A "Move" card is a card with the Move subtype on the right side of the card type bar.
Q: What is a Randomizer card used for? A: If you have multiple Cerberus Engine games in your collection, you can combine all their Randomizer cards and draw a random one to decide which game to play during your game night or draw multiple of them to decide which games to combine together.
Credits
Game Design: Matt Hyra and Nathaniel Yamaguchi Game Development: Jacques Manjarrez, Dan Stong, Mataio Wilson Graphic Design: Krystyl Campbell, Katie Pelaez, Larry Renac, John Vineyard Editing: Shahriar Fouladi Playtesters: Alex Allies, Spencer Bateman, Richelle Brady, Edgar Cheung, Ryan Dromgoole, Robert Gasio III, Samina Ghulamali, Julien Guerand, Herb Haneke, Abby Hensch, John Hershey, Rezwan Kabir, Adam May, Marcos Payan, Alix Politanoff, Harrison Roberts, Chuck Sanders, Adam Sblendorio, Nicholas Scamman, Conner Schiller, Michael Shaneman, Benjamin Slupik, Scott Slupik, William Slupik, Tom Twedell, Brett Wood, Hunter Wooten, and many others!
Cryptozoic Entertainment
CEO & Founder: John Nee CCO & Founder: Cory Jones Founder: John Sepenuk Vice President, Product Development & Marketing: Shahriar Fouladi Vice President of Operations & International: Ming Wang Director of Sales: Colin Robinson
Special Thanks: Rumi Asai, Carl Braun, Dani Cabrera, Javier Casillas, Kyle Heuer, MaryCarmen Wilber
Based on the manga "Shingeki no Kyojin" by Hajime Isayama originally serialized in the monthly BESSATSU SHONEN magazine published by Kodansha Ltd. ©Hajime Isayama, Kodansha/"ATTACK ON TITAN" Production Committee. All Rights Reserved. Manufactured by Cryptozoic Entertainment LLC under license from KODANSHA Ltd.
Quick Reference
The following summary appears on the back cover of the rulebook.
Round Structure
- Add cards from the Castle to the Districts equal to the number of players plus one.
- As a group, choose a player to be the first player this round. Give them the Round Token.
- The player with the Round Token takes their turn and then flips over the token. Play proceeds clockwise. The Round Token remains with the first player.
- When the player to the right of the first player has completed their turn, the round is over.
Turn Sequence
- Play all Wound cards in your hand.
- Play other cards from your hand.
- Total up your Move and Power. Use your Move to travel between Districts and over the Wall. Buy cards with combined cost less than or equal to your Power total.
- When you buy a card, place it into your discard pile, unless instructed otherwise.
- You may play additional cards even after making purchases or moving.
Ending Your Turn
- Announce that you are ending your turn. Your turn is now over.
- Put any cards remaining in your hand into your discard pile.
- Resolve any "end of turn" abilities.
- Put all non-Wound cards you control into your discard pile. Lose unspent Power and Move.
- Draw five cards from your deck, shuffling your discard pile if needed.
- The player to your left starts their turn, unless that player has the Round Token in front of them. If they do, proceed to the End of the Round.
End of the Round
Once each player has taken a turn in the round:
- Each Archenemy Titan regenerates 1 Hit Point per player.
- Resolve "end of round" Titan Ongoing abilities.
- Each Titan damages the Wall in its District. Heroes sharing a space with a Titan may prevent this damage by gaining Wounds.
- Check if any of the loss conditions have been met.
- Flip the Round Token over to the Start of Round side and then start a new round.
Defeating Archenemy Titans
Before you can attempt to defeat an Archenemy Titan, two conditions must be met:
- The Archenemy Titan has damage on it equal to its Hit Points.
- You must have a Power total equal to or greater than its cost.
After declaring an attempt to defeat an Archenemy Titan, draw and resolve a Titans on Attack card (which may increase the Titan's cost or reduce your Power total).
- If your Power is less than the Titan's cost, you fail to defeat it and lose all your Power.
- Otherwise, spend Power equal to its cost and defeat the Archenemy Titan.
Your team immediately wins by defeating all three Archenemy Titans!
Your team loses at the end of a round if any of the following three conditions are met:
- All five Walls have been breached.
- The Castle (main deck) is empty.
- Three or more Heroes have died in a 2- or 3-player game. Two or more Heroes have died in a 4-player game.