Breakthru (2026) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • 3-1. Drafting Phase
  • 3-2. Trick-Taking Phase
  • Breakthru Techs
• Victory

Components

• 1 R&D Board
• 18 Tech Cards: 3 cards in each of 6 technologies
• 6 Tech Tokens
• 6 Number Tokens

Setup

Place the Number Tokens on the R&D Board in numerical order.

Place the Tech Tokens beside the board.

Shuffle the Tech Cards thoroughly and deal 8 cards to each player.

Place the remaining 2 cards face down without looking at them.

Gameplay

The game begins with the Drafting Phase, followed by the Trick-Taking Phase. The first player during the Drafting Phase becomes the follower in the first trick of the Trick-Taking Phase.

3-1. Drafting Phase

Randomly determine the first player.

Beginning with the first player, choose 1 Tech Token and place it in any space on the R&D Board that contains a Number Token. Take the Number Token from that space and place it face up in front of that player.

The second player then does the same. Continue taking turns until each player has placed 3 Tech Tokens and taken 3 Number Tokens.

You must place the Tech Tokens in descending order of how many cards of each corresponding Tech Cards you have in your hand. If two or more Tech are tied, you may choose among them. If the Tech Token has already been placed, ignore that tech and place another tech token instead.

After both players have placed 3 Tech Tokens and taken 3 Number Tokens, the first player reveals 1 Tech Card from their hand and places it face up on the board. The second player then does the same.

The two revealed cards must not be the same tech, and neither belong to the tech highest on the R&D Board.

These two cards become the Breakthru Techs.

3-2. Trick-Taking Phase

The second player from the Drafting Phase leads the first trick.

The leader plays 1 card from their hand. They then choose 1 of their face-up Number Tokens and place it beside the card.

If the follower has a card of the led tech, they must follow by playing a card of that tech. Otherwise, they may play any card. The follower then chooses 1 of their face-up Number Tokens and places it beside their card.

Resolve the trick as follows:

• If both players played cards of the same tech, the player who used the higher Number Token wins the trick.
• If the players played cards of different techs, the player whose tech is positioned higher on the R&D Board wins the trick.

Place both played cards face up so that they remain visible.

Each player then takes back the Number Token they used and flips it face down.

If all Number Tokens are face down, flips all of Number Tokens face up again.

The winner of the trick leads the next trick.

Breakthru Techs

If at least 1 Breakthru Tech Card was played in the trick, do not flip the Number Tokens used in that trick face down. Instead, players exchange their used Number Tokens and place them face up.

In addition, if a Breakthru Tech Card is played against the highest tech card on the R&D Board, that Breakthru Tech Card wins the trick.

Victory

As soon as a player wins 5 tricks, that player overwhelms their opponent and immediately wins the game.

If neither player wins 5 tricks after 7 tricks, the player with exactly 3 tricks wins the game.