Charge & Spark
Charge & Spark Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 16 cards (see the card list below for details)
- 12 base cards (2 cards × 6 different types)
- 4 bonus cards (marked with a ★ in the top left corner)
- 2 board pieces
- 8 Battery tiles (front and back)
- 8 Disc tiles (front and back)
- 8 Health tiles (front and back)
- 2 pawns and 2 bases (place the base of the pawn into the stand)
Setup
Deal each player 4 Health tiles, 4 Battery tiles and 4 Disc tiles.
Each player places their tiles in front of them, face down, except for 4 Health tiles and 2 Battery tiles, which they turn face up (visible).
Join the 2 board pieces together in the centre of the table to form the combat board. Place each player's pawn on the start space, on each side of the board. The pawn closest to a player belongs to that player.
Shuffle the 4 bonus cards marked with a star ★ and place them beside the combat board to form the draw pile.
Finally, deal each player 1 base card of each type (each player therefore receives 6 different cards).
Play Area
The layout diagram on page 3 of the printed rulebook labels the following areas:
- Opponent's hand (top left), labelled "6 base cards" in the diagram
- Bonus cards (draw pile), beside the opponent's hand
- Opponent's zone, in the upper part of the play area
- Player's zone, in the lower part of the play area
- Player's hand (bottom right), labelled "6 base cards" in the diagram
Each player's Health, Battery and Disc tiles are placed in front of them, as described in Setup.
Overview of Play
Players choose 1 card from their hand and reveal it at the same time. The effects of both cards are applied immediately. The process repeats until one of the players turns over the last Health tile of their opponent or reaches the finish space. That player has then won the game.
Card Explanations
[Types]
There are 6 types of base card, as well as 4 bonus cards.
[Cost]
To use certain cards, the player must pay a usage cost; this is specified in the "cost" section of the card. When a player reveals one of these cards, they must immediately turn over the tile or tiles required in the "cost" section of the card.
(Page 4 illustration: a "Spark" card with a "Cost" box showing one Battery tile. The cost is paid by turning that Battery tile over to its back.)
[Attack]
Cards with yellow borders are attack cards. When a player reveals 1 attack card, it inflicts 1 or 2 points of damage (depending on the strength of the card) on their opponent. The player who takes damage must turn over a number of Health tiles equal to the strength of the attack card: 1 tile or 2 tiles.
If both players reveal 1 attack card at the same time, the player with the weaker card loses the attack and takes the damage. If the attack strength of both players' cards is identical, the attack is null and no player takes damage.
(Page 5 illustration: the three attack cards, LIGHTNING (strength 2), SPARK (strength 1) and RAY (strength 1).)
Combat Board Explanation
[Finish space]
On the combat board, the finish space is marked with a moon.
[Spaces bearing a ★]
When a player places their pawn on a space marked with the ★ icon, they draw 1 card from the bonus draw pile and place it in their hand without showing it to their opponent.
(Page 5 illustration: the board runs from START to FINISH, with the ★ spaces marked.)
How to Play
- Each player chooses 1 card from their hand and places it temporarily, face down, in their zone. During this phase of play, it is not possible to play a card whose cost the player cannot pay.
- The players reveal their cards at the same time and apply the effects described on them. Some cards can modify the effects of the card revealed by the opponent (see the card list below).
- Each player places the card they used, face up, in their rest zone, beside their play zone. If there is already 1 card in the rest zone, the player returns that card to their hand and replaces it with the card they have just played.
- Players repeat steps 1 to 3 until one of them meets the victory conditions of the game.
Victory Conditions
The first player to meet one of the following conditions wins the game.
- The player has forced their opponent to turn over all 4 of their Health tiles.
- The player has reached the finish space on the combat board.
Card List
During setup, each player receives 1 base card of each type, for a total of 6 base cards.
The 6 Base Card Types
CARTES DE BASE (base cards)
Type 1: CHARGE Effect: turn over 1 Battery tile (face up).
Type 2: ATTACK ["SPARK" / ÉTINCELLE] Cost: 1 Battery tile. Effect: inflict 1 point of damage on the opponent.
Type 3: BARRIER (BARRIÈRE) Effect: turn over 1 Disc tile (face up). If the opponent reveals 1 attack card, the Barrier card reduces the damage inflicted by that attack by 1 point. The card is discarded at the end of the turn.
Type 4: ATTACK ["LIGHTNING" / FOUDRE] Cost: 2 Battery tiles. Effect: inflict 2 points of damage on the opponent.
Type 5: COUNTER (CONTRE) Cost: 2 Disc tiles. Effect: when the opponent reveals 1 attack card, the damage from that attack is cancelled, and the opponent themselves takes 2 points of damage.
Type 6: MOVEMENT (DÉPLACEMENT) Effect: the player who reveals this card moves their pawn one space towards the finish space of the combat board. If the space the pawn is moved to bears a ★ icon, the player draws 1 card from the bonus draw pile and places it in their hand without showing it to the opponent. WARNING: if the player who revealed this card suffers an attack during the turn, the effect of the card is cancelled: the pawn does not move.
[WARNING] If both players use a Movement card that places their pawns on the finish space at the same time, the movements are cancelled, and the pawns remain on their spaces.
Note on the card illustrations: the card faces shown on page 1 print the word "Obtenez" ("obtain") followed by a tile icon for the Barrier, Trap and Recovery cards. The detailed card text on pages 6 to 8 says "turn over ... face up" for these effects, and that wording is the one used in this translation.
The 4 Bonus Cards
The 4 bonus cards bear a star ★ in the top left corner.
CARTES BONUS (bonus cards)
The RAY card [« RAYON »] Cost: 1 Disc tile. Effect: inflict 1 point of damage on the opponent.
The RECOVERY card [« RÉCUPÉRATION »] Effect: turn over 1 Battery tile and 1 Disc tile, face up.
The TRAP card [« PIÈGE »] Effect: turn over 1 Disc tile face up. If the opponent reveals 1 Movement card, the effect of this card is cancelled.
The COPY card [« COPIE »] Cost: 1 Battery tile. Effect: this card copies the effect of the card in your rest zone. At the end of the turn, it is discarded into the rest zone, where it keeps the properties of the copied card until it is replaced by another card.
[WARNING] If the Copy card reproduces the effect of the Movement card in your rest zone, the movement effect remains cancelled if the opponent has played 1 Trap card. If the Copy card reproduces the effect of the Attack card in your rest zone, the attack effect remains reduced or cancelled if the opponent has played 1 Barrier card or 1 Counter card. It is not necessary to pay the cost of the copied card in the rest zone.