Duel for Cardia
Duel for Cardia Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 2 x 32 Character cards
- 4 Summary cards
- 8 Location cards
- 12 Signets
- 6 Ongoing tokens
- 22 Modifiers with different fronts and backs (8x1, 8x3, and 6x5)
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Setup
- Sit opposite each other. Place all signets, modifiers and ongoing tokens within easy reach at one end of the table (see image above).
- Place the location cards in a face-down stack next to the supply. The chevron on the back points to the other side of the table, indicating the direction of play. For your first games, ignore the effect on the front (p. 8, p. 13).
- Take all character cards marked with a I in the lower right corner. Each player takes the 16 cards with the same back design. Place the other 32 cards marked with a II back into the box (more on p. 8).
- Shuffle your 16 cards face down and place them in a stack in front of you. This is your draw pile. We will call this your deck from now on.
- Draw the top 5 cards from your deck into your hand.
- Take 2 summary cards each. They are marked with a symbol in the upper right corner.
The layout on the table is: the opponent's deck at one end, your deck at the other, with the direction of play running between them and space for each player's discard pile.
The Cards
Your decks are identical except for the back.
A deck consists of 16 cards with the values 1-16. This value is called its influence. Each card also has an ability and belongs to one of the four factions. Each faction has its color and icon.
Each card shows:
- Its name
- Its influence (the value 1-16)
- Its ability
- Its ability type (instant or ongoing)
- Its faction and deck number
Objective and Gameplay
Cardia is a duel. Every round, you play 2 cards facing each other. This is called an encounter. The played card with the higher influence gains a signet. The lower card activates its ability.
Played cards stay in play and can be affected by abilities. Signets that have been won can change sides during the course of the game — more on that later.
Place the next cards in the direction of play next to the previously placed encounter, so that these cards are also opposite each other, and so on.
The player who first collects 5 signets on their cards wins the game.
We recommend you play until one player has won 2 games ("best of three").
Round Overview
A game lasts several rounds until one player wins the game. Each round consists of 3 phases:
- Play cards
- Activate ability
- End of the round
1. Play cards
You each place one card face down and then reveal them simultaneously. Then you compare the two cards.
Place cards: Choose 1 card from your hand and place it face down on your side of the play area. You can choose any one of the cards in your hand. Your opponent also chooses 1 card and places it opposite your card.
Reveal cards: Now, reveal your cards at the same time and compare their influence. The card that has the higher influence wins the encounter. Take 1 signet from the supply and place it onto the winning card.
Tie: If both cards have the same influence, the encounter is a tie and no card wins or loses the encounter. Thus, you do not place a signet on one of the cards. Skip phase 2 (Activate ability) and continue with phase 3 (End of the round).
2. Activate ability
Only the player whose card loses the current encounter immediately activates the ability of the losing card.
Note: It can be to your advantage to lose an encounter to activate an ability.
You must resolve the activated ability to the fullest extent possible and including any consequences for other cards. To resolve an ability, do what the text on the card says.
Note: You are allowed to play cards whose ability you cannot resolve completely or at all.
Important: Only the ability of the card losing the current encounter in phase 1 is activated. If this ability causes a card played in a past encounter to lose, that card's ability is not activated.
Important: Some abilities contradict the general rules of the game. In such cases, the abilities always take precedence over the general rules.
There are two types of abilities, each with their distinct icon: Instant abilities and ongoing abilities. Some abilities can change the influence of a card (see pp. 10-11).
Instant ability
When you activate an instant ability, resolve it immediately once.
Example: Your Saboteur (5) loses this encounter, so you activate his ability: Your opponent discards the top 2 cards of their deck. Your opponent places both cards face up onto their discard pile.
Ongoing ability
When you activate an ongoing ability, place an ongoing token on that card. The ongoing ability is in effect from now on.
It remains in effect even if the card wins its encounter over the course of the game.
If the ongoing token is ever removed from the card, the ongoing ability ceases to be in effect. If an ongoing ability ceases to be in effect, immediately resolve any changes that this may entail (including in past encounters).
Note: Some abilities allow you to place ongoing tokens on cards already in play. This allows you to activate an ongoing ability of a card in a past encounter.
Example: In the second encounter, your opponent wins again and places a signet onto their card. You activate your Mediator's (4) ability: This encounter is a tie. You place an ongoing token on your Mediator. As long as that token stays there, this encounter is a tie. Therefore, you return the signet from the opponent's card back to the supply.
Special case: Tokens (signets, modifiers, ongoing tokens) are not limited. Should any run out, use any suitable substitute.
Modifying influence
Some abilities allow you to add influence to a card. Take a modifier with the indicated value from the supply and place it on the appropriate card below that card's influence.
Note: In some cases, you will need several modifiers to represent the needed value (e.g., +7 = +5 and +1 and +1).
The values of all modifiers on a card are immediately added to (or subtracted from) that card's influence. They modify the card's influence as long as they remain on the card.
If this changes the result of an encounter, move the signet to the card that now wins the encounter. In case of a tie, return it to the supply.
Remember: The ability of the card that now loses is not activated.
Example: You activate your Inventor's (15) ability: Add +3 influence to any one card and -3 influence to any other card. You choose to add +3 to your Inventor. You now win the encounter, so you take the signet from the opponent's card and place it onto yours. The Djinn's (16) ability is not activated. You then add -3 to the opponent's Judge (8) played 2 rounds earlier. That encounter becomes a tie, so you return the signet to the supply.
3. End of the round
At the end of the round, draw 1 card from your deck into your hand. If your deck is empty, you cannot draw any more cards. Do not reshuffle your discard pile. You do not lose the game if you cannot draw a card.
Note: You always draw exactly 1 card in this phase. Over the course of the game, you can have more or fewer than 5 cards in hand.
Then start a new round with phase 1.
Detailed example of a round
Phase 1: You and your opponent each place 1 card face down next to the previous encounter. Then you reveal your cards. Your opponent's Clockmaker (11) has more influence than your Judge (8). So the Clockmaker gains 1 signet.
Phase 2: You activate your Judge's ongoing ability: You win all tied encounters (including upcoming ones). You place 1 ongoing token on your Judge and 1 signet each on your cards in the two past tied encounters.
Phase 3: You each draw 1 card from your deck.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately if one of the following conditions is met:
- Phase 1: Your opponent cannot play a card. You win the game!
- Phase 2: You activate an ability that says you win the game. You win the game!
- Phase 3: You have 5 or more signets on your cards at the end of the round. You win the game!
- Tie: If in phase 3 both players have the same number of signets (and at least 5), continue playing until one player has more signets than the other or wins another way.
Note: Abilities are activated before you count signets.
Special case: If both players cannot play a card in phase 1, the player with more signets wins the game. If players are tied for the number of signets, the game ends in a draw.
Now you are ready to start playing!
Your summary cards have infos and reminders to help you through your first game. If you have further questions, check the keyword section (pp. 9-11) or a specific card (pp. 11-13). Once you know the game, you can find ways to switch things up in the following section.
Adjusting the Difficulty
After you have played a few games, you can vary the game with location cards and deck II. To help you choose one of the possible combinations, there are four difficulty levels based on the number of skull icons:
- 0-1 skulls: Hired Blades in training
- 2 skulls: Experienced Engineers
- 3-4 skulls: Mighty Mages
- 5+ skulls: The Djinn is impressed!
Simply add up the skulls of your chosen deck and the skulls shown in the top right corner of the chosen location.
Deck I has 0 skulls, Deck II has 1 skull. Playing without a location has 0 skulls. The locations have 1-3 skulls.
Example: Deck II (1 skull) + a location (2 skulls) = 3 skulls.
We recommend you first try a location with 1 skull using deck I. Then gradually increase the difficulty and try new combinations.
Deck II
The basic rules for a game using deck II are the same; only the abilities are different. Place all deck I cards back into the box and take all cards marked with a II in the lower right corner. Otherwise, setup remains the same (pp. 2-3).
We recommend playing deck II without any location first. Some deck II cards are explained in detail on pp. 12-13.
Locations
Choose 1 location card and place it face up on top of the stack. You should be able to remember the direction of play by now.
Each location has a rule that applies for the entire game. We explain the individual locations on p. 13.
You are looking for an even greater challenge? At your own risk, you can play with more than one location at the same time.
Combining decks
Once you are familiar with both decks, you can choose to combine them. For example, you could use the yellow cards from deck I, the red cards from deck II etc. However, make sure that you are always playing with two identical decks. For duels with asymmetric decks, you might want to try other magical card games.
Keywords
Influence
- If at any point during the game, a card's influence exceeds that of the opposing card, place a signet on the higher card and return any signets from the opposing card to the supply.
- Multiple modifiers (positive and negative) on the same card are added together. Place only the sum on the card. The influence of a card can be negative.
- If an ability adds a modifier to the "next card you play", place that modifier next to your card in the current encounter in the direction of play. As soon as you reveal your next card, place that modifier on it. The modifier is immediately added to the new card's influence and already counts when comparing cards in phase 1.
- You cannot place modifiers on cards in hand, a deck or a discard pile.
Example: You activate the Clockmaker's (11) ability: Add +3 influence to your card in the previous encounter as well as to the next card you play. You place +3 onto your Surgeon (3) in the previous encounter. Then you place +3 on the table on the space for your next card.
Discard
Some abilities force you to discard cards from your hand, your deck or played cards. You can no longer use discarded cards.
- Place cards you discard face up into your discard pile. Return any tokens on a discarded card to the supply. You can look through your and your opponent's discard piles at any time.
- If both cards in a past encounter are discarded, shift all cards in later encounters one position to close the gap.
Copy and activate
You copy another card's ability and activate it, as if the copied ability were printed on this card.
Activate
You activate another card's ability (at the position of that other card). If you activate an ongoing ability, place an ongoing token on the card as usual.
Positions and played cards
Played card: A card that is face up in the play area (including the current encounter). Discarded cards no longer count as played cards. "One of your played cards" must be a card that you have played. "Any card" can be one of your cards or one of your opponent's cards.
Previous encounter: The encounter next to this one against the direction of play.
Past encounters: All encounters in play before this one against the direction of play.
Following encounter: The encounter in play that follows this one in the direction of play (not the next encounter, which has not yet been played).
Opposing card: The card played opposite yours in the same encounter.
Deck I Card Clarifications
- Hired Blade: Both this card and the opposing card count as played. Then discard both cards (see Discard cards on p. 10).
- Mediator: If the ongoing token is removed, the ability ceases to be in effect and the card with the higher influence immediately wins this encounter.
- Judge: Place 1 signet onto your card in every encounter that is a tie. You also win ties in encounters played from now on. As usual, the ability of the other card is not triggered. If any encounter ceases to be a tie, the card with the higher influence immediately wins that encounter. If this ability ceases to be in effect, remove all signets placed due to this ability. This ability does not make you win a tie for number of signets (phase 3). If both players have a Judge with an ongoing token on it, both win all tied encounters.
- Puppeteer: The influence of the drawn card determines who wins this encounter. If the drawn card has a lower influence than your Puppeteer, its ability is not activated (you have already activated an ability in the current encounter - that of your Puppeteer). If you cannot replace the discarded card because your opponent has no cards in hand, it counts as them being unable to play, so you win the game.
- Clockmaker: If there is no previous encounter, ignore the first part of the ability. Resolve the second part as usual.
- Treasurer: Place an additional signet on the card. This can also be your opponent's card. It remains there as long as the ability is in effect.
- Swamp Guardian: At the end of the round, draw 1 card as usual. You end up with one more card in hand.
- Magistra: You must choose one of your played cards that has at least as much influence as your Magistra at this moment (including any modifiers). Resolve the copied ability as if it was your Magistra's and activate it at the Magistra's position.
- Inventor: You may place a modifier on the Inventor herself as well as on the opposing card.
- Djinn: You immediately win the game. Even if your opponent has 5 or more signets (as the number of signets is checked later, in phase 3).
Deck II Card Clarifications
- Poisoner: If this card's or the opposing card's influence changes later in the game, this ability is not activated again.
- Kinesis Mage: You must take all modifiers and ongoing tokens from one of your cards. Then place all of them onto one other of your played cards (you may place them on the Kinesis Mage himself). You may not split them up. If you place an ongoing token onto a card with an ongoing ability that is currently not active, it is activated immediately.
- Envoy: You may place the modifier on the Envoy himself or on the opposing card.
- Prodigy: As usual, all modifiers are taken into account. You may place the modifier on the Prodigy himself.
- Blackmailer: Your opponent must discard 2 cards from their hand before you carry out phase 2. If they don't have enough cards in hand, they discard as many as they can.
- Illusionist: You resolve the chosen ability as usual. Any positions referenced in that ability are resolved in relation to that card, not to the Illusionist (see p. 17). It does not matter whether the chosen ability has been activated in an earlier round.
- Counselor: You win the previous encounter even if it is a tie.
- Mechanical Djinn: If the following encounter is discarded, the closest encounter in the direction of play now counts as the following encounter (see pp. 10-11).
This didn't answer your question? You can find FAQs and special cases here: www.hans-im-glueck.de/en/cardia
Locations
- Serpent Temple: It does not matter if you lose that encounter again over the course of the game.
- Bazaar: It's only at the end of a round that you do not draw cards. If an ability makes you draw a card, draw as usual. If you have 0 or 1 cards in hand, immediately draw (in any phase).
- Founder's Day: You need to have winning cards in 3 successive encounters. This win condition can be triggered in any phase. If you have more than 1 signet on a card, it still only counts as winning 1 encounter.
- Grand Library: If there is only 1 card left in your deck, draw that card as usual. If your deck is empty, you don't draw any cards.
- Scrapyard: Ignore this effect if you have 0 or 1 cards remaining in your deck. If you have 2 cards in your deck, draw both and place 1 back.
- Auction House: This effect is triggered after revealing cards in phase 1. All tokens on that card are taken into account. If your current card has the same influence as your previous card, you do not discard. The effect only applies to cards you play yourself. If your deck is empty, ignore the effect.
- Haunted Catacombs: This effect only triggers when you reveal a card in phase 1. It doesn't matter if the card is discarded afterwards. You don't lose if cards of the same faction end up next to each other as the result of an ability.
- Foggy Swamp: In the first round of the game, do not reveal cards. You can peek at your own face-down card at any time. Abilities referencing "the next card you play" always mean the next card you choose to play from your hand (not the one that you have already placed face-down).
Overview of Game End
The game ends & you win if:
- your opponent cannot play a card (phase 1)
- an ability says you win (phase 2)
- you have 5 or more signets (phase 3)
Credits
Design: Mathieu Rivero & Faouzi Boughida Graphics: Franz-Georg Stämmele Illustration: Dominik Mayer, Jonas Schmutzler, Ingram Schell, Qistina Khalidah, Florian Herold Translation: Stephan Rothschuh
© 2025 Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH, Birnauer Str. 15, 80809 Munich
Designers' acknowledgments: We wish to thank a few special people: Raphaël, for believing in the game at its inception, Gaëtan, for a second impulse, Johannes, for his outstanding development of the game, the awesome people at Hans im Glück, all the many many testers (notably from the CAL). Faouzi especially thanks Titou, Malik & Rafik. Mathieu gives his thanks to Rem.