Fightball
Fightball Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Quick Summary
To score a shot, you must have made at least 10 points and have placed a player, a ball and a shot, in that order. You can only attack in the green zones, or in your opponent's red and blue zones. The first to place his BUZZ stops the game.
Complete Rules
General
Fightball is a card game for two players, which requires reflexes and strategy. Each deck represents a team of Fightball players, and each team has its own tactics, strengths and weaknesses. Each box of Fightball contains two decks, so it can be played with a single box.
A game consists of 4 quarters. Each quarter is divided into two rounds: a fast round, in which everyone plays their cards, and a scoring round, in which points are counted. The team with the best score over the 4 quarters wins the game.
Although they are sold in pairs, all the decks are compatible, so you can play with two decks from two different boxes.
In these rules, the term "player" is used for cards with a player on them. The person who is playing is called the "coach".
Setup
Before the game, build the playing surface using the plain terrain cards, blue, red and green. These cards only have a small text saying "2 points" or "3 points". Each team is given half of the field.
The playing surface should look like this:
BRRRB
VBBBV
VV VV
VBBBV
BRRRB
There is an empty space in the middle of the field. This is where the BUZZ will be placed.
Each coach takes his BUZZ card and puts it face up under his deck after shuffling the deck. The BUZZ card will therefore be the last one played.
Leave a little space between each square of the field to avoid mix-ups during play.
The game is ready to begin!
How to Play
Hold your deck in one hand, face down, and use your other hand to take the top card and play it. You can only hold one card at a time. You may play this card on a square of the playing field, or on top of your discard pile, face up. You are only allowed one discard pile.
You can always choose to play the top card of the discard pile instead of the one from your deck in hand, but once you have taken a card from your deck, you are not allowed to put it back there. So you can play a card "buried" in your discard pile, but first you must have played all the cards that are on top of it, one by one.
Each coach plays his cards at the same time, at the speed of his choice. Players do not take turns. The game does, however, start for both at the same time.
As soon as a coach has reached and played his "BUZZ" card, the round is over. If the other coach was in the middle of placing a card, it is too late: he must take it back.
Points are now counted (scoring round). Each square is counted individually to see whether or not it is valid. In short, to be valid, a shot must contain on the same square and in this order: a player, a ball and a shot; moreover the score of this shot must be greater than or equal to 10.
Calculate the points for each square, reshuffle the decks with the BUZZ at the bottom, and start the next quarter. The coach with the most points at the end of the game wins.
If this is your first real-time card game, start playing slowly. Try to make valid shots, and keep an eye on your opponent's most obvious mistakes. Do not try to follow everything; that is impossible the first few times.
A Complete Shot
Each square tells a story, from bottom to top. To score a shot ("play") in the opposing goal, you must make a complete shot, which contains at least a player, a ball and a shot, in that order.
To succeed with the shot, you must have a shot total of 10 points or more. This total is calculated as follows: value of the attacking player (the first player placed, the number in the circle of the colour of the terrain), value of the ball (2 points if it is the colour of the terrain, 0 otherwise), value of the shot (in the circle of the colour of the terrain). If a defender is placed (a player of the opponent placed after the attacker and before the shot), the value of this defender (in the diamond of the colour of the terrain) is subtracted. Each player can therefore be an attacker or a defender.
If a shot is valid, it scores the number of points indicated on the terrain, that is 2 points for a red or blue terrain, and three points for a green terrain. The shot scores for the one who placed the attacker (that is, the first player).
Other cards can be played between the attacker and the shot, such as defenders, new attackers, additional balls and special effects ("special effect" cards).
Only the cards placed between the attacker and the shot have an effect. All the others are ignored, and in general they are counted as fouls and thus penalties.
Card Types
Each card has a different function in this game, and some cards have different effects depending on where they are. Here is a list of the cards and where they go.
With the exception of player cards, the origin of the cards does not matter once they are played. Thus balls, shots and special effects have the same meaning and application in any pile, whoever the attacker is.
Terrain Cards
The 24 terrain cards represent the playing surface and delimit the 5 playing zones.
Blue and red zones: you may place an attacker in the opponent's red and blue zones, but not in your own. Valid shots score 2 points.
Green zone: the green zone is neutral; each player can attack there. Valid shots score 3 points.
Player Cards
Players can be attackers ("shooters") or defenders ("blockers"), as described below. The player card shows his name, his position, and six values (attack and defense).
- Attackers: if a player is placed directly on the terrain, then he is an attacker. A valid shot must begin with an attacker. It is a foul to play an attacker on a blue or red zone that belongs to you. If you do this, any card placed on this attacker is cancelled, and your opponent automatically scores 2 points.
- Defenders: if a player of the team opposing the attacker is placed on a square, between the attacker and the shot, then he is a defender. His defense value is shown in the diamond of the colour of the terrain. Several defenders can defend the same shot; their defense values add up, but several copies of the same defender (see his name) count only once.
- New attacker: if another player of the team that placed an attacker is placed before the shot, this player is a new attacker. A new attacker starts the whole shot over and cancels every card under him, including the defenders, the balls and the special effects. However, if this player is the same as the first attacker, he has no effect and is ignored.
Balls
Balls come in three colours: blue, red or green. Each coach has the same number of them: three of each colour. A coach can play a ball anywhere, as long as it is between an attacker and a shot.
A new ball cancels any ball below it.
Shots
The shot cards end a shot, and so must be played after an attacker and a ball. Any card placed after a shot is an illegal card, and therefore a foul.
The colour of the "shot" text tells you the zone where the shot will be best, but shots can be played anywhere. You can play a shot card on an opposing attack, to make it fail.
Once the shot is complete, the cards placed on it are ignored.
Special Effects
Special effects must be played between an attacker and a shot to be valid. They have an effect only if the shot is complete, whatever their text says. If a shot is incomplete, the effect does not work.
Special effects can change a lot in a shot, for example the value of the shot, the value of the zone, or the players on it. If several special effects are placed, they are applied in order, from bottom to top. A new effect can sometimes cancel what another previously placed effect said.
Example: with the special effects "human pyramid" and "double shot" on a red square that would normally score 2 points, you could score 9 points (2x2 + 5) or even 14 points (2+5 x2), depending on the order in which the effects are played.
In both cases, the shot must be complete and valid for the effects to be applied.
Effects that allow a change of zone can only be used to move the pile of cards to a square that is legal for the attacker, even though it need not be empty.
Buzz
The BUZZ card is always the last one in each coach's deck. Playing the BUZZ card means the immediate end of the fast round and the passage to the scoring round.
If the other coach was in the middle of playing a shot when you place the BUZZ, that shot is legal.
If you feel you are winning the quarter, you are allowed to turn all your cards one by one onto the discard pile until the BUZZ. However, take care to turn only one card at a time.
Scoring
The order in which you count the points makes no difference.
While you count the score of each square, check for fouls (see below). Above all, do not put cards on the discard pile, because some special effects allow you to search through it to take cards.
Fouls
Fouls are most of the time mistakes, but sometimes they are intentional, and there are special effects that allow fouls to be created during the counting of points. Each foul committed by a team gives points to the other team. Here is the complete list of possible fouls:
False start: Any card placed on a terrain card that is not a legal attacker is a foul. Any card placed on this false start is ignored, and the opposing team scores the zone's score for the whole (2 points for a red or blue terrain, 3 points for a green one). This is true even if the team in question could not have scored a legal shot on this square.
Too late: A card placed after a complete shot is a foul. Any card above this card is ignored. The opponent scores 1 point, and only for the first card placed too late.
Rushed shot: A shot placed after an attacker but before a ball is a foul. This shot card is therefore ignored and gives 1 point to the opponent, but the shot continues and can be valid with a new ball card and a new shot. The foul is counted even if the shot is not complete in the end.
Note: special effects that steal points, such as "interception", have no effect on fouls.
Strategy
You can find many strategy and tactics tips at www.fightball.com (in English only).
Since you do not have time to analyze everything during the game, you must play as best you can by feel. In general, playing something is always better than playing nothing.
It is important to take a little time to observe your team, its strengths, its special effects, but also the opposing team. Each team has strong points but also weak points; you just have to know them and adapt!
Above all, practise, play, and experience will help you a lot.
Have a good game!