Flash Duel
Flash Duel Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
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Choose one of the ten characters. If either player prefers to choose characters using a double-blind method, do so. In that case, each player secretly chooses a character, then both players simultaneously reveal their character choice. Mirror matches are allowed (same character vs. same character) if you own two copies of the game. After you pick your character, put your character's three ability cards face-up on the table.
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Shuffle the 25 community cards, put them face-down on a pile on the table, then each player draws 5 cards. The 25 cards have 5 copies of each number from 1 to 5.
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Put your pawn on your Start space of the track.
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Flip a coin to determine who goes first. On later rounds, before players draw cards, the loser of the previous round chooses who goes first.
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Set aside the 5 win tokens for now. Take a win token each time you win a round. The first player to win 3 rounds wins the game.
Turn Structure
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Do one of these: move, push, attack, or dashing strike.
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If you did an attack or dashing strike, your opponent must respond or he loses the round.
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Draw until you have 5 cards, then your turn ends. Your opponent takes his turn.
Even if you skip your turn (because you retreated or an ability said to), you still get to draw back to up to 5 cards, but you can't take any other actions.
a) Move
Play any card from your hand to move your character that many spaces forward or backward. If you would move back off the edge of the board, instead move to the last space. If you would move forward past the opponent, instead move up to the opponent then stop.
b) Push
If you are in an adjacent space to the opponent, your move forward becomes a push. Push your opponent back the number of spaces on your card, but don't move yourself. For example, if you push with a 3, there will be 3 empty spaces between the characters afterward.
c) Attack
To attack, play a card from your hand whose number is the exact number of spaces to the opponent. You can strengthen your attack by playing a pair or three-of-a-kind if you like. Attacking does not move your character on the board.
d) Dashing Strike
To dashing strike, first play a card to move forward (not backward), then immediately play another card as your strike. The strike must be the same number as the distance to the opponent after the dash. You can strengthen your dashing strike with a pair or 3-of-a-kind if you like.
Surviving an Attack or Dashing Strike
If you attacked, your opponent must block or lose the round. If you did a dashing strike, your opponent must either block or retreat or he loses the round.
To block an attack or dashing strike, the opponent must match your attack cards (or the strike part of your dashing strike) with the exact same cards of his own. For example, if you attack with a 3, he must play a 3 to block. If you attack with two 1s, he must play two 1s to block. If he blocks on your turn, he'll start his turn with fewer than 5 cards because players only draw at the end of their own turns.
To retreat from a dashing strike, your opponent can play any card from his hand to move backward. If he's already at the edge of the board, he can't retreat.
Whenever you retreat, skip your next turn, but still draw up to 5 cards when you would have taken your turn.
Special Abilities
To get the hang of the game, you might first try it without using special abilities.
Each character has three special ability cards. Each ability card lists its timing trigger in the wood-panel area of the card and its effect in the larger canvas area below. The timing trigger tells you when that ability card is "lit up" and able to be played. Many abilities have the timing trigger "pre-combat" which means you can play them on your turn before you make your combat move.
When an ability's timing trigger happens, that means you can choose to play the ability--it doesn't happen automatically. If you choose to play the ability, turn the card face down to get the effect it states. You can only play one ability per turn. (You can play an ability on your turn, then a different one on the opponent's following turn if you like.) Remember that at the start of each new round (not the start of each turn!), you turn your three ability cards face up to replenish them.
Time-Over
When the last card is drawn, time has run out and no more abilities can be played (except for Argagarg's Pacifism). Both players reveal their hands and see if either or both have any cards that would allow an attack (not a dashing strike). If one player has more of these cards, he wins. Otherwise, the winner is the player who advanced the farthest on the board. If both players advanced the same distance, the round is a draw.
Public Information
The discard pile is public information and either player can look through it at any time. The number of cards left in the draw pile is also public information, and players can count how many cards remain any time. Both players' special ability cards are public information and either player can read the other's ability cards whether they are face up or face down.
FAQ
Here are some frequently asked questions, in case you get stuck on something.
General
Can I attack with a 3 then strengthen it with a pair of 4s?
No. When you strengthen an attack (or the strike of a dashing strike), you must play more copies of that attack (or strike). For example, if you attack with a 3, you can only strengthen it with more 3s. If you dashing strike with a 2 as the strike, you can only strengthen that with more 2s.
Is a "dashing strike" an "attack"?
No, a dashing strike is a dashing strike and an attack is an attack. If something triggers on one of those, it doesn't trigger on the other.
Can I dashing strike when I'm one space away from the opponent (adjacent to him)?
No.
What does my "combat move" or "combat action" mean?
It means your choice of move / push / attack / dashing strike for that turn. Pre-combat abilities happen before that choice.
If I'm 3 spaces away from the opponent, can I dashing strike with a 5 as the dash, then a 1 to strike?
Yes. If you would dash past the opponent, instead you stop in the space adjacent to him. You can then strike with a 1. This means that 1s are pretty valuable because there are several different ways to dashing strike the opponent with a 1 as the strike.
Can I move less than the number on my card if I want to?
Mostly no. If, for example, you're farther than 5 spaces from the opponent, moving forward with a 5 means you move exactly 5 spaces forward, not "up to 5" spaces. The only times you'd move fewer than 5 is if the opponent is exactly 5 away (in which case you'd be attacking and not moving); if the opponent is 2, 3, or 4 spaces away (you'd move up next to him); if the opponent is adjacent (you'd push him 5 away but not move yourself); or if you were moving backward and the Start space is fewer than 5 spaces away (you'd move to the Start space).
If I'm on the Start space, can I move back from there?
You can "move back" but you'll end up in the same place, still on the Start space. You cannot "retreat" from the Start space though.
Character-Specific
Grave's Reversal
To "counter" an ability means to negate it. When an opponent announces they will use an ability, Grave can use Reversal in response and prevent the enemy's ability from ever happening. The opponent still turns their ability card face down.
Midori's Dragon Form
If an opponent is adjacent to you and "pushes" you back, that does not end Dragon Form. Similarly, DeGrey's Spectral Push does not end Dragon Form, either.
Midori's Master of Twos
You can only play the virtual 2 anytime you could have played an actual 2 from your hand.
Setsuki's Speed of the Fox
This allows you to do a dashing strike on the opponent's turn, which you can't normally do otherwise. The opponent can retreat or block (also unusual because it's his turn). After he retreats or blocks, his turn ends. It should be your turn, but you must skip it because you retreated (remember that you get to draw back to 5 cards still). Then the opponent takes a normal turn if he blocked, or skips his turn if he retreated (he also can draw back up to 5 cards).
DeGrey's Pilebunker
After you retreat, you have to be exactly 4 spaces away to attack with the 4s.
DeGrey's Spectral Push
DeGrey doesn't need to be adjacent to the opponent to use this ability. He can Spectral Push from any distance.
Valerie's Epiphanies
If you use Green Eye's Epiphany to treat a 3 in your hand as a 4, you can attack an opponent who is 4 spaces away with it. You can power it up with another 4, but not with another 3.
Argagarg's Pacifism
When the round ends, compare final hands to see if there is a last hit. If there isn't, Argagarg wins (or ties against another Argagarg who played Pacifism). If there is a last hit, the player who lands that last hit wins the round.