FocusX
FocusX Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 16 fantastic cards
- 16 aquatic cards
- 16 terrestrial cards
- 16 aerial cards
Cards composition:
Each card shows:
a. Category background. b. Number of characters. c. Color. d. Category symbol.
The rulebook's example card images are not reproduced here; their captions are kept below.
The Basics: What Is a Focus?
A focus is the combination of three cards that share the same quantity, category or color.
Example: by Quantity. Each card has only one character.
Example: by Category. All the cards belong to fantastics.
Example: by Color. The three cards have the same color. Blue in the icon.
Example 2: terrestrial.
Example 3: aquatic.
And a FocusX ("focus-ex")?
If players agree to play with FocusX, it occurs when a card of a fantastic animal is used to make a focus with two other category cards: aerial, terrestrial, or aquatic.
Example 1: aerial.
If a FocusX comes up, you must shout 'focus-ex'. 'Focus-ex' must be shouted continuously: pausing between 'focus' and 'ex' renders it invalid.
Classic Mode (2+ players)
The goal is to end up with the highest number of cards in your victory pile.
Setup
The cards are shuffled and dealt among the players in equal amounts. Any leftover cards are returned to the box. Each player places their pile of cards in front of them face-down, without looking at them.
Play Area
The players will imagine that there are four spots in the center of the board where piles of cards will be created, forming a circle. Players will be able to play cards only in those spaces.
(The rulebook shows the four spots in the center of the table.)
Game Turn
The first player takes the first card from their personal pile and places it face-up in one of the four spaces in the play area.
The next player will place the top card of their personal pile in another available space, without using the space used by the previous player. If there are spaces without cards, those must be used.
If there is already a card where the player must place theirs, and there are no free spaces, they will place it on top, covering the previous card.
(The rulebook shows an example of a Focus for quantity formed in the play area.)
Note: These cards will count as your victory pile and should not be mixed with your face-down play pile.
Focus (X)
If at any point in the game a Focus is formed among 3 of the 4 cards in the play area, the first player to shout 'focus' will take the 3 cards and place them face-up in front of them.
Debated Focus
If two or three players shout 'focus' at the same time, each player will take one of the three cards from the focus. If there are two players, one of the three cards remains in the play area. If the tie is between 4 players or more, the three cards are returned to the box and nobody wins them.
False Focus
If a player shouts 'focus' when there isn't one, he must return one card from their victory pile to the game box. Shouting 'focus' when it's 'focusX', or vice versa, counts as a false focus and the player cannot win the trio of cards even if corrected.
End of the Game
When the last player has played their final card from their face-down pile, the game will be over. Players count the cards in their victory pile. The one with the most cards is the winner. In case of a tie, tied players will play another round of Focus until the first player wins a focus: that will be the victor.
ThinkFocus Mode (4-6 players)
The goal of the game is to finish with the highest number of cards in your victory pile by the end of the game.
Setup
The deck is shuffled and placed face down to one side of the table. Four cards are revealed, forming a column (if a Focus comes up, replace one of the cards until there isn't). Each card will form its own row of cards. Then, deal three cards to each player.
(The rulebook diagram labels the deck of cards, the four rows and the column.)
Game Turn
On their turn, the player will choose one of their cards and play it at the end of one of the 4 rows. Then, they will draw a new card.
The card placed must share some attribute with the card to its left. In the rulebook's example, they share the category 'fantasy'.
Column Focus
If, when placing a card, three cards (not necessarily adjacent) from the same column create a Focus, the active player can shout 'focus' to take the three cards into their victory pile. The cards that were ahead in a row of a removed card will shift to the left to fill gaps.
Shift Focus
If a new Focus is formed when shifting the cards, the first player to shout 'focus' will win it.
(The rulebook shows an example of a column Focus formed by quantity.)
Row Focus
If, when placing a card, three cards not necessarily adjacent from the same row create a Focus, the player before the active player can shout 'focus' to claim them and place them in their victory pile. Row focus takes precedence over column focus.
(The rulebook shows an example of a category Focus created when shifting the cards to the left, which would be won by the player from the previous turn if they shout 'focus'.)
Forgotten Focus
If at the start of their turn a player notices a focus unseen by the other players, whether vertical or horizontal, they can shout 'focus' to immediately claim it and put the three cards in their victory pile. They can only claim it on their turn: if they notice it earlier, they must wait until their turn to shout it.
End of the Game
When the deck of cards runs out, all players continue playing until they exhaust the cards in their hands. At that point, the game ends, and each player counts how many cards they have in their victory pile. The player with the most cards wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most fantastic animal cards wins. If the tie persists, the player with the most aerial animal cards wins.
Duel Mode (4-8 players)
The objective of the game is to finish the game with the fewest number of cards.
Setup
The deck is shuffled and placed face down in the center of the table.
Play Area
Each player will have a space in front of them to place their cards, called their playing area. In that space, they will place the cards in a pile, one on top of the other.
(The rulebook diagram shows the deck in the center with a playing area around it for each player.)
Game Turn
On their turn, each player will draw the top card from the deck and reveal it face up in their playing area. If they already had a card, they place it on top of this one, forming a pile.
Duel Focus
If three cards on the table form a Focus, the players who have those cards must shout 'focus'. The last player to shout will take the three cards and place them face down next to their playing area, forming a pile of negative points. In case of a tie, each tied player will only take the card from their playing area and place it in their pile of negative points.
(The rulebook shows an example of a quantity Focus. The player at the bottom shouts last and takes the 3 cards.)
End of the Game
The game ends when the deck in the center runs out. The player with the fewest cards wins the game. If there is a tie, a tiebreaker round will be played in classic mode of the game to determine the winner: the first to win a Focus wins the game.
4Focus Mode (2-4 players)
The game is won by the first player to find a focus of 4 cards that are connected by adjacency.
Setup
The cards are shuffled, one is placed in the center face down, and 3 are dealt to each player.
(The rulebook diagram shows the center card and the empty spaces around it.)
Game Turn
On their turn, the player chooses one of their three cards and places it adjacent to another card already on the board (orthogonally, not diagonally). This card must match in one attribute with all adjacent cards. The central card counts for any attribute, but it cannot be used to make a Focus.
(The rulebook shows an example where two players place cards 1 and 2, and the next player places card number three, which corresponds to an attribute shared with the adjacent cards.)
Space Limit
No card can be played in the game if it is more than 4 cards away from the center. Therefore, a maximum grid of 9x9 cards can be formed.
(The rulebook shows an example of a 4Focus by category.)
4Focus and End of the Game
If 4 cards connected by adjacency share the same attribute, a 4Focus is formed. As soon as a player plays a card that forms a 4Focus, all players except them can shout 'focus'. The first to shout it wins the game.
If a player on their turn, before playing a card, sees an unnoticed 4Focus, they can shout '4focus' and reveal it to win the game. If they shout it out of turn, the active player can shout it and they will be the winner.