Gosu X
Gosu X Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
How to Win?
In Gosu X, players build up their army using the cards from their deck, made of 3 clans among 8. They play in turns over 3 rounds at most. At the end of each round a Great Battle takes place, where the player with the highest military value gains a Supremacy token.
- The first player controlling 2 Supremacy tokens immediately wins the game.
- The first player unlocking their 5th Activation token immediately wins the game.
- The first player controlling 15 cards face up in their army immediately wins the game.
- Goan Sul and Justice each offer an alternative victory condition (see Glossary).
Contents
- 120 cards (15 for each clan)
- 8 Immortal tiles (each has an aid side and an active side)
- 16 wooden pieces
- 8 Activation tokens
- 3 Supremacy tokens
- 2 Ethereal tokens
- 1 Wonder token
- 1 Timer token
- 1 Bounty token
- 1 board
- 1 cloth bag
- 1 rulebook
Setup
Place the board between the players, on one side of the play area.
Place all wooden elements as shown on the board.
Sort the 8 clans and place their decks between the players, facing up, with the Immortal card representing the clan on top. Place the corresponding Immortal tiles below the decks, on their aid side.
Each player takes 2 Activation tokens and places them in front of them: these tokens are considered "in their hand".
Randomly determine a first player: they will pick first during the "Clan selection" phase and play first during the first round.
Clan Selection
Resolve these steps in order:
- The first player picks 1 clan among the available 8.
- The second player picks 2 clans among the remaining 7.
- The first player picks 2 clans among the remaining 5.
- The second player picks 1 clan among the remaining 3.
Each player now takes the Immortal tiles that correspond to the clans they picked and places them with their aid side up next to the corresponding slots of the board.
The Immortal tiles of the two unselected clans are placed with their active side up next to the corresponding slots of the board. These tiles' ongoing effects will affect both players for the remainder of the game.
Return the decks of any unselected clans to the box: they will not be used for this game.
Each player shuffles the decks of their 3 selected clans to form a single deck of 45 cards, then each player draws 7 cards from their deck: this is their starting hand.
IMPORTANT: should a player have 0 or 1 Troop (level I card) in their starting hand, they may decide to show their hand to their opponent, shuffle it back into their deck and draw 7 cards again. They may repeat the process any number of times, as long as there are fewer than 2 Troops in their starting hand.
Example of an unselected clan's active-side effect: Galmi — After you Pass, your opponent may play at most 2 extra turns instead of 3.
Example of an unselected clan's active-side effect: Narashima — Players' maximum hand size at the end of their turn is 5 instead of 7.
Clan Breakdown
The 8 clans in the game are: Justice, Abhilasha, Tomorrow, Narashima, Galmi, Phoenix, Goan Sul, and Xi'an.
Each clan is made of 15 cards, divided into 3 types:
- 8 Troops (level I): they are an army's basic units (4 different ones in 2 copies each).
- 5 Heroes (level II): they are unique and have powerful effects.
- 2 Immortals (level III): the leader of each clan, and a variation of the 9th Immortal (Byun Hyung Ja).
Card Anatomy
Each card shows: its name, its military value, its level, a keyword (if any), its clan's symbol, its effect (if any), its shift cost, and an Activation icon.
A player's play area (tableau) has 3 rows and 5 columns:
- Top row: Immortals (level III)
- Middle row: Heroes (level II)
- Bottom row: Troops (level I), starting from the bottom-left corner
Round Sequence
During a round, both players play in turn until they Pass. When a player passes, their opponent may play at most 3 more turns (see below, Pass).
During their turn, players perform one action only. Some actions may trigger multiple effects, which must be resolved before the opponent plays their turn.
Immortal tiles that were not selected during the Clan selection phase have an ongoing effect that affects both players until the end of the game.
A player's maximum hand size at the end of their turn is 7 cards, or 5 cards if Narashima is in play. At the end of their turn, if a player has more cards in hand than their maximum hand size, they must discard any excess cards of their choice.
The actions a player may perform are:
- Play a card to your army
- Make a shift
- Spend one or two Activation tokens
- Pass
Play a Card to Your Army
The most frequent action consists in playing a card from your hand to your play area, in front of you, to build up your army. Your army is represented by a tableau of 3 rows and 5 columns. The maximum number of cards in your army is therefore 15. In the bottom row you will play Troops (level I). In the middle row you will play Heroes (level II), and in the top row you will play Immortals (level III).
How to play Troops (level I)?
The first card you will play to your army will be a Troop (level I). As the base of your army, you must place it in the bottom-left corner of your tableau. The first Troop you play is free, regardless of its clan.
If the card has an effect (keyword and/or white text), resolve it. Your turn is then over and your opponent will now take theirs. From your next turn on, you will have the opportunity to play a Hero (level II) or another Troop (level I).
IMPORTANT: cards are always played from left to right.
To play more Troops, the following rules apply:
- If the clan of the Troop you want to play matches none of your face-up Troops' clans, you must first discard 2 cards from your hand as an additional cost to play this Troop.
- If there is at least one face-up Troop from this clan in your army, play your Troop for free, i.e. do not discard any cards from your hand.
IMPORTANT: cards that you discard to pay a cost are placed face up in your discard pile.
IMPORTANT:
- If your only Troop is destroyed, the next Troop you play is considered to be the first Troop of your army and is therefore free.
- When you play a Troop and all your other Troops have been captured (i.e. face down), the next Troop you play is also considered to be the first Troop of your army and therefore is free.
Example 1: Martin plays a Troop that belongs to another clan: he discards 2 cards from his hand and places this Troop to the right of his most recently played Troop.
Example 2: Martin plays a Troop from the Goan Sul clan. As he already controls at least one Troop from this clan, he plays it for free.
How to play a Hero (level II)?
To play a Hero, follow these 2 rules:
- There may never be more cards on your second row (Heroes) than on your bottom row (Troops). For example, you may not control 2 Heroes with just 1 Troop.
- You may not play a Hero unless there is at least one Troop from the same clan in your army. The Hero needs not be placed exactly above that Troop.
IMPORTANT: you may play several Heroes from the same clan, even if you control only one Troop from that clan.
Example: Martin may play a Hero from the Xi'an clan as there is at least one Troop from the Xi'an clan in his army. He plays his Hero on the leftmost available space in the corresponding row.
How to play an Immortal (level III)?
To play an Immortal, follow these 2 rules:
- There may never be more cards on your top row (Immortals) than on your second row (Heroes). For example, you may not control 2 Immortals above 1 Hero.
- You may not play an Immortal unless there is at least one Troop AND one Hero from the same clan in your army. You need not place the Immortal exactly above a Hero from their clan.
IMPORTANT: you may play both Immortals from the same clan, even if you control only one Hero from that clan.
Example: Martin may play an Immortal of the Xi'an clan as there is at least one Troop and one Hero from the Xi'an clan in his army. He plays his Immortal on the leftmost available space in the corresponding row.
Should the last Troop or Hero from a given clan leave play or be flipped face down after an effect is resolved, other cards from that clan do not leave play.
Example: Ulysses makes a shift on a Hero from the Justice clan: he discards as many cards from his hand as the number shown on the replaced Hero, then places the Hero into his discard pile and replaces it with any Hero from his hand. He plays a Hero from the Abhilasha clan, even though there are no Abhilasha Troops in his army.
Make a Shift
Most cards have a shift cost: this means they may be replaced (shifted) with any card from your hand of the same level (the clan does not matter). If there is no shift cost, the card cannot be replaced.
To make a shift, choose a card in your army that you want to replace. Then, discard a number of cards from your hand equal to the shift cost shown on it. This cost is reduced by 1 card for each Activation token resting on that card.
Discard that card and replace it with a card of the same level from your hand, which now occupies its spot in your army. If you replace a Hero, the replacing Hero's clan does not matter – you do not need to control a Troop from the same clan in your army.
Resolve the effect of the card you just put into play, if any.
IMPORTANT: a card may NEVER be replaced with a card with the identical name. This only applies to Troops, as these are the only non-unique cards.
Spend One or Two Activation Tokens
Choose one of these 3 options:
- Spend one Activation token to draw a card.
- Spend two Activation tokens to draw three cards.
- Place one Activation token on a card showing an Activation icon to trigger its effect. The number of Activation icons on the card indicates how many times this can be done. There may never be more Activation tokens than such icons on a card.
IMPORTANT: tokens spent to draw cards are placed into the dedicated area of the board, your "spent tokens area".
Example: Ulysses spends two Activation tokens to draw 3 cards.
IMPORTANT: as long as an Activation token has not been used, it is considered "in hand".
Example: Ulysses places one of his available Activation tokens on a card that he controls showing an Activation icon, then triggers its effect. As this card has only one Activation icon, it cannot be activated again as long as the Activation token remains on the card.
Some effects allow you to take one of your Activation tokens back in hand. When this happens, take back a token resting on one of your cards (so it can be activated again) or in your spent tokens area on the board.
When a card is captured or destroyed, place any Activation tokens resting on it into that player's spent tokens area on the board.
Byun Hyung Ja cards enable you to unlock your 3rd and 4th Activation tokens: when this happens, take one locked Activation token from your side of the board and add it to your hand. Should you unlock an Activation token while having no locked Activation tokens left, you immediately win the game instead.
Pass
You may not Pass first if you have Activation tokens in hand.
After you Pass, your opponent may play up to 3 more turns: use the Timer token to keep count of these turns.
IMPORTANT: after a player has passed, additional turns count as normal turns. Also, when you pass via Galmi's effect, you must have spent all your Activation tokens doing so.
The Great Battle
After both players have passed, the round ends and the Great Battle starts. Resolve the following steps in order:
- Each player adds up the military value of their army and various bonuses (Veteran keyword, Galmi (Avatar), Phoenix, etc.).
- The player with the highest military value wins the Great Battle and gains a Supremacy token.
- If there is a tie, whoever controls the Wonder token wins the Great Battle. If no one does, both players gain a Supremacy token.
When a player gains their second Supremacy token, they immediately win the game.
Captured cards have no military value, see Glossary, Capture.
IMPORTANT: in the unlikely case where both players gain their second Supremacy token simultaneously, the game ends with a tie!
After the Great Battle is over, if no player has 2 Supremacy tokens, go to the "Song for the Dead" phase.
Example: Martin's military value is 17: 5 for his Immortal, 6 for his Heroes and 6 for his Troops since the Goan Sul Troops' military value is doubled because of the Veteran keyword. Ulysses' military value is also 17: 6 for his Heroes, 8 for his Troops and 3 because of the Phoenix Immortal tile since he has 3 cards in his hand. As Ulysses controls the Wonder token, he breaks the tie and gains a Supremacy token.
Song for the Dead
Resolve these steps in order:
- Players release their captured cards without triggering any effects.
- The player who won the Great Battle sacrifices half their cards in play, rounded up.
- Then, the player who lost the Great Battle does the same.
IMPORTANT: players must sacrifice their OPEN cards one by one: this means a card may become OPEN after another card was sacrificed. If both players gained a Supremacy token after a tied Great Battle, randomly determine who will sacrifice first.
- Each player draws cards until they have 7 in their hand.
- Each player takes their Activation tokens back: 2 starting Activation tokens + those unlocked during the game via Byun Hyung Ja's card effects.
- Return the Wonder token to the board.
- Start a new round: the player who just lost the Great Battle plays first.
IMPORTANT: if both players gained a Supremacy token after a tied Great Battle, the player who was randomly appointed to sacrifice their cards last will play first in the next round.
Example: Ulysse sacrifices his cards first because he won the Great Battle. As he controls 7 cards in his army, he must sacrifice 4 OPEN cards, discarding them one by one. It is now Martin's turn to do so: as he controls 6 cards in his army, he must sacrifice 3 OPEN cards.
Glossary
Main Concepts and Keywords
Additional turn
Play an additional turn after this one: this means you play 2 turns in a row. You may not play an additional turn after an additional turn. Should you play a card with such an effect during an additional turn, simply do not resolve the effect. Additional turns count as regular turns after your opponent has passed.
Bounty
When a player captures or destroys an opposing card with the Bounty keyword, they may draw a card.
Byun Hyung Ja
There is 1 Byun Hyung Ja card in each clan, allowing you to unlock an Activation token and therefore helping you closer to the corresponding victory condition.
Capture
Choose any card and turn it over so that it faces down. A captured card loses its military value and its effect, and does not belong to any clan.
- A captured card may be destroyed later if it is OPEN.
- You may not make a shift on a captured card.
- A player may play a card above a captured card.
Any Activation tokens resting on a card when it is captured are returned to their controller's spent tokens area.
Discard pile
Cards in discard piles are always placed face up. Any player may look through any discard pile at any time.
Destroy
Choose any OPEN card and place it in their controller's discard pile. Any Activation tokens resting on a card when it is destroyed are returned to their owner's spent tokens area.
Draw
Place the top card of your deck into your hand. If you need to draw and there are no cards in your deck, shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck, then draw.
Echo
When a player plays a card with the Echo keyword, they may resolve its effect one additional time. They may choose another target for the second resolution if they wish to. Echo is not triggered when you place an Activation token on a card with this keyword.
Effect
When a card enters play, you must resolve its effect (white text), unless the text implies it is optional (Example: "you may…").
Ethereal
A card with the Ethereal keyword or with a token on it cannot be captured or destroyed. However, it can still be sacrificed.
Force of will
When the requirements of a card with Force of will are met, you may discard it from your hand during the turn of any player to resolve its effect.
Goan Sul
As long as Goan Sul is in play, he provides his controller with an additional victory condition. If the Goan Sul clan has not been selected during the Clan selection phase, that condition is offered to both players.
Justice
When Justice enters play, and only at that moment, she provides you with a new, immediate victory condition. Immortal tiles flipped by Justice's effect become active. If the Justice clan has not been selected during the Clan selection phase, use both Ethereal tokens to indicate which highest OPEN card is Ethereal.
Mirror card
A mirror card is the card located in the same spot as your card in your opponent's army.
Ongoing effect
A text written in italic represents an ongoing effect: this effect applies as long as the card is in play face up.
OPEN card
An OPEN card is a card that has no cards above it and to its right.
This keyword is used in various card effects, such as "destroy an OPEN card". While any card can be captured, only OPEN cards can be destroyed.
Recruiter
Any card you play (does not work when you make a shift) to the immediate right of a card with the Recruiter keyword can be played for free, regardless of its clan. Only Troops (level I) have this keyword.
Release
Turn any captured card over so that it faces up. This card can be activated again later in the game. Releasing a card does not trigger its effect, unless the effect specifies so.
Remove from the game
Return the card that is removed from the game to the box: this card is no part of the game anymore, unless a card effect says it can be retrieved.
Reveal
Take that many cards from the top of your deck and turn them face up.
However, revealing cards cannot cause you to shuffle your discard pile back into your deck. For example, if there are only 2 cards left in your deck and you should reveal 4, you reveal only 2.
Sacrifice
Choose an OPEN card (captured or not) from your army and place it into your discard pile. This card is not considered destroyed.
Same name, different card
Some cards share the same name, with additional information between parentheses. These cards are considered to share the same name but they are not identical cards.
Secret shift
When you make a shift on a card with the Secret shift keyword, it may be replaced with a card from your discard pile instead of a card from your hand, but still not with an identical card (this applies to Troops only).
Veteran
When an Activation token is placed on a card with the Veteran keyword, turn this token over to its Veteran side. During the Great Battle, this card's military value will be doubled if the token is still there.
Wondrous / Wonder token
When you play a Wondrous card, take the Wonder token on the board or from your opponent and place it in front of you.
The Wonder token has 2 abilities:
- During your turn, you may spend the Wonder token (by returning it to the board) to discard 1 card less when playing a new card or making a shift.
- In the case of a tie during the Great Battle, the tie is broken in favor of whoever controls the Wonder token.
Activation token count
This value corresponds to the number of Activation tokens you own: in your hand, on your cards, in your spent tokens area.
At the beginning of the game, your Activation token count is equal to 2. You will have the opportunity to increase this value up to 4 by meeting the requirements of your Byun Hyung Ja cards.
For more detailed rulings, please refer to the FAQ on our website: www.sorryweare.fr
Credits
A game developed by Sorry We Are French, based on Gosu and Gosu Tactics by Kim Sato.
- Artist: David Sitbon
- DTP: Good Heidi
- Rules: Pierre Gamberoni & Matthieu Verdier
- Producer: Emmanuel Beltrando