Hold Your Ground

Hold Your Ground Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Goal

Be the last player to have any of their battlers left on the board.

Set Up

The first time you play, remove the tiles from the Punchout Board. Then place the board in the bottom of the box (this is used with the Eliminator, See below.) Place the tiles to the side.

The Eliminator

Lift up the frame and position the device so that the eliminator side (the side opposite the button) falls into the center square of the punch board and the button side sticks out of the box (as shown by the image to the right).

The Board

Place the flag tile in the center square of the frame.
Place the remaining 24 tiles on the table with their lava sides up and shuffle them.
Fill the frame randomly with the shuffled tiles.
Now, flip the tiles over and remove the explosion tiles from the board.

The Action Cards

Each player chooses 1 of 4 teams and takes the corresponding deck of 13 cards and 21 same color battlers. Shuffle your deck and place it in front of you on the table. Draw 4 cards to form a hand.

The Battlers

Each player places one battler on each remaining tile (the center tile included).

Gameplay

The youngest players starts first. Then players take turns moving in a clockwise order.

A turn consists of two phases that must be played in order: the 1. Moving Phase and the 2. Doom Phase.

1. Moving Phase

To move your battlers, take the following steps:

Play 2 cards: Choose 2 cards from your hand and place them in front of you. Each card shows a number of battlers, and/or a number of tiles to move.
Move battlers: Now, you must move the number of battlers shown on one card and the number of tiles shown on the other card.
- This symbol [icon] on a card may only be used for the number of tiles the battlers must move.
- This symbol [icon] on a card may only be used for the number of battlers that must be moved.
Example: You play these two cards: [two cards shown]. You may either move 2 battlers of your team 3 tiles each. Or, you may flip the cards and move 3 battlers of your team 2 tiles each.
Redraw: Place the 2 used cards in the discard pile next to your deck and draw 2 new cards from your deck.

If your deck is empty, shuffle the discard pile and place it face down to form a new deck. Then draw back up to 4 cards.

Movement Rules

Move the battlers one at a time.
Battlers may only move horizontally and vertically, not diagonally. The battlers do not have to move in straight lines. Example: if you must move a battler 3 spaces, you could move it to the right, move it up and then to the right again.
Battlers can't move over removed tiles.
A battler may not move over the same tile multiple times in one turn.
Always move the number of battlers corresponding to one of the cards and move them the number of tiles corresponding to the other card.
If you don't have the correct number of battlers and/or tiles, move the most battlers you can and/or move them the most number of tiles you can.

Special Action Cards

Some cards feature the actions from 'The Doom Phase'.

Using a special action card: First move your battlers following the normal rules. Then must also perform any special actions on the cards.

Example: You may move 1 battler 3 tiles and then perform the Battle Royale Action (see 'The Doom Phase'.)

Note: If you play two special action cards at the same time, you may choose in which order to perform the actions after moving.

Pushing

Each tile holds a maximum number of battlers based on the number of players:

2-3 players: max. 5 battlers.
4 players: max. 6 battlers.

When your battler lands on a tile already containing the maximum number of battlers (moving over it does not count), push one of the battlers already standing on this tile onto the next tile, in the same direction of the battler you moved.

If the battler is pushed onto a removed tile, or off the edge of the board, the pushed battler is eliminated. Eliminated battlers are removed from the board and placed in front of the player that eliminated the battler for use as a possible tie-breaker (see End Game).

If a battler is pushed onto another tile that also contains the maximum number of battlers, the player who's turn it is repeats the pushing process.

Special case: Due to explosions (see: The Doom Phase: Explosion) it might happen that a tile contains more than the maximum number of battlers. In this case, moving onto this tile results in pushing as many battlers as it takes to have the number of battlers on the tile match the maximum amount allowed.

2. Doom Phase

After the move phase, you must toss the Doom Die and perform the action shown.

Battle Royale Action

A battle breaks out on each of the tiles, where majorities eliminate other battlers.

When a player has the most battlers on a tile, they hold the majority on that tile. Multiple players can hold the majority on a tile. Example: Red and green both have 2 battlers and blue has 1 on a tile. Red and green both hold the majority.

Check each tile for majorities. Start at the top left corner of the board and moving left to right, ending at the bottom right corner of the board. This way you can keep track of which tiles you have already checked.

If a tile holds no majority, nothing happens on that tile. Example: Red, green, blue and purple all have 1 battler. Nobody holds the majority.

If a tile holds one or more majorities, all players holding the majority may eliminate one battler of their choice from a player that does not hold the majority on that tile. Place any battlers you eliminated in front of you for the end game tie-breaker.

Special case: If two players hold the majority but there is only one battler eliminated, the player whose turn it is, or the player who is next in line to have a turn, may collect the eliminated battler.

Example 1: Purple has 3 battlers, Red has 2 and Blue has 1. Purple holds the majority and may eliminate either one of the Red battlers, or the Blue battler. Purple eliminates a Blue battler.

Example 2: Blue and Green both have 2 battlers and Purple and Red have 1 each. Blue and Green both hold the majority and may both eliminate one minority. Blue eliminates the 1 Purple battler and Green eliminates the 1 Red battler.

Move Eliminator Action

You must move the eliminator underneath a tile adjacent to its current position. You may move it left, right, up, down, or diagonally. You may not move the eliminator underneath any removed tiles.

Explosion Action

You must use the eliminator to do one of two things:

When the eliminator is underneath any other tile (other than the center tile): BOOM! Blow up the tile by pressing the button on the eliminator. This will launch the tile and all the battlers on it into the air. Then, follow these steps:
1. Remove the exploded tile from the board. Place it to the side.
2. Any battlers that fell off of the board or into the box, are eliminated. Place them in a pile next to the board. These do not count towards anyone's tie-breaker count.
3. Any battlers that are not standing upright on the board survived and are placed upright.
4. Any battlers that are still on the board, but not completely on a tile, are placed onto the nearest tile.
--------OR--------
If the eliminator is underneath a removed tile, or the center tile: You must do the [Move Eliminator icon] action instead.

Collapsing

Tiles on the board must be connected to the center tile by a vertical or horizontal path of other tiles. After an explosion action, you must remove any tiles and eliminate any battlers not connected to the center tile. Battlers eliminated, do not count towards any tie-breaker count.

Example: The above tile exploded, the two tiles to its left are no longer connected to the center tile and are removed, as are any battlers on them.

Action of Choice

Choose any one Doom Die actions you would like to use.

Eliminated Players

When a player has no battlers left, they are eliminated and out of the game.

End of the Game

The game ends when...

Only one team is left: they win the game!

--------OR--------

The center tile is the only tile left: the player with the most battlers on the center tile wins the game! If there are multiple players with the most battlers on the center tile, the player with the highest number of tie-breaker battlers wins. If the tie-breaker count is also a draw, instead only count the battlers belonging to those players in the draw to determine the winner.