Hot Wheels Acceleracers Collectable Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Object
• Overview
• Types of Cards
  • Racing Realms
  • Vehicles
  • Mods
  • Shifts
  • Accele-Chargers™
  • Hazards
• START YOUR ENGINES!
  • SET UP
• Turn Sequence
  • 1. Drawing
  • 2. Advancing
  • 3. Playing Vehicles
  • 4. Tune Up
  • 5. Action Points and Cards
    • Action Points (APs)
    • Playing Shift, Mod and Accele-Charger Cards
    • Playing Hazard Cards
    • "Free" Costs (0 AP)
    • Drawing More Cards
  • End of Turn
• WINNING THE RACE
• COLLECTOR'S RULES: DECK BUILDING

Contents

This Starter Set contains everything two players need to begin playing:

• 80 Cards (split in two 40 card decks – DO NOT MIX THE DECKS UNTIL YOU PLAY A FEW TIMES!)
• 20 Tokens
• 1 Carrying Case
• 1 Exclusively-decorated "Accelerated" Hot Wheels® vehicle

Please remove all components from the package and compare them to the contents list. If any items are missing, please call 1-800-524-TOYS.

Although you and another person can play a complete game with the cards that come in this Starter Set, you can have even more fun if you customize your deck with rare and powerful cards found in Booster Packs (sold separately and in Hot Wheels® AcceleRacers™ vehicle packs). Build the racing team you want and boost your chances of winning!

Object

Be the first player to move three Vehicles through four Racing Realms.

Overview

Everything you do in the AcceleRacers Collectible Card Game revolves around Speed, Power and Performance, or "SPP." All cards in the game have 3 windows that display their SPP ratings – from left to right: Speed, Power, Performance.

You begin each turn with 3 Action Points you can spend to "equip" Vehicle cards with other cards that boost the Vehicles' SPP ratings and make them powerful enough to advance to the next Racing Realm.

Let's get started by taking a look at the six different types of cards in the game and seeing what they do:

Types of Cards

Racing Realms

Players must race three Vehicles through four separate Racing Realms to win the game. A single race always consists of four Realms.

Card anatomy:

1. Card Type: Racing Realm
2. Card Copy: Any special powers a Realm has will appear as BOLD copy. NOTE: Always be sure to read the bold copy on your cards!
3. Escape Value: A Realm's Escape Value is the Speed, Power or Performance (SPP) rating your Vehicle's matching SPP value (Speed for Speed, etc.) must meet or exceed in order to exit the Realm.
4. Realm Name: Every Realm name is followed by the Acceleron symbol that represents that Realm. This symbol has no effect on game play.
5. Terrain Icons: Terrain Icons give a +1 bonus to the SPP of any Vehicle in a Realm with a Terrain Icon that matches the Realm's (some Vehicle cards also have Terrain Icons). A Vehicle may only receive one +1 Terrain bonus per Realm.

Terrain icons: Sand, Mud, Water, Rough, Slick, Paved.

Vehicles

Customize your Vehicles with other cards that add to their Speed, Power and Performance values.

Card anatomy:

1. Card Type: Vehicle
2. Team Logo: Team Logos identify a Vehicle's team. The four teams are Metal Maniacs™, Teku Racers™, Silencerz™ and Racing Drones™.
3. Modability Icons: Modability icons tell you which Mod cards you can attach to a Vehicle – only Mods with a matching Icon can be equipped to that Vehicle.
4. SPP Rating: The Vehicle's base SPP rating can be increased by "equipping" other cards to the Vehicle.
5. Card Copy: Any special game play abilities will be listed in BOLD copy.
6. Vehicle Name: There are two versions of each Vehicle – basic and advanced. Advanced versions are more powerful than the basic, and they add "Torqued", "Hyper," "Vectra" or ".v2" to the basic name (i.e. "Torqued Hollowback").
7. Terrain Icons: If a Vehicle's Terrain Icon matches the Terrain Icon of the Realm it is in, the Vehicle receives a +1 to its SPP values (so Hollowback's SPP of 3, 3, 2 would jump to 4, 4, 3!).

Mods

Mod cards are permanent physical modifications to a Vehicle. They stay with your Vehicle as it moves from Realm to Realm.

Card anatomy:

1. Card Type: Mod

2. AP Cost: Every card except Realms and Vehicles has an Action Point (AP) Cost – how many Action Points you must spend to bring the card into play. Players start with 3 APs each turn.

3. SPP Bonus: When you pay the AP cost to play a Mod on a Vehicle – called "equipping" – you get to add the Mod's SPP Bonus to the Vehicle's SPP.

   NOTE: An empty SPP window indicates a value of 0.

4. Modability Icons: Mods may only be equipped on Vehicles if at least one Modability Icon matches between the Mod and the Vehicle (some cards have more than 1 Modability Icon).

   Modability Icons: Street, Race, Off-Road.

5. Terrain Icon: Any Terrain Icon listed on a Mod is added to the Vehicle it equips.

6. Mod Name: The name of the modification

7. Card Copy: Special game play abilities will be listed in BOLD copy.

Shifts

Shift cards reflect a driver's skill and can be the difference between winner and wreckage. They provide a temporary boost to a Vehicle's SPP rating – unlike Mods, Shifts are discarded when the Vehicle advances to a new Racing Realm (unless the card indicates otherwise).

Card anatomy:

1. Card Type: Shift
2. AP Cost: As with Mod cards, Shifts have an Action Point cost you must pay to bring them into play. It appears here.
3. Card Copy: Any special game play abilities will be listed in BOLD.
4. Shift Name: Name of the specific "skill" on the card
5. SPP Bonus: After equipping a Shift to a Vehicle, add its SPP Bonus to the Vehicle's SPP.

Accele-Chargers™

Accele-Chargers are incredible artifacts left by the Accelerons. They may equip any Vehicle, but, like Shift cards, are temporary and must be discarded when the Vehicle they equip advances to the next Realm.

Card anatomy:

1. Card Type: Accele-Charger™
2. AP Cost: The Action Points you must spend to bring the card into play appear here.
3. Card Copy: Special game play powers will be listed in BOLD.
4. Accele-Charger Name: An Acceleron Symbol follows the name and identifies the Realm the Accele-Charger comes from (it will match one of the Acceleron Icons that appear on Realm cards). It has no effect on game play.
5. Terrain Icon: Terrain Icons that appear on Accele-Chargers are added to the Vehicles they equip.
6. SPP Bonus: After equipping an Accele-Charger on a Vehicle, add its SPP Bonus to the Vehicle's SPP.

NOTE: A Vehicle may have only ONE Accele-Charger equipped on it at a time.

All Accele-Chargers have one special feature: they CANNOT be removed by most Hazard Cards (see next page).

Hazards

Hazards destroy – or "junk" – Mod and Shift cards, but they do not affect Accele-Chargers (unless the Hazard card specifically says so). Some of the most powerful Hazards can destroy entire Vehicles!

Card anatomy:

1. Card Type: Hazard
2. AP Cost: The number of APs you must spend to bring the card into play appears here.
3. Card Copy: Any special game play powers will be listed in BOLD.
4. Hazard Name: Name of this "disaster"
5. SPP Damage: To play a Hazard on an opponent's Shift or Mod cards, pay the Action Point (AP) cost, line up the Hazard's SPP Damage numbers with the target card's SPP Bonus and subtract the damage. If any one of the target's SPP numbers is reduced to 0 or less, that card is immediately junked (removed from play), and you discard your Hazard.

START YOUR ENGINES!

This Starter Set comes with two pre-built, ready-to-play decks, one for each player. While learning the game, you should practice with these decks – so don't shuffle them together just yet!

See the section entitled DECK BUILDING for guidelines on customizing your own decks. But for now, let's get started with what we've got!

SET UP

1. Each player takes one of the pre-built Starter Decks. Remove the Quick Reference Card and 2 orange-bordered Realm cards from the top of the decks. Set the Reference Card aside and place the Realm cards face down in front of you.
2. Place the tokens in the carrying case.
3. Flip a coin. Winner of the toss gets "Pole Position" – the chance to race first.
4. The loser of the toss looks at the Realm cards he brought to the table, chooses one and places it face-down lengthwise in the middle of the table. The winner then selects a Realm and places it face-down beside the first. Players alternate until they have a row of four Realm cards spaced between them. A race always consists of four Realms.
5. Players shuffle their decks and set them to their left – this is their draw pile. Discarded cards are placed beside the draw pile in the "junk pile."
6. Players draw seven cards to start the race. If a player draws no Vehicle card, that player returns their cards to the draw pile, reshuffles, and draws 7 more cards. Repeat this process until at least one Vehicle is drawn.
7. The player who won the Pole Position goes first, turns over the first Realm card and begins play.

[Diagram: "Player Two" and "Player One" set-up layout showing the row of four Realm cards (first Realm face up), each player's Draw Pile and Junk Pile.]

Turn Sequence

The following is the standard turn sequence (the player who won the Pole Position goes first):

1. Draw a card. (see DRAWING, pg 16)
2. Advance all Vehicles that meet or beat a Realm's Escape Value. (see ADVANCING, pg 17)
3. Play one new Vehicle for free. (see PLAYING VEHICLES, pg 18)
4. "Tune up," or adjust, any tokens on your Vehicles. (see TUNE UP, pg 19)
5. Spend Action Points to play cards. (see ACTION POINTS AND CARDS, pg 20)
6. Discard down to 7 cards to end your turn. (see END OF TURN, pg 24)

1. Drawing

Draw one card at the start of your turn. If you are unable to draw a card because your draw pile is empty, you lose.

NOTE: Don't forget to read the bold copy on your cards – many of them have special powers that can really help you out!

2. Advancing

Add up the SPP numbers for each of your separate Vehicle stacks. One Vehicle stack consists of a Vehicle card and all the cards that equip it (Shifts, Mods, Accele-Chargers); a Vehicle stack can also be a single, unequipped Vehicle.

Any Vehicle stack that starts the turn with an SPP value equal to or greater than the Escape Value of the Realm it is in must immediately advance (or "roll on") to the next Realm. Slide the entire Vehicle stack forward, flipping the new Realm card face-up if this is the first Vehicle to reach it. Make sure to align the stack's SPP windows with the Realm's.

[Diagram: "Vehicle Stack" – the SPP windows of a Vehicle card (Speed, Power, Performance) with equipped Mod and Shift cards layered beneath, summed as the stack total.]

When a Vehicle stack enters a new Realm, remove all equipped Shifts and Accele-Chargers (unless the cards say otherwise). Only Mods remain equipped.

After a Vehicle stack exits the fourth (and final) Realm, remove all its equipped cards to your junk pile and place the Vehicle beside the fourth Realm. Once you've placed three Vehicles outside the fourth Realm, you win the game.

NOTE: When a Vehicle exits the fourth Realm, it is permanantly [sic] out-of-play and is no longer affected by Hazards.

3. Playing Vehicles

If you have any, you may play one – and only one – Vehicle from your hand each turn.

Place it in the first Realm, lining up the Vehicle's SPP windows alongside the Realm card's SPP windows.

As you bring additional Vehicles into play, position them in a row below any other Vehicles that may already be in the first Realm. There is no limit to the number of Vehicles you can have in-play, but all Vehicles must start in the first Realm.

[Diagram: a Realm card with a Vehicle card placed below it, SPP windows lined up.]

4. Tune Up

Tokens are used to mark any Vehicles receiving special bonuses or penalties. NOTE: Tokens do not represent Action Points (APs). During this step, readjust any tokens that mark your Vehicles as follows:

Terrain Bonus: If any of a Vehicle stack's Terrain Icons match the Terrain Icon of the Realm it is in, that Vehicle adds +1 to its S, P, and P values. A Vehicle may only add one +1 bonus per Realm. To indicate this bonus, place a token on the Vehicle stack's matching Terrain Icon. When the Vehicle stack rolls on to the next Realm, remove the token.

Special Abilities: Tokens are also used to track effects that some Mods, Shifts, Accele-Chargers and Hazards have on your Vehicle. The cards will direct you when and how to use the tokens.

For example, the "Acid Bath" Hazard instructs: "Destroy a Vehicle after 4 turns. Opponent places 4 tokens on the Vehicle you target and removes 1 token each turn during THEIR tune-up phase. When the last token is removed, the Vehicle is immediately sent to its owner's junk pile."

Whenever a card marked with tokens is junked, the tokens and their effect is junked as well.

5. Action Points and Cards

Action Points (APs)

Everything you do in the game is powered by Action Points. You start each turn with 3 APs. By spending these points you bring Shifts, Mods, Accele-Chargers and Hazards into play. Cards have different AP costs depending on how powerful they are; some even cost more than 3 APs to play. You can get the extra APs you need with Team Bonuses.

Team Bonus: Whenever you have two or more Vehicles from the same team (Vehicles with matching Team Icons) anywhere in play at the same time, you receive +1 AP. It doesn't matter how many Vehicles you have in play from the same team, you still only receive 1 extra AP.

If you have two teams in play, you receive +2 APs, three teams +3 APs, etc. If a team is reduced to one Vehicle because its teammate exits the fourth Realm or is junked, you lose that team's AP bonus.

Any unspent APs are lost at the end of your turn.

Playing Shift, Mod and Accele-Charger Cards

After paying the AP cost to bring a Shift, Mod or Accele-Charger into play, place it on top of the Vehicle, lining up the card's SPP numbers with the Vehicle's. As you bring more cards into play, stack them on top of the previously-played cards. Continue to line up the SPP numbers so you can easily add them up.

Once you meet or beat the Realm's Escape Value you can roll on at the start of your next turn.

[Diagram caption: "This Vehicle stack's Speed value of 9 beats the Realm's Escape Value of 8 – the Vehicle advances!"]

Remember: Shifts and Accele-Chargers [sic: printed "Acccele-Chargers"] can be played on any Vehicle, but Mods can only be played on Vehicles with a matching Modability Icon.

[Diagram caption: "Matching Modability Icons"]

NOTE: If a card says "Modability rules DO NOT apply," Modability Icons DO NOT need to match.

Playing Hazard Cards

Hazards destroy an opponent's Shift and Mod cards. Note: Accele-Charger cards are not affected by Hazards unless the Hazard specifically says so.

Show your opponent the Hazard and subtract its SPP numbers from the target card's SPP. If the Hazard can reduce any one of the target's SPP values to 0, that card is junked. NOTE: A Hazard's Damage Value DOES NOT affect blank SPP windows – the target card must have NUMBERS in at least one SPP window that corresponds to the Hazard's. Place Hazards in your junk pile after they have been played.

Some Hazards have no damage numbers. Refer to their BOLD copy to see what they do.

You cannot play Hazards on yourself.

"Free" Costs (0 AP)

Some cards have a "0" AP cost. They can be played at any time for free, on either your or your opponent's turn, and are typically used to cancel Hazards played against you.

Drawing More Cards

Each turn, you can also choose to spend 1 AP to draw 1 extra card, up to your total number of APs. You can play cards on the same turn you draw them if you have enough APs to do so.

Any unspent APs at the end of your turn are lost.

End of Turn

If you have more than 7 cards in your hand at the end of your turn, discard down to 7, and then your opponent's turn begins.

WINNING THE RACE

There are only two ways to win the race.

1. If you are first to get three Vehicles through all four Realms, you win.
2. If your opponent can't draw a card at the start of his turn because his draw pile is empty, you win.

COLLECTOR'S RULES: DECK BUILDING

Once you collect additional cards in Booster Packs (sold separately, and also included in Hot Wheels AcceleRacers vehicle packs), you can customize your racing deck. Just a few rules apply:

1. You may have no more than 80 cards in your deck (Realm cards count toward this total).
2. You may have only one of a particular Vehicle or Accele-Charger in your deck – no duplicates (but you can have both the basic and advanced version of the same Vehicle). Likewise, you may not bring more than one of a particular Realm card to the table.
3. You may have no more than three of the same Shift, Hazard or Mod cards in your deck.

When coming to the table, bring your 80 card deck, but keep your Realm cards separated. Select the two Realms you wish to play with and set the rest aside.