Mindbug: Battlefruit Kingdom
Mindbug: Battlefruit Kingdom Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
In MINDBUG you will summon hybrid creatures and send them to battle against the creatures of your opponent. But be careful when you summon a creature: the opponent may use one of their own Mindbugs to take control of it. Outwit your opponent in a fascinating tactical duel, where having the best cards and playing them at the wrong time can be deadly for oneself.
Components
MINDBUG consists of the following components:
- 48 Creature Cards
- 2 Life Trackers
- 1 Rulebook
- 2 Rules Reference Cards
- 4 Mindbug Cards
Key Concepts
Resolving Effects: While resolving an effect, always resolve as much of the effect as you can, and ignore any part of the ability that cannot be resolved.
Example: If an effect asks you to discard two cards, but you only have one card in hand, you discard that card and ignore the second one.
While resolving an effect, the player who is performing the action makes any choices related to that effect unless something else is specified.
Example: If one of your cards has the effect "Defeat an enemy creature", you choose which enemy creature to defeat since you are performing the action. If another one of your cards has the effect "An opponent discards a card", they choose which card to discard since they are performing the action.
Simultaneous Effects: If more than one effect happens at the same time (e.g. when two creatures are defeated simultaneously), the active player decides the order of resolving them. Always finish resolving one effect before resolving another.
Game Setup
Step 1: Deal Mindbugs
Deal each player 2 Mindbugs and place them face up in front of them.
Step 2: Shuffle and Deal Decks
Shuffle the creature cards and deal each player 10 cards face down as their draw pile. Leave a bit of room next to your draw pile for a discard pile. Put aside all remaining cards (called the "unused pile").
Step 3: Draw Hands
Each player draws 5 cards from their personal draw pile as their starting hand.
Step 4: Set Starting Life
Each player starts the game with 3 life. To track life, each player takes a life tracker and sets it to 3.
Note: You can also use dice, tokens or 3 face-down cards from the unused pile to track your life.
The play area layout: each player has their Mindbugs and life tracker in front of them, a play area for creatures in play, a draw pile with a discard pile next to it, and their hand of cards.
Playing the Game
Goal of the Game
You immediately win the game when the opponent's life is reduced to zero.
Life
You start the game with 3 life. Whenever you lose life, you reduce your life tracker by the corresponding number. Whenever you gain life, you increase your life tracker by the corresponding number. There is no limit to the number of life you can have.
Creature Cards
Each card represents a creature with a name and a power value. Creatures can have one or more KEYWORDS (the first line below the name) and an ABILITY (the text below the keywords).
Note: Creatures can never have a power value lower than 1, even if other effects modify their power value.
Drawing Cards
Whenever you have less than 5 cards in hand, you immediately draw cards from your draw pile until you have 5 cards in hand. Do this before any other effects occur (e.g. before a card is mindbugged or its Play effect is triggered). If your draw pile runs out of cards, you don't draw additional cards. There is no limit to the number of cards you can have in hand.
Taking Turns
To determine the starting player, each player reveals a card from the unused pile (the remaining cards that are put aside). Compare the power value on those cards. The player with the higher number is the starting player. On a tie repeat the process. The revealed cards are not part of the game. They remain face up and all players may always look at them during the game.
Players alternate taking turns. During each of your turns, you must take one single action. It is called the turn action. You may choose your turn action among the following options:
- Play a single card
or
- Attack with a single creature
If you are unable to take a turn action, you immediately lose the game.
Play a Card
Choose any card from your hand and place it face up on the table. Show it clearly to your opponent by turning it temporarily towards them so that they can read it. Now they have two options:
Option 1: Your opponent refuses to use a Mindbug
Whenever you play a card from your hand, your opponent may use one of their Mindbugs to take control of that card. If they have no Mindbugs left or refuse to use one, proceed by placing the played creature card into your play area and resolve its Play effects if it has any. Then end your turn. Your opponent goes next.
Option 2: Your opponent decides to use a Mindbug
If your opponent decides to use a Mindbug, they immediately get to play that card instead of you and they lose one Mindbug. Turn that Mindbug face down to show that it has been used and put the creature card into their play area. Your opponent resolves any Play effects of the creature as if they had played it from their hand.
Then you must take another turn action during this same turn (allowing you to either play a card or attack with a creature).
Note: If a creature comes into play in some other way than a play-from-hand turn action (e.g. by using a card effect), there is no option of using a Mindbug to take control of it.
Note: You cannot use a Mindbug to take control of a creature that is already in play. You also cannot use a Mindbug on a creature that has already been mindbugged by your opponent.
Note: If a creature that was mindbugged is defeated, it goes to the discard pile of the player who currently controls the creature. That player also resolves any Defeated effects of that creature.
Example: Alice plays the card Axolotl Healer from her hand and draws back to 5 cards. Bob has two Mindbugs left. He decides to use one and puts Axolotl Healer into his play area, thus activating its Play effect (to gain 2 life). Alice must now take another turn action during this same turn. She uses that extra turn action to play Strange Barrel and draws back to 5 cards. Bob has one Mindbug left and he could use it to take Strange Barrel. However, he chooses to keep his Mindbug and Alice puts Strange Barrel into her play area.
Attack with a Creature
Choose a single creature in your play area (an allied creature) to attack. Your opponent may now choose a single creature from their own play area (an enemy creature) to block the attack. If they decide not to block, they lose 1 life. If they block the attack, the creature with the lower power is defeated and sent to its controller's discard pile. If they have the same power, both creatures are defeated. Any player may look at the cards in any discard pile during the game.
Example: Alice attacks with Gorillion which has power 10. Bob has Bee Bear with power 8 in play. He can block with Bee Bear. In that case, he loses no life but his Bee Bear is defeated and sent to his discard pile. He instead chooses not to block the attack. This causes him to lose 1 life.
Keywords
Creature cards can have one or more keywords, acting as substitutes for rules texts that explain what the card does.
FAST: This creature may attack or activate its Action effect the turn it comes into play (after its Play effect). If the opponent uses a Mindbug on a creature with FAST, they may attack with it or activate its Action effect this turn, even though it is still your turn.
Example: Player 1 plays Pineapple Paladin. Player 2 refuses to use a Mindbug. Pineapple Paladin has FAST, so Player 1 decides to attack with it immediately. Player 1 gains 1 life (from Paladin's ability). Player 2 chooses Lord Watermelon as blocker. Lord Watermelon is defeated because it has a lower power value. Player 1's turn ends and player 2's turn starts.
FRENZY: This creature may attack twice each turn, if it is still in play.
Example: Player 1 attacks with Luchataur. Player 2 chooses Tusked Extorter as blocker. Extorter is defeated and put to the discard pile as it has a lower power value. Luchataur can attack a second time, as it has FRENZY and is still in play. Player 2 loses 1 life as they don't have any creature to block.
HUNTER: When attacking with this creature, you may choose an enemy creature, which must block it.
Note: You are allowed to force any enemy creature to block, even one that normally cannot block your creature (due to keywords or other effects). Using the HUNTER keyword is optional, but if you do, you cannot use it to attack the opponent directly.
Example: Player 1 attacks with Killer Bee. Player 1 forces Compost Dragon to block. Compost Dragon is defeated as it has a lower power value. Player 2 cannot choose another blocker.
POISONOUS: During combat resolution with this creature, the enemy creature is always defeated.
Note: If the enemy creature's power value is equal or higher, the creature with POISONOUS is also defeated.
Example: Player 1 attacks with Tusked Extorter. Player 2 discards a card (from Extorter's ability). Player 2 chooses Spider Owl as blocker. Extorter defeats Spider Owl as it has a higher power value, but is also defeated since Spider Owl has POISONOUS.
SNEAKY: This creature can only be blocked by creatures with SNEAKY.
Note: It still can block enemy creatures like a normal creature.
Example: Player 1 attacks with Spider Owl (a creature with SNEAKY). Player 2 has two creatures in play, but only Tiger Squirrel can be chosen as a blocker (as it requires SNEAKY).
TOUGH: If this creature would be defeated and is not exhausted, exhaust it instead of defeating it. It doesn't matter whether it would be defeated through combat or by a card effect. Exhausting means rotating the card by 90 degrees to highlight that its TOUGH keyword has been triggered already. Being exhausted doesn't affect what a creature can do (it can still attack, block and use its abilities).
Note: If a creature with POISONOUS has a power higher than or equal to the power of an enemy creature with TOUGH that it fights, that enemy creature becomes exhausted, but not defeated.
Example: Player 1 attacks with Kangasaurus Rex. Player 2 chooses to block with Elephantopus. Both creatures would be defeated since they have the same power value. Since Elephantopus has TOUGH (and is not yet exhausted), it is exhausted and not defeated. Kangasaurus Rex is defeated and put into the discard pile.
Triggers
Most creatures have a special ability that triggers at a specific moment during the game. The corresponding effect happens for the creature's controller. The following triggers can be found on cards:
Play: This effect triggers when the creature with this effect comes into play. It happens no matter how the creature comes into play, for example if another effect allows you to play that card from your discard pile. If the opponent uses a Mindbug to take control of a card you play, the Play effect happens for them and not for you.
Attack: This effect triggers when the creature with this effect attacks, but before the opponent decides whether they want to block.
Defeated: This effect triggers when the creature with this effect is defeated, that is immediately after it is moved from the play area to its controller's discard pile. A creature can be defeated as a result of combat or a card effect. Note that it does not trigger if the opponent takes control of the creature, sends it back to your hand, if you discard it from your hand to the discard pile or if it becomes exhausted instead of being defeated.
Only for the Battlefruit Galaxy card set:
Action: When you have a creature in play with an Action effect, you may spend your turn action activating that effect instead of playing a card or attacking with a creature. If the effect doesn't do anything, you are not allowed to activate it.
Abilities with a specific trigger event, such as those starting with the words "when" or "at the end of turn", are also considered to be triggers. The corresponding effect happens immediately when the specified condition occurs.
Other Abilities
Constant Abilities: If a card has an ability text without a trigger word (Play, Attack, Defeated, Action, Harvest, or a specific trigger event such as "when" or "at the end of turn"), it is referred to as a constant ability that is always active as long as the card is in play and meets all conditions specified by the ability.
Octonite Counters
Only for the Battlefruit Kingdom card set:
Some creatures carry a mysterious substance called "Octonite" (an octonite counter icon). In Battlefruit Kingdom, some creatures come into play with octonite counters on them (before their Play effect is activated).
The number of octonite counters is indicated by this icon located in the top left corner of their text box.
A new kind of trigger can be found on some creatures from Battlefruit Kingdom: Harvest. It has the following rules meaning:
Harvest: At the start of your turn, remove 1 octonite counter from this creature. When the last one is removed, activate its Harvest effect immediately.
Note: This represents two abilities. The first removes 1 octonite counter at the start of your turn. The second causes you to activate the Harvest effect when the last octonite counter is removed. These two abilities are not optional and must be resolved.
Note: At the start of your turn, you must immediately remove 1 octonite counter. You may not take a turn action before that.
Note: If you control several creatures with a Harvest effect, you must remove 1 octonite counter from each of those creatures at the start of your turn. If you activate multiple Harvest effects at the same time, you (as active player) decide the order of resolving them. Always finish resolving one effect before resolving another.
Note: At the start of your turn, if you control a creature with a Harvest effect that has no octonite counter on it already, nothing happens and you do not activate its Harvest effect again.
Example: Lychee King comes into play with 2 octonite counters on it. Two turns later, its Harvest effect must be activated, making the opponent lose 1 life.
Reminder: During each of your turns, you must take one turn action. If you play a card from your hand and your opponent decides to use a Mindbug on it, you must take another turn action during this same turn (allowing you to either play a card or attack with a creature, as described in the "Taking Turns" section). Therefore you do not remove any octonite counter again this turn.
Only for the Battlefruit Galaxy card set:
In Battlefruit Galaxy, some creatures also come into play with octonite counters on them, but you may immediately distribute any of their counters onto any creatures (before their Play effect is activated). The number of counters is indicated by this icon located in the top left corner of their text box.
Note: When this creature comes into play, you may distribute any of its octonite counters in any way you choose, i.e. onto any number of allied creatures and/or enemy creatures. This creature can also keep any of its own counters on it. You may distribute octonite counters only at the moment this creature comes into play, not afterward during the game.
In Battlefruit Galaxy, some creatures have Action or Attack effects that require to pay octonite.
Action (octonite): Same as Action but this effect requires to spend 1 octonite counter from this creature to be activated.
Attack (octonite): Same as Attack but this effect requires to spend 1 octonite counter from this creature to be activated. When you attack with this creature, you must (if possible) spend 1 octonite counter and activate this effect.
Example: Kiwanoid comes into play with 2 octonite counters on it. When it comes into play, you may immediately distribute any of its counters onto any creatures, if you want. Every time you attack with Kiwanoid, you must spend 1 octonite counter from it if possible. If you do, return a card from your discard pile to your hand.
Game Terms
The Game Terms include a number of terms that players may encounter while playing the game.
Allied Creature / Enemy Creature: When cards are in your play area, they are called allied creatures. When they are in the opponent's play area, they are called enemy creatures. If an effect affects both allied creatures and enemy creatures, it simply refers to creatures. In your hand and your discard pile, they are simply called cards.
Discard: Discarding a card means that you put it from your hand to your discard pile. If an effect forces you to discard more cards than you have in hand, discard as many cards as possible and ignore the remaining effect.
Opponent: The card abilities use a specific wording, such as "an opponent" or "opponents", for the 2 vs 2 mode (check out the Tag Team 2 vs 2 expansion). If you play with the 1 vs 1 mode, it is all the same as "the opponent".
Refresh: If an effect lets you refresh one of your Mindbugs, you turn one of your used Mindbugs face up, so that you can use it again during the game. If all your Mindbugs are already face up, you do not gain anything from this effect.
Steal: If an effect lets you steal a card, you take the card from your opponent's hand and put it into your hand. If an effect lets you steal 1 life, your opponent loses 1 life and, if they do, you also gain 1 life.
Take control of a creature: If a card effect lets you take control of a creature, you put it into your play area. If you take control of a creature, it remains in its current state (e.g. exhausted) and doesn't trigger Play effects.
Unused pile: The remaining cards that have not been dealt to players form the unused pile. It remains face down. If an effect lets you draw a card from the unused pile, you take the top card from it and put it into your hand.
Essential Tips for Beginners
- Before playing a card from your hand, make sure that you will be able to protect yourself against it if your opponent decides to use a Mindbug on that card.
- When you play a card from your hand, show it clearly to your opponent by turning it temporarily towards them so that they can read it and they don't forget to decide whether to use a Mindbug or not.
- If your opponent uses a Mindbug, don't forget that you must take another turn action during this same turn.
- You have only 2 Mindbugs at the beginning of the game, so make sure to use them at the right time. Try not to fall for your opponent's trap or bluff as you will be more vulnerable when both your Mindbugs have been used.
- Enemy creatures with SNEAKY are not difficult to beat. You can block them by using your own creature with SNEAKY. You can defeat them by using a creature with HUNTER or with a special ability. You can also use a creature with FRENZY to win the race by attacking twice each turn.
Credits
Game Design: Christian Kudahl, Marvin Hegen, Richard Garfield, Skaff Elias
Illustrations: Denis Martynets (www.denism.com.ua)
Graphic Design: Maximilian Gotthold (https://maxgotthold.de)
Playtesting: Alexandre Guignard, Anders Klarskov Knudsen, Andreas Skjellerup Iversen, Arne Böthling, Baptiste Lotigier, Blaise Moody, Bo Stentebjerg-Hansen, Cheesus, Daniela Hegen, Daniel Herbert, Dante Bonino, Diego Gionta, Emil Grubak Schmalfeldt, Franck Strohmenger, Frederik Ahlefeldt, Garrot Kole, Guksung An, Henrik Larsson, Jared Patterson, Jens Balcerek, Jeppe Due Hunsdahl, Jocelyn Mouden, Joshua Raynack, Kasper Meyer, Koni Garfield, Kristoffer Dyrgaard Sørensen, Kushagra Shah, Laura Kudahl, Leon Nguyen, Linus Hegen, Łukasz Włodarczyk, Manuel Smak, Marcel Auclair, Markus Peschina, Max Randall, Nicola Preda, Óliver "Nerliot" Benavente, Pascal Bogensperger, Phu Vinh Nguyen, Romain Lapostolle, Ryan Scherr, Schuyler Garfield, Sebastian Nickel, Simon Dupuis, Søren Juul Larsen, Stefan Munder, Steffen Klein, Stephan Heim, Tanguy Vilcot, Tristan Grausi, Yoann Leorier
Revision of the rulebook: Alexandre Guignard
Rules Reference
Keywords
FAST: This creature may attack or activate its Action effect the turn it comes into play. If the opponent uses a Mindbug, it may do so this turn.
FRENZY: This creature may attack twice each turn, if it is still in play.
HUNTER: When attacking with this creature, you may choose an enemy creature, which must block it.
POISONOUS: During combat resolution with this creature, the enemy creature is always defeated.
SNEAKY: This creature can only be blocked by creatures with SNEAKY.
TOUGH: If this creature would be defeated and is not exhausted, exhaust it instead of defeating it (rotating 90°).
Triggers & Abilities
Play: Triggers when this creature comes into play. If the opponent uses a Mindbug, the Play effect happens for them and not for you.
Attack: Triggers when this creature attacks, but before the opponent decides whether they want to block.
Defeated: Triggers when this creature is defeated, usually as a result of combat or a card effect.
Octonite count: (only applicable for the Battlefruit Kingdom card set) This creature comes into play with that many octonite counters on it (named "Octonite").
Harvest: (only applicable for the Battlefruit Kingdom card set) At the start of your turn, remove 1 octonite counter from this creature. When the last one is removed, activate its Harvest effect immediately.
Distribute octonite: (only applicable for the Battlefruit Galaxy card set) When this creature comes into play, you may distribute any of its octonite counters onto any creatures.
Action: (only applicable for the Battlefruit Galaxy card set) While this creature is in play, its Action effect can be activated instead of attacking or playing a card this turn.
Action (octonite): (only applicable for the Battlefruit Galaxy card set) Same as Action but this effect requires to spend 1 octonite counter from this creature to be activated.
Attack (octonite): (only applicable for the Battlefruit Galaxy card set) Same as Attack but this effect requires to spend 1 octonite counter from this creature to be activated.