Neon Reign
Neon Reign Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal
Defeat your opponent by bringing their health to 0.
Components
- 2x 44 poker-sized Action card decks
- 8x Shield tokens
- 20x Star tokens
- 3x Arcade tokens
- 2x Health Dials
- 1x Rulebook
- 12x Tarot-sized Hero cards
- 2x Tarot-sized Helper cards
- 1x 36 poker-sized Solo deck
- 12x Tarot-sized Computer Hero cards
Setup
- Each Player must:
- Choose an Action deck.
- Choose a Hero card.
- Set starting health to 25.
- Shuffle and draw 7 cards for their starting hand.
- The Player who first says "Ready, Fight!" is now the first player and takes the first turn. (Feel free to determine first player however you choose.)
Anatomy of a Hero Card
Let's learn about the cards that make up Neon Reign's simple yet strategic combat system.
Before playing your first game, familiarize yourself with the various Hero cards. A Hero card has 2 sections: a Star Power Ability and a Hero Ability.
Star Power Ability
- Features a unique power bar that activates once the total Star tokens gained equals the number shown.
- Once you reach this number, discard that amount of Star tokens and activate the Star Power ability.
- There is no limit to the number of times a Star Power ability can activate during a single turn.
- Star Power abilities can activate when Attacking or Defending.
Hero Ability
- This is a unique, persistent effect for each Hero.
- It is always active and should be factored as many times as is applicable, either when Attacking or Defending.
Anatomy of an Action Card
Next, we need to understand what the Action cards do. These Action cards are how you Attack, Defend, Counter, and increase Star Power!
Each Action card has a designation in the upper left corner that indicates when the card can be played: only when Attacking, only when Defending, or either Attacking or Defending.
Button card
These are cards that deal an amount of damage equal to the printed value. They can only be played when Attacking unless otherwise stated by a Hero Ability or Combo Breaker card.
Joystick card
These are cards that activate different effects (gain Stars, gain a Shield, Heal, Strike). They can be played when Attacking or Defending depending on the card, as designated in the upper left corner.
Counter Cards
These cards can be played only when Defending, not when Attacking.
- Throw — Removes an opponent's played Joystick card.
- Block — Removes an opponent's played Button card.
- Combo Breaker — Stops all Universal Combos and allows the player to play a single Button card when Defending (this button does not count towards the two cards you are allowed to play when Defending).
Icons on Cards and Abilities
Cards have many icons on them. These icons have the following effects.
- Attack icon — Identifies a card can only be played when Attacking.
- Draw card — Draw the top card of your deck.
- Defend icon — Identifies a card can only be played when Defending.
- Strike — Force an opponent to discard the top card from their deck.
- Damage — Represents an Attack that deals damage equal to the printed value inside the symbol.
- Throw recycle — Put a Throw Counter card from your discard pile into your hand.
- Shield (stack limit 4) — Add 1 Shield token to your Hero card. These tokens may be discarded at any time to prevent 1 damage per Shield token, except in response to Star Power abilities, which cannot be blocked by Shields.
- Block — Identifies the Block Counter card.
- Heart — Heal 1 for each heart. You cannot heal above your starting health.
- Throw — Identifies the Throw Counter card.
- Star — Add 1 Star token to your Hero card.
- Combo Breaker — Identifies the Combo Breaker Counter card.
How to Play
On your turn, you must take one of the following actions. (When it is your turn, you are considered the Attacker.)
Attack — Play 1-3 Joystick and/or Button cards in any combination (you must play at least one card).
— or —
Recover — Draw cards until you have 7. Your turn ends.
Don't forget to use Universal Combos to maximize your turn. Also, make sure to pay attention to each Hero ability as they affect the game in unique ways.
Defend
If your opponent Attacks you with at least 1 card on their turn, you now have the opportunity to play up to 2 cards in response following these rules:
- A Button card played with a Combo Breaker card does not count against the 2-card limit.
- You can play any combination of Counter cards (Throw, Block, Combo Breaker) or Joystick cards designated with the Defend Icon.
- It's important to note that a Throw removes 1 Stick and a Block removes 1 Button. You are allowed to play multiple Throws or multiple Blocks as a part of Defending.
- Button cards cannot be played when Defending unless otherwise stated by a Hero Ability or with a Combo Breaker card.
- Some Hero Abilities activate when Defending.
- Universal Combos are never used when Defending.
Turn Conclusion
After resolving damage dealt from Attacking, Defending, Star Power and Hero Abilities, the turn ends (see Resolution Order below).
If at any point one of the players' health has been reduced to zero, the game is over and they lose.
Star Power Resolution
These are powerful abilities that follow these rules:
- They activate as soon as a player has the specified amount of Star tokens on their Hero card.
- They cannot be blocked, prevented, Shielded, or responded to in any way.
- It is possible for both players to activate Star Power Abilities at the same time. If this happens and both heroes are reduced to 0 health at the same time, the game will end in a double KO.
Universal Combos
Universal Combos give extra benefits when performing an Attack. All available Universal Combos are listed on the Helper card. When you Attack, check your played cards against all Universal Combos and activate every effect that you meet the requirement for. Each card played may be used in multiple combos.
Examples
- Joystick and two Buttons of the same color — In this example, the Attacker would gain 1 Star token, 3 Shield tokens, and deal 3 damage.
- Joystick and a Button — In this example, the Attacker would gain 1 Star token, Strike one of the opponent's cards from the top of their deck, and deal 2 damage.
- Two of the same Joystick — In this example, the Attacker would gain 5 Star tokens.
- Joystick and two different Buttons — In this example, the Attacker would gain 1 Star token, Heal 3, and deal 3 damage.
- Three of the same card — Sometimes an Attacker may be able to combo 3 cards of the same type. In the first example of 3 green Buttons, they would deal 6 damage as every instance of two Buttons makes a combo. In this other example, a person Attacking with 3 Down Joysticks would gain 3 Shield tokens and 6 Star tokens due to each pair of Joysticks making a combo.
Resolution Order
Once all players have played Attacking and Defending cards, resolve cards in the following order. All effects that occur in the same step happen simultaneously.
Step 1 — Counter Cards
All Counter Cards (Throw, Block, Combo Breaker) are resolved now (see the Counter Cards section for details).
Note: If a Button is played with a Combo Breaker card, deal that damage now. If this damage would bring the opponent to 0 health, the game ends immediately.
Step 2 — Joystick Cards
Joystick cards do the following:
- Gain Star tokens.
- Gain Shield tokens. (stack limit 4)
- Gain Health. (cannot heal above starting health)
- Strike the top card of the opponent's deck, forcing them to discard it.
If either Hero gains enough Star tokens to activate their Star Power Ability, it activates now. Resolve the Star Power Ability completely. Remember, Star Power Abilities cannot be prevented or responded to in any way.
The Universal Combos that gain bonus Star tokens also happen during this step.
If a Hero's health is brought to 0 as part of a Star Power Ability activating, the match ends immediately and the Hero that still has health wins.
Step 3 — Button Cards
Calculate the total damage of the Buttons + any extra Hero abilities + any extra Universal Combo damage to determine the total amount of damage being dealt.
Shield tokens may be played when resolving any type of damage being received during any of the above steps, except for damage from Star Power abilities.
2-Player Game Mode
Single Game — Play a single game of Neon Reign.
Best of Three — Once one or both heroes have been KO'd, award an Arcade token to represent their victory. First player to win 2 of the 3 matches is the victor. In a double KO, both players get Arcade tokens.
2v2 Hero Match — Both players randomly take 2 Heroes for the game. Alternatively, you may draft or select them however you like. Players simultaneously reveal their 2 Heroes to each other and then secretly pick which Hero they will start with. When any Hero is KO'd, they are removed from the game. You must beat both of your opponent's Heroes to win the match.
Solo Mode
Setup is similar to a normal 2-player game, but instead of using 2 Action decks, use 1 Action deck and the Computer/Solo deck.
- Choose a hero.
- Choose a Computer Hero card and place them next to the Computer/Solo deck.
- Set each Hero's starting health to 25.
- Shuffle each deck.
- Draw 7 cards from your Action deck as your starting hand.
- The human player always goes first in Solo mode.
Solo rules are very similar to a normal 2-player game. Select your difficulty level.
- Training Mode — If you (the player) decide to recover, the Computer Hero will also recover. This means they will take no action and just pass the turn back to you.
- Normal Mode — The Computer Hero never recovers. They will always attack on their turn.
- Hard Mode — The Computer Hero never recovers. They will always attack on their turn. When Attacked, the Computer Hero flips two cards when Defending instead of just one.
Computer Defense
After playing cards as part of your Attack, the Computer will now Defend. Draw the top card of the Computer deck and resolve the card's abilities as indicated on the Defend section of the card (ignore any icons that are on the Attack section of the card).
Once all cards have been played, calculate the results by following normal Resolution Order.
Computer Offense
On the Computer's turn, they will Attack. Draw the top card of the Computer deck and resolve the card's abilities as indicated on the Attack section of the card (ignore any icons that are on the Defend section of the card).
Make sure to follow the normal Resolution Order. The Computer Hero gains all the same benefits from Universal Combos and Hero Abilities that a normal player does. Any cards you would play when Defending also apply when battling the Computer.
FAQ
Can I react to or block a Star Power Ability? No.
What if my Star Power Ability activates on 5 stars, I have 4 Star tokens already, and I gain 2 from my Attack... do I lose the 1 Star? No, you gain Star tokens one at a time. So, you gain the 1 Star token required to activate your Star Power Ability, you resolve the Star Power Ability completely, and finally gain the remaining 1 Star token from your Attack.
Can I respond to an Attack when no Buttons are played? Yes. You may play Counter cards when being Attacked with only Joystick cards. However, a Block card could not be played because no Button card was played.
Do I benefit from Universal Combos when Defending? No, Universal Combos only apply when Attacking.
Can I Defend when my opponent is Defending? No, you can only Defend against an Attack. However, Shield tokens may be used to block damage that comes from a Defense.
If I draw cards from my Star Power Ability, can I play those cards immediately? No.
Can I play a Counter card when it will have no effect? No.
What happens to the extra Stars I gain if I reach my limit and activate my Star Power Ability? When gaining Star tokens during your turn you gain them one at a time. At any point, if you hit your Star Limit, your Star Power Ability activates. Resolve all effects and then continue gaining any other Star tokens.
Can I defeat an opponent by playing a Button with a Combo Breaker before they deal damage during their Attack? Yes. Counter cards resolve first before Joysticks and Buttons.
What happens if one or both of us run out of cards? You do not shuffle your deck. If either player runs out of cards, they have no resources to continue and can no longer Attack. If both players run out of cards before either player is KO'd, it ends in a double KO.
Credits
Game Designers Aaron Hein and Manny Trembley
Art and Graphic Design Manny Trembley, Gui Landgraf
Rulebook Jeffrey Jacobson, Manny Trembley, Jonathan Westfall
Play Testers Justin "Elevation" Nguyen, Veronica Elie, Devin Elie, Dino Pathoummahong, Jonathan Westfall, John Heidrich, Blake Royall, Brandt Arganbright, and many others
Neon Knight Games is a studio of Chip Theory Games. Customer service: [email protected]