Reincardnated Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Getting Ready
• Box Contents
• Card Types
• Game Setup
• Gameplay
  • Players' Turns
  • Playing Karma
  • Incarnate a Being
  • Incarnate a Being — Continued
  • Ending the Game
  • Ending the Game — Continued
• Card Types Explained
  • Starter Beings
  • Beings
  • Being Abilities
  • Life Purposes
  • Karma
  • Karma Reminders
• Glossary
• Questions and Answers

Getting Ready

To play Reincardnated, you need 2-6 players, the cards included in this game, and an area to lay out the playing field.

Is this your first game? Give yourself at least 30-45 minutes to finish the game. After you become familiar with the cards, gameplay lasts around 10 minutes per player.

Box Contents

• Starter Beings Deck with 10 cards
• Beings Deck with 69 cards
• Karma Deck with 70 cards
• Life Purpose Deck with 25 cards
• 1 Human Form Card
• 6 Quick Reference Cards
• Instruction Booklet
• Quick Start Guide

Card Types

REINCARDNATED has 4 main different card types that are used during gameplay:

Starter Beings — These are simple plants each player starts as

Beings — These are different plants and animals used in gameplay

Life Purposes — These cards show the win goals for each player

Karma — These are action cards that players will use to impact gameplay

REINCARDNATED also contains 6 REFERENCE cards for players' quick reference and 1 HUMAN FORM card to signify the end of the game and bonus points.

Game Setup

Before playing, all decks should be separated and shuffled. Once each deck has been shuffled, deal each player:

1 x Starter Being (placed face-up to the players' left)

1 x Life Purpose (placed face-down to the players' right. DO NOT LOOK AT THIS CARD)

2 x Karma Cards (this is the players starting hand and can be looked at. Note: a players' hand limit is 7 cards. If ever over 7 at the end of your turn, discard down to 7)

Lastly, reveal 8 BEINGS for all players to view; this will be referred to as the BEING POOL. Then place the HUMAN FORM card within reach of all players.

The play area should now resemble the setup below: each player has a STARTER BEING and a face-down LIFE PURPOSE card at their place, along with a growing LIFELINE AREA of BEING cards. The shared center of the table holds the BEING DISCARD, BEINGS DECK, KARMA DECK, and KARMA DISCARD piles, along with the 8-card BEING POOL.

Gameplay

Players' Turns

After setup, players will take turns in a clockwise order starting with the youngest player. A turn consists of TWO ACTIONS:

FIRST ACTION: On this action a player can:

1. Play a KARMA card from their hand.

SECOND ACTION: On this action a player can either:

1. Play a KARMA card from their hand.

• or -

2. Incarnate a BEING from the BEING POOL, perform the new BEING'S ability and draw KARMA.

A player is allowed to skip their first action should they wish but can only incarnate a BEING as their second action. Therefore, if a player incarnates a BEING, their second action was completed and the turn ends. KARMA cannot be played after.

NOTE: If a KARMA card allows a player to gain a BEING from anywhere, this does not count as INCARNATING, and therefore no KARMA is gained from the new BEING, but the BEING'S ability still triggers unless otherwise stated.

Players take turns all while trying to build up their LIFELINE, as each BEING is worth points. How do you know how many points each BEING is worth? You'll need to find a way to look at your LIFE PURPOSE!

Playing Karma

Players may play a KARMA card as both their first and second action should they choose to do so. By doing so, a player is not able to incarnate a BEING but may still gain BEINGS based on the KARMA they have played.

If a KARMA card allows a player to gain a BEING, that BEING'S ABILITY is still triggered when gained (unless otherwise stated).

The only difference between gaining a BEING by using a KARMA card and INCARNATING a BEING is the fact that KARMA is only gained when INCARNATING a BEING.

Incarnate a Being

As your second action, you are allowed to grab a BEING from the BEING POOL and add it to your LIFELINE and then perform the action on the new BEING. This is called INCARNATING, and the new BEING is now considered your ACTIVE BEING.

REMINDER: When a player incarnates a new BEING, they instantly perform the action listed on the new BEING.

There are normally THREE different types of BEINGS a player can INCARNATE. These can be seen by referencing your active BEING, which is the LIVING BEING furthest to the right in your LIFELINE. At the start of the game, your STARTER BEING is your active BEING. Here's what you're looking for when incarnating a BEING:

This PRAYING MANTIS has three BEING types it can INCARNATE into.

1. PREFERRED REINCARNATION: By incarnating a BEING of this type, the player gets to draw 2 KARMA CARDS.

2. LOWER REINCARNATION: By incarnating a BEING of this type, the player gets to draw 1 KARMA CARD.

3. LATERAL REINCARNATION: A BEING can always incarnate a BEING of the same type. Therefore, this PRAYING MANTIS can INCARNATE another INSECT. The player gets no KARMA CARDS by incarnating a BEING of the same type (unless otherwise stated).

REMINDER: A player's hand limit is 7 KARMA cards. If a player has over 7, that player must discard KARMA until they have 7 or fewer.

Once a player incarnates a BEING from the BEING POOL, that BEING becomes their ACTIVE BEING (unless otherwise stated). Place the new ACTIVE BEING on top of the existing BEING, but be sure to leave the left-hand title visible on the existing card. You never know when players may need to check your LIFELINE for a certain card!

Incarnate a Being — Continued

During gameplay, players will be growing their LIFELINES.

If by incarnating a BEING, there is now an empty spot in the BEING POOL, immediately fill this spot with a BEING from the BEING deck. Refilling the spot takes place before triggering the new BEING'S ability.

Due to the ability REPLENISH, it's possible that the BEING deck may be empty. If so, remove any hidden BEINGS in the BEING POOL and shuffle them to remake the BEING deck, leaving only the top-most BEINGS in the BEING POOL.

Ending the Game

The game begins to end when a player INCARNATES the HUMAN FORM when able to do so. All MAMMALS have the ability to INCARNATE the HUMAN FORM, along with some other BEINGS. Also note:

The player must have at least 6 BEINGS in their LIFELINE —not including their STARTER BEING—in order to INCARNATE the HUMAN FORM.

Once a player INCARNATES the HUMAN FORM, all other players get one last turn. There is no way to remove the HUMAN FORM from a player, as it does not count as an ACTIVE BEING. Players can still play cards that impact the player in possession of the HUMAN FORM.

Ending the Game — Continued

Be aware, though, there is only 1 HUMAN FORM card in the game.

The player who decides to incarnate the HUMAN FORM first will add 5 points to their final score.

So be sure to time out your turns if you're after those bonus points!

Once all players have taken their last turn, play is done. Each player reveals their LIFE PURPOSE and adds up their scores.

SEE PAGE 10 FOR A BREAKDOWN OF THE LIFE PURPOSE CARD.

If a BEING type is not on your LIFE PURPOSE, then that BEING is worth 1 point, unless it's dead.

STARTER BEINGS do not count towards a player's score or life goals. If a player's life goal says to "...control 2 or more plant BEINGS," a player's STARTER BEING does not count as one of those plants.

DEATH NOTE: Dead BEINGS only count towards the DEATH score. If a player's LIFE PURPOSE—say marine BEINGS—are worth 3 points, and a dead BEING is worth 1 point, then a dead marine BEING is only worth 1 point.

DEATH NOTE: If a player's life goal says to "...control 2 or more marine BEINGS..." and does not specify whether they're living, then a dead marine BEING still counts towards this goal.

The player with the highest score wins!

Card Types Explained

Starter Beings

Each player has their own unique STARTER BEING. This is the start of a player's LIFELINE. While this card is very similar to the rest of the BEINGS in the game, it has two major differences:

• A STARTER BEING cannot be killed.
• STARTER BEINGS do not count towards a player's score at the end of game.

A STARTER BEING card shows:

A. PREFERRED REINCARNATION: This is the preferred BEING type your STARTER BEING would like to incarnate. By doing so, you'll gain 2 KARMA cards.

B. LOWER REINCARNATION: By incarnating this type, you will only gain 1 KARMA card.

C. TYPE: Like all BEINGS in Reincardnated, the border color of the card corresponds to the BEING'S type. STARTER BEINGS' borders are green, which designates them as plant types. This means STARTER BEINGS can do a LATERAL INCARNATION to a plant type.

Beings

There are 69 unique BEING cards in Reincardnated. Most of the information on these matches the STARTER BEINGS but with some notable differences.

A. PREFERRED REINCARNATION: This is the preferred BEING type your BEING would like to incarnate. By doing so, you'll gain 2 KARMA cards.

B. LOWER REINCARNATION: By incarnating this type, you will only gain 1 KARMA card.

C. ABILITY: Most BEINGS have abilities. When the BEING enters your LIFELINE (by either incarnating or gaining by Karma), this ability triggers and must be performed. If a dead BEING is gained, its ability is not triggered.

D. TYPE: The border color of the card and symbol shows the BEING'S type.

E. DEATH ICON: Non-STARTER BEINGS can be killed. If a BEING is killed, turn the card upside-down so the DEATH ICON is now upright in the top left corner. Be sure to keep the BEING in its original spot in your LIFELINE.

Here's an example of a player's LIFELINE later into gameplay. Note we can quickly see the "Caterpillar" is DEAD in the player's LIFELINE.

Being Abilities

Every Being in Reincardnated has an ability. While you are limited on what being types you're allowed to incarnate, you may base your final decision on the ability of the beings available.

Here are some abilities you might come across during gameplay. There are loads more to look out for, so be sure to read each card to make sure you're playing as strategically as possible!

LOOK AT ONE ONE LIFE PURPOSE CARD: That's right, some beings will let you look at your (or an opponent) Life Purpose! This can be a great early game find to get you on the right track in life.

GAIN CONTROL OF X: Sometimes incarnating one being lets you grab a second being for free. If you're told to gain control of something, look all around the play area. If that being is visible, it's now yours and gets added to your Lifeline in the rightmost position. And yes, its ability is triggered (if alive). This means you can steal it from other players' Lifelines. Can't see the being anywhere? Maybe it's in the deck or hidden under the being pool, sadly you can't grab it from those places.

YOU MAY KILL THE X...: There are some beings who require to be sacrificed to use their ability. This is up to you to decide if the decision is worth it. Simply flip the being upside down to signify it is dead, and perform the rest of the action.

IF... YOU MAY PLAY AN EXTRA KARMA CARD: Sometimes if you meet certain criteria of a being, you're able to play extra Karma cards. Usually incarnating a being takes place as your second and final action. In this case, after you incarnate the being, you get to play another (or maybe two) Karma cards. And yes, these could trigger combos.

YOU MAY MAKE...YOUR ACTIVE BEING: Some beings will let you make other beings in your Lifeline your active being. To do so, move that being to the rightmost position in your Lifeline. Remember, dead beings can not be active. And no, you are not able to bring it back to life. You must choose a living being to be made active.

Life Purposes

At the start of the game, all players have a hidden unique LIFE PURPOSE card. Through gameplay, players will gain opportunities to look at both their own and other players' LIFE PURPOSES. This card shows the type of BEINGS players should try to incarnate along with goals set forth for their gameplay.

WARNING: As in life, sometimes we lose our way, and our purpose seems unknown. During play, after viewing your purpose, it is placed face-down again. It's your goal to try to remember your purpose during gameplay.

A. BEING TYPE SCORES: This shows the score you will receive for each living BEING of that type in your LIFELINE. NOTE: All other types not on your LIFE PURPOSE are worth 1.

B. DEATH SCORES: Death is not always a bad thing. This indicates the score you'll receive for each dead BEING in your LIFELINE. NOTE: A dead BEING counts only as a dead being score. In the example card above, a dead marine BEING would count as 0 points, not 4.

C. LIFE GOALS: These are major goals that, if reached, add a bonus score to the player's final total. NOTE: A goal may not be dependent on your LIFELINE and instead may require you to impact an opponent's LIFELINE in a certain way.

Karma

By incarnating BEINGS, players will collect KARMA. Here's all of the KARMA cards found in Reincardnated, and how they are used.

REMINDER: A player's hand limit is 7 KARMA cards. If a player has over 7, that player must discard KARMA until they have 7 or fewer.

ANEW — You may choose one or two Karma cards from your hand to discard. Then, draw that many new Karma cards.

USE CASES: Should a player find the Karma in their hand unhelpful, or maybe they are on the lookout for a certain Karma card to better help.

ATTAIN — Force an opponent to become any one being in the being pool. No Karma is gained and its' ability is not triggered.

USE CASES: Worried your opponent may incarnate the Human Form next turn? Stop them! Does your Life Purpose tell you to have an opponent with multiple plants? Force that plant on them!

CHANGE DESTINY — You can play this card on yourself or an opponent in one of two directions. The face-up direction is the effect that will go into play at the end of the game. To play, just lay this card in any one player's area.

This card overrides a player's Life Purpose. For example, a player with this card played on them will have their Bird Beings be worth 2 points at the end of play (even if their Life Purpose says they are worth more or less).

A player can only have 1 active Change Destiny card in their field. However, Change Destiny cards can be stacked on top of each other. So if an opponent plays a Change Destiny card on you to make your Birds worth 2 points, you can lay another Change Destiny card on top of it and the upper most card will be the one that counts at the end of the game.

DEATH / REBIRTH — This card can be played in one of two ways. It can be played as DEATH, in which case you are able to kill a being. Or REBIRTH, in which case you can bring a being back to life.

If an ACTIVE BEING is killed, it is no longer considered a player's ACTIVE BEING. Instead, the next rightmost living being is considered the player's active being and will be used when making incarnation choices.

USE CASES: Have an opponent potentially incarnating a Human Form next turn? Kill their being to stop them. Need to have two dead Reptiles in your Lifeline for your Life Purpose? Kill your own beings to help out. Has someone been killing off your big-scoring Marine beings? Bring them back to life!

DEJA VU — Incarnate a being from the pool that matches your current type. Currently a Marine being? Grab another Marine being from the pool to be your active being. Its ability is triggered.

USE CASES: Maybe you just want to stack up on beings! Maybe a being has a great ability you want to trigger. Maybe your current Marine being does not have great incarnation types, but another does.

ENLIGHTENED — May be considered a Holy Grail card, especially early in the game. Used to look at any one Life Purpose card. It can be yours, or an opponents.

USE CASES: Look at your Life Purpose! What else? This card is extra special early in the game so you can hurry up and start getting on the right track in life. Later in the game, maybe take a look at your opponents' Life Purpose so you know the best way to sabotage them.

EPIPHANY — Incarnate any one being in the being pool, regardless of your current incarnation types. Anything you want! No Karma is gained, but the ability of the being is still triggered.

USE CASES: Maybe there is an epic Marine being out in the pool you want, but you can only become a Plant or Reptile. Not anymore! Grab that Marine being, you deserve it.

LESSON LEARNED — This is a unique card (like Sympathy) as it is played on an opponent's turn. Playing this card will stop an opponent from playing a Change Destiny, Void, or Death/Rebirth card against you.

USE CASES: Have an opponent trying to void that Whale Shark that's worth a ton of points? Stop them in their track! Maybe you need that Chameleon to stay dead in your Lifeline, stop your opponent from trying to bring it back to life!

REGRESS — Make a previous being in your Lifeline your active being. The being is physically moved to the rightmost spot of your Lifeline. Its' ability is not triggered again since it did not leave and re-enter.

USE CASES: Maybe your current being just doesn't have great incarnation choices, fix that!

REPLENISH — This card allows new BEINGS to be laid out in the BEING POOL. A player can either reveal 3 new BEINGS or 8 new BEINGS. New BEINGS are drawn from the top of the BEING deck and laid directly on top of existing BEINGS.

If you're replenishing just 3 beings, you can strategize which beings you cover. Maybe an opponent is after mammals, so you cover all of those up. And yes, you may place the 3 beings in one stack should you choose to do so.

If you have chosen to replenish the entire being pool, then a new being is placed on top of each existing being. If your being deck runs out, simply remove all hidden beings from the being pool and shuffle them back to recreate the beings deck.

USE CASES: Maybe you need to find the FINCH to score loads of points. Replenish the pool to try to find it quickly. Or maybe you don't have great incarnation choices, see what else we can get. Maybe your opponent wants that Whale Shark out there, lets go ahead and cover that up a bit to make it harder to get to.

SHARED EXPERIENCE — Choose an opponent. If you have fewer Karma cards in your hand than them, you get to draw 2 Karma cards while they draw 1. If they have equal to or more, you both draw 1.

USE CASES: Take a chance to get some new Karma to help you out. Maybe you really need an Enlightened card, here's one way to help get one. But be careful, you may be helping an opponent.

SUBSTITUTE — This card MUST be played as your second action. Additionally, when swapping your being for another in the pool, the new being must take the same spot in your Lifeline as your existing being. No ability is triggered.

USE CASES: Maybe that being you really need to score major points finally popped up in the Being Pool. Snag it while you can! Or maybe you just need to stop another player from getting something great.

SYMPATHY — Like Lesson Learned, this card is unique as it is played on another player's turn. If an opponent being is KILLED, you may play this card to KILL a being of your own. If an opponent being is REBIRTHED, you may REBIRTH a being in your Lifeline.

USE CASES: Maybe an opponent brings one of their dead beings back to life. Take this opportunity to do the same to one of yours, should it be helpful for your Life Purpose. Maybe your Life Purpose is to have dead beings, but you have no DEATH cards to play. Watch for another opponents being to die and copy the move then!

SYNCHRONIZE — Choose a being type. All players must make a being of that type in their Lifeline their active being, if able to do so. Did you choose birds? If a player has a LIVING bird somewhere in their Lifeline, it MUST be made their active being. Dead beings can not be active beings.

USE CASES: With careful planning, maybe you can stop multiple opponents from having the ability to end the game. Or maybe you can make a previous mammal your active so you can snag the Human Form.

UNCERTAINTY — Grab a random being from the beings deck (without looking). This being becomes your active being. Its ability is triggered.

USE CASES: Nothing great to incarnate in the pool? Let fate take a swing!

UPROOT — Every being in the pool gets shuffled back into the beings deck, and a new pool of 8 beings is revealed. This is the ultimate Replenish.

USE CASES: Is that Yeti Crab you really want buried in the being pool? Maybe shuffling it back into the deck will get you closer to it! You never know! Or maybe you're just tired of your options, a quick restart may be just the thing.

VOID — Choose a player and remove one of their beings from their Lifeline. Living or dead. You then place the being anywhere you'd like back into the being pool.

USE CASES: Really want to use that Penguins ability but an opponent has it? Put it back in the pool so you can steal it. Think that Rose is about to score your opponent tons of points? Let's go ahead and stop that from happening.

VOLITION — Choose an opponent. Pick a being in their Lifeline to make their active being. The being must be ALIVE to be active.

USE CASES: Could your opponent become the Human Form next turn? Here's your chance to stop that. Do you need an opponent with multiple Marine beings in their Lifeline? Maybe if we switch up their active being we can nudge them in that direction.

Karma Reminders

Here are some quick reminders to ensure you're playing as intended.

A player's hand limit is 7 KARMA cards. If a player has over 7, that player must discard KARMA until they have 7 or fewer.

Starting Beings can not be targeted by ANYTHING in the game, including Karma.

You are not required to play Karma. Maybe you just don't have great Karma at the moment, or maybe the game just started and you don't have anything to impact. Save it for when it matters and get on with incarnating.

Glossary

Forget what something means? We all do! Here are some words you may need reminding on:

Ability: The descriptive text listed on a being card.

Action (first/second): A player's turn consists of 2 moves, these are called actions.

Active Being: The rightmost LIVING being in your Lifeline.

Being: The overarching names for the plants and animals in the game.

Being Pool: The shared group of 8 beings all players incarnate from.

Control / Gain Control: To control something means to have it in your Lifeline, living or dead. If told to 'Gain control of X', you are meant to grab that card (if visible in play) and add it to your Lifeline in the rightmost spot.

Incarnate: The act of selecting a being from the being pool to add to your Lifeline.

Karma: Different action cards players gain during gameplay.

Lifeline: The line of beings you are building throughout gameplay. Each being represents a "past life", so this is your lifeline.

Starter Being: The green plant card each player begins the game with. These can not be impacted/moved/changed by anything.

Trigger: When an ability is used, it is referred to as being triggered.

Type: There are 6 types of being in Reincardnated: Plants, Insects, Birds, Reptiles/Amphibians, Marine and Mammal.

Questions and Answers

Need some clarification? These might help!

Q. I can't incarnate anything at all, what do I do? A. This is incredibly rare due to all the different ways to incarnate beings; however, sometimes the cards just don't work in your favor. Your opponent's actions will usually open up your turn, but if the cards have really ruined your fun, we recommend you come to an agreement to REPLENISH the entire being pool.

Q. We're out of beings, what now? A. WHOA! You guys were battling it out with some mega lifelines, but no worries! Gameplay ends when there are not enough beings for all players to make a valid incarnation. Reveal your purposes and add up your scores!

Q. When do I use a being's ability? A. A being's ability is triggered as soon as it hits your lifeline! The only action that may come before the ability is refilling an empty spot in the being pool; other than that, perform the action instantly. The only times an ability is not triggered is if you are gaining a DEAD being or the ability/karma that lets you gain the ability tells you not to trigger it.

Q. My being's ability let me get another being, so I used its ability, and its ability let me get another being, so I used its ability... is this right? A. Congrats! Reincardnated is filled with combo moves—the deeper you get into the game, and the more planning you do, you may pull off massive combos! That's the game, and you're succeeding!