Shadow Fight: Битва демонов (Shadow Fight: Demon Battle) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Game Overview
  • Quick Start
• Battle Preparation
• Game Flow
  • Card Selection
  • Performing Actions
  • Checking for the End of the Battle
  • Checking for the End of the Round
• Special Rules
  • Knockout Cards
  • Traps
  • Leaving the Battle
  • Leaving the Battle by the First Player
  • Simultaneous Leaving the Battle
• Winning
  • Victory in a Battle
  • End of the Game
• Team Play
• Example of Play
• Clarifications on Card Effects
• Specific Card Effects

Components

• 1 first player card
• 12 demon cards
• 10 battlefield cards
• 7 tactic cards
• 49 technique cards (7 of each of 7 types)
• 7 Knockout cards
• 4 team cards
• 4 double-sided energy cards
• 4 reminder cards

Setup

1. Determine the first player at random. Place the first player card in front of them. Play of the demon technique cards begins with that player.

2. Deal each player 2 demon cards face down. Each player chooses one of the two demons and places it in front of them face up. Return the remaining demon cards to the box.

   Each demon has a unique ability. It can be active (marked with the active symbol) or passive. Active abilities can be used once per battle (the demon card is then turned face down). Passive abilities are in effect at all times.

3. Each player takes an energy card and places it in front of them so that the digit "0" is in the lower left corner. Then they place their demon card over it (oriented vertically), covering the top 3 energy symbols on it, so that only the 3 lower energy symbols are visible. During battle, demons can lose and gain energy: these changes are marked by sliding the demon card down or up, respectively. No demon can have more than 6 energy symbols.

4. Lay out the 7 tactic cards in the center of the table, as shown in the setup diagram on page 5. All tactic cards must lie so that the side with the number is visible. These cards show all the techniques in the game. The back side of each tactic card denotes a trap, which removes energy from all demons who revealed the corresponding technique card.

5. Next to the tactic cards, place a stack of Knockout cards. If a Knockout card is placed on a tactic card, the first demon who selected the corresponding technique is eliminated from the battle.

6. Shuffle the and place it next to the tactic cards. Battlefield cards change the rules for each individual battle. When playing with two players, battlefield cards are not used.

Game Overview

The game consists of a series of battles. All players take part in every battle. If a demon loses all of its energy or cannot play a technique card, it leaves the battle, and the effects of technique cards no longer act on it. The battle continues until only one demon remains in it. That demon becomes the winner of the battle (mark its victory by turning or flipping its energy card). If one of the demons earns its third victory, it wins the game. Otherwise, the next battle begins.

Quick Start

When you have laid out the tactic cards on the table and chosen your characters, reveal the battlefield card and deal each player 7 cards. Skip the "Battle Preparation" section; you will need it only from the next battle on. You are ready to start the round.

Battle Preparation

1. If Knockout cards are lying on tactic cards, remove them and place them in the corresponding stack. Turn all tactic cards number side up. Skip this step in the first battle.

2. All players slide their demon card so that its energy value equals "3" (3 energy symbols below the demon card). Turn face up again any face-down demon cards with active abilities.

3. Discard the face-up battlefield card. Reveal the top card of the battlefield deck and place it face up next to the tactic cards.

4. At the start of the first battle, all players take 5 technique cards from the technique deck. At the start of each following battle, players who have more than 5 cards in hand discard cards until they have 5. Then players who have fewer than 5 cards in hand draw from the technique deck up to 5 cards. Players discard or draw cards in turn, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise.

5. Lay out on the table, face up, the number of technique cards indicated in the table below.

Number of players	2	3	4
Number of cards	6	8	10

The player seated to the right of the first player chooses one of the laid-out technique cards and takes it into hand. Then, proceeding counterclockwise, all players in turn each choose one card. Repeat this process once more, starting again with the player seated to the right of the first player. The two remaining technique cards are discarded.

Game Flow

The battle is played over several rounds. Each round consists of 3 turns. Each turn includes 4 phases:

1. Card selection
2. Performing actions
3. Checking for the end of the battle
4. Checking for the end of the round

Card Selection

All players simultaneously select one card from their hand and place it face down in front of them (to the right of the cards played in previous turns). The cards a player places in front of them form a row called a technique series. The number of the card being played must be greater than or equal to the number of the card lying to its left in the technique series. Otherwise, when this card is revealed, the player leaves the battle. (The example diagram shows a 4 played after a 3 as correct, and a 2 played after a 3 as incorrect.) When all players have placed a card, the action phase begins.

Performing Actions

The first player reveals their technique card. If the number of this card is less than the number of the card lying to its left, the demon leaves the battle. Otherwise, the player performs one of the two actions on their technique card, of their choice.

Then the turn passes to the next player clockwise, and so on, until each of the players still in the battle has performed one action. If all demons except one have left the battle, the battle ends immediately and the remaining demon becomes its winner.

Important note: the first player card is not passed on at the end of a round or a battle. A player can become the first player by playing the "Initiative Grab" action of the Trip tactic card (Подсечка). If a demon performs this action, the next player to act is the player seated to the left of the new first player.

Checking for the End of the Battle

If one demon remains in the battle, it is declared the winner. Otherwise, the battle continues.

Checking for the End of the Round

If all players in this round have made 3 turns, remove the cards from their technique series to the common discard pile. A new round begins.

Special Rules

Knockout Cards

Knockout cards immediately remove demons from the battle. If an effect allows you to place a Knockout card, place it on any tactic card that does not already have one. Each tactic card can hold only one Knockout card. If a player, on their turn, reveals a technique card and the tactic card with the same name has a Knockout card on it, that player's demon leaves the battle, and the Knockout card returns to its stack. If an effect allows you to remove a Knockout card, take it from any tactic card and place it in the Knockout stack.

Traps

Traps do not remove demons from the battle the way Knockout cards do; instead, they deal damage and stay in the game longer. If an effect allows a demon to place a trap (denoted by the crossed symbol), it flips one tactic card of its choice to its trap side. When any demon reveals a technique card and the tactic card with the same name lies trap side up, that demon receives 1 damage (denoted by the damage symbol), that is, it loses 1 energy, and the trap stays in place. If an effect allows a demon to remove a trap (denoted by the crossed symbol), it flips one tactic card of its choice that has a trap back to its number side.

Leaving the Battle

A demon leaves the battle in the following cases:

• if it loses its last energy;
• if a Knockout card effect is applied to it;
• if it reveals a technique card with a lower number than the previous card in its technique series;
• if on its turn it cannot play a technique card.

If a demon plays its last card from hand, or cannot discard a card as the result of some effect, this does not lead to its leaving the battle.

Demons that have left the battle no longer place technique cards, perform actions, or get chosen as targets of effects. When a demon leaves the battle, immediately remove the cards of its technique series to the discard pile (including the card played this turn). Cards in hand remain with the player. At the start of the next battle, the demon that left receives 3 energy and draws (or discards) up to 5 technique cards in hand (see "Battle Preparation").

Leaving the Battle by the First Player

If more than two players take part in the battle and the first player's demon leaves the battle before the battle ends, the first player card does not pass to another player. In that case, the player who first reveals their chosen technique card is the player seated to the left of the former first player.

Simultaneous Leaving the Battle

If several players cannot place a technique card at the same time, their demons leave the battle simultaneously. If, as a result, all the remaining demons leave the battle, the battle ends and all of these demons are declared winners of the battle.

Winning

Victory in a Battle

If only one demon remains in the battle, the battle ends immediately. If the turn has not yet reached that demon, it does not reveal its card, and so it may win even if it had chosen a technique card that would have caused it to leave the battle. The remaining demon is declared the winner of the battle: turn or flip its energy card so that the number of wins in the lower left corner becomes 1 greater. If no demon has won 3 battles, a new battle begins.

End of the Game

As soon as a demon earns its third victory, it immediately wins the game.

If several demons simultaneously leave the battle and thereby earn their third victory, the game is won by the first player or, if the first player is not among the candidates, the nearest candidate clockwise from them.

Game variant: in the case of a tie, you may also continue the game until a fourth victory, or hold a decisive battle between the candidate demons.

Team Play

When playing with four players, you may divide into two teams: crosses and circles. Deal each participant a team card face down. Look at the cards received: players who were dealt a team card of the same shape join together as a team and sit at the table so that they sit across from each other (with one seat between them).

In this variant, the battle ends when only demons of one team remain in it. That team is declared the winner of the battle (the victory on an energy card may mark only one demon from the team). When a team earns its third victory, it immediately wins the game. In the rare case where both teams earn their third victory due to simultaneous leaving of the battle, the team that includes the first player wins.

Example of Play

The players make the third turn of the round. Katya, Zhenya and Maxim each play a technique card, and reveal them in turn order.

Maxim goes first. He reveals the Grab card, performs the action "Pressure Point" (Болевая точка), and places a Knockout card on the Combo tactic card.

Katya goes next. She chose the Combo card, hoping to remove 2 energy from Zhenya's demon with the "Hail of Blows" action, but Maxim anticipated her move and successfully placed a Knockout card. Katya's demon leaves the battle, and the Knockout card returns from the Combo tactic card to its stack.

Zhenya goes last. She plays the Assault card. Her demon falls into a trap and receives 1 damage, but it continues the battle. Noticing that Maxim's demon has only 1 energy left, Zhenya uses the action "Circular Attack" (Круговая атака). Maxim's demon loses its last energy and leaves the battle. Zhenya's demon remains the last one in the battle and becomes its winner.

The illustrations on pages 14 and 15 show the table during and after this example turn.

Clarifications on Card Effects

Target: if a card effect applies to all opponents, it does not act on the demon that played the card and on the members of its team (in team mode).

Draw X cards: the player must take X technique cards from the technique deck into hand. If the deck runs out, shuffle the common discard pile and form a new technique deck from it. If, as a result of a card's effect, all players must receive a certain technique card, find the needed number of copies of that card in the deck and the discard pile, then shuffle the deck. If there are not enough of these cards to deal to all players, deal the copies found to the players, starting with the player seated to the right of the first player and proceeding counterclockwise.

Discard X cards: the indicated player must discard X random technique cards from hand. If they have fewer than X cards in hand, they discard all of the remaining cards. If the player has no cards left in hand, nothing is discarded. In the last two cases, the player's demon remains in the battle.

Deal X damage / Take X damage: the indicated demon loses X energy. Slide its demon card down so that the number of visible energy symbols decreases by X. If the demon loses its last energy, it leaves the battle.

Gain X energy: the demon gains X energy. Slide its demon card up so that the number of visible energy symbols increases by X. No demon can have more than 6 energy.

Place trap / Remove trap (trap symbols): choose a tactic card and flip it to its other side. The "Place trap" effect flips a card lying number side up so that its trap side is up, and the "Remove trap" effect flips a card lying trap side up back to its number side up. If a player reveals their technique card and the tactic card with the same name lies trap side up, that demon immediately loses 1 energy (takes 1 damage) before the action of this card is performed, even if the card allows removing the trap. If the demon loses its last energy in this way, it leaves the battle and does not perform the action of its card. The trap acts until the end of the battle, or until it is removed by the effect of some card.

Place Knockout / Remove Knockout: place a Knockout card on top of any tactic card that does not already have a Knockout card on it, or remove a Knockout card from any tactic card where it lies. A Knockout card can cover a tactic card that has a trap. If a player reveals a technique card and the tactic card with the same name has a Knockout card on it, that player's demon leaves the battle and does not perform the action of the revealed technique card. After this, remove the Knockout card from the tactic card and return it to the Knockout stack. At the end of the battle, any Knockout cards still lying on tactic cards are returned to the stack.

Specific Card Effects

Initiative Grab (Trip card, "Перехват инициативы"): if the first player has left the battle, you may still take the first player card, but in that case no one takes damage. If this action is performed by the first player, that player receives 1 damage.

The Initiative Grab action immediately changes the turn order: the next player to reveal a card and perform an action is the player who has not yet made a turn and who sits to the left of the player performing this action (skipping all players who have already made their turn).

Stun (Trip card, "Оглушение"): if the player does not have the named card, they must show their technique cards in hand to the other players.

Defensive Stance (Defense card, "Защитная стойка"): the player who chose this action is protected from the Knockout, Combo (the "Hail of Blows" action) and Assault (both actions). To mark the continuing effect of the "Defensive Stance" action, turn the Defense card 90 degrees. This effect applies at all times while the revealed Defense card lies in the technique series. When a Knockout card would take effect on the player, the player returns it to its stack and remains in the battle. A demon with a turned Defense card can be chosen as the target of the "Hail of Blows" action, but it does not take damage.

Advantageous Position (Rebound card, "Выгодная позиция") and Intimidation (Assault card, "Устрашение"): these effects do not act on players who have no cards in hand, but such players can still be chosen as targets. The demons of these players remain in the battle until they are required to reveal a technique card.

Translator's note: the source is a low-resolution scan. Where the printed symbol for a card effect is ambiguous at that resolution, it has been rendered as the damage symbol according to the surrounding text ("does not take damage" in the Defensive Stance entry). The booklet does not list the individual demon or technique cards in text form; the small card text shown in its illustrations is not legible enough at this resolution to be transcribed.