The Incal Infinite Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Game Content
• Setting Up the Game
• Communication During Play
• Game Sequence
• Game Turn
  • A. Travel
    • 1. Move the Metacraft
    • 2. Explore
    • 3. Fill Your Hand
  • B. Pass
  • C. Attempt the Transfiguration Ritual
  • John Difool
• Game End
• Locations & Enemies
  • "Locations"
  • "Enemies"
    • The Bergs
    • The Prezident's Hunchbacks
    • Gorgo the Fool
    • The Necrodroid
    • The Great Darkness

Goal of the Game

In order to master the power of the Incal, players must perform the Transfiguration Ritual by revealing the Incal tokens one by one. But an enemy, different for each game, will use attacks and tricks to thwart this objective.

Game Content

• 31 Character cards (six characters, each numbered from 1 to 5, and one John Difool)
• 9 Location tiles
• 18 Damage cards
• 7 INCAL chits numbered from 1 to 7 (+ 2 INCAL chits numbered 8 and 9)
• 4 Power chits
• 1 Metacraft silhouette
• 5 Enemy Silhouettes
• 6 silhouette bases (before your first game, set each silhouette on a base)

In each game of The Incal Infinite, you will face a different enemy. This rule describes a game of initiation with the "depleted" Bergs as the enemy. Once you have won a game against them, choose an enemy from among those described in the document "Locations and enemies" (see Locations & Enemies below).

Setting Up the Game

1. Form a circle at the center of the table with the Suicide Alley location tile and five other Location tiles. They must be placed randomly and the bottom of each tile must face the outside of the circle.
2. Take the Incal Chits numbered 1 through 7, shuffle them, and place one of the Chits, put face down and without consulting them, on the reserved space of each of the Locations, except Suicide Alley. Without consulting them, put the 2 remaining chits in the box: they will not be used during the game.
3. On the reserved Suicide Alley space, place the 4 Power Chits face up, then place the silhouette of the Metacraft on the tile.
4. Place the Bergs' silhouette in the gap between Suicide Alley and the front clockwise location.
5. Take the Character cards, isolate the John Difool character card, shuffle the remaining cards, then:
   • 4 players: deal 4 cards face down to each player;
   • 3 players: discard 4 cards at random (you can look at them at any time, but they will not be used during the game) then deal 4 cards face down to each player;
   • 2 players: put all the cards of the same character back in the box, then deal 4 cards face down to each player.
6. Place a character card face up under each of the locations, except for Suicide Alley.
7. Now add the John Difool character card and 2 Damage cards to the remaining character cards to form a deck. The remaining Damage cards are placed in the Reserve at hand. Shuffle the deck and place it face down in the center of the playing area. Leave a space next to it to be used as a Discard pile.

Communication During Play

During the game, players may talk openly about their cards in hand, but never show them to others. However, it is strictly forbidden to reveal in any way the value of an Incal chit that a player has gained knowledge of. The only time such an exchange is allowed is when the TALK power is activated.

Game Sequence

Whoever looks most like John Difool is designated the first player (if no one has a big nose or ponytail, determine that player at random): he/she/they becomes the active player. He or she begins to play, and then each player in turn and in a clockwise direction, the following players do the same until the game ends (i.e. all players lose or win).

Game Turn

In his own turn, the active player can take only one of the following 3 actions:

• A. Travel
• B. Pass
• C. Attempt the Transfiguration Ritual

A. Travel

To travel, the active player must solve these 3 phases one after the other, in the following order:

1. Move the Metacraft

The player must move the Metacraft from 1 to 6 Location tiles, always clockwise.

Warning, if the Metacraft passes over the Bergs, the Bergs immediately move one gap counter-clockwise, then a Damage card is added to the discard pile.

2. Explore

To explore, the active player needs to pose one or several Character cards from his hand under a location tile where the Metacraft currently stands.

Identical cards: During the Explore action, it is possible to play several cards as long as they are identical, i.e. with the same character (the value of the card not being taken into account).

However, the play of the cards must respect the following rules:

• There can never be more cards under a Location than the number of cards needed for the indicated combination.
• If a Location has as many cards as its combination (whether there is a Revelation or not), it is said to be closed: it is impossible to stop there.
• If the condition required by the Place is met, there is a Revelation.

Revelation: Each location requires a specific condition for a revelation to take place (see Locations & Enemies). The player who has just put down the card(s) that meet the required condition makes a Revelation. To do so, he secretly consults the Incal chit present on that location, then puts it back in its original place, face down, without revealing or communicating the number to the other players (see Communication During Play). All the cards put down on a Location must remain on said Location.

3. Fill Your Hand

After exploring, the player draws new cards until he has 4 in his hand. If the deck is exhausted, it is necessary to shuffle the discard pile to make a new deck.

Important: If the player draws a Damage card, he must keep it in his hand. The only way to get rid of it is to activate the DESTROY power that can be found in the Suicide Alley location (see Locations & Enemies).

B. Pass

A player who chooses to pass must discard a card from his hand (other than a Damage card), then he draws cards until he has 4, and finally adds a Damage card to the discard pile.

C. Attempt the Transfiguration Ritual

This is the goal of the game: the player who chooses to attempt the Ritual must reveal, one by one and in ascending order, the Incal tokens of each location. If this is successful, the game is won for all! If not, the game is lost.

Example: Manuel attempts the Transfiguration Ritual in his turn. The first chit that he reveals is a 2, then he goes on and reveals a 4, followed by a 5. So far all is fine. But he now reveals a 9: damn, game is over for everyone!

John Difool

John Difool is considered a wild card.

When you explore, you can either play it alone and in this case, name which Character it becomes (Animah, Tanatah, the Meta-Baron, Deepo, Kill or Solune) as well as its value (1, 2, 3, 4 or 5); or associate it with other identical cards (of which it becomes the Character with the value of your choice).

Played alone on Suicide Alley, it remains John Difool and allows to activate a grayed-out Power (see "Suicide Alley" in "Locations & Enemies").

But beware, once your turn ends, John Difool is ALWAYS DIRECTLY sent to the Discard pile.

Game End

The game can only be won by the players in one way: if a player successfully completes the Transfiguration Ritual, that is, by revealing, one by one and in ascending order, all the Incal chits.

However, the game is lost for all players if:

• A player has 3 Damage cards in his hand;
• A player cannot complete his hand to 4 cards because the deck is empty;
• The Transfiguration Ritual fails;
• Some enemies have a special defeat condition. In the case of the Bergs, the game is lost if they return to their original location (the one they were at the beginning of the game).

Now that you've read the main rules, check out the description of the locations on the "Locations & Enemies" sheet before playing.

Locations & Enemies

Each location requires a specific condition for a Revelation to take place.

"Locations"

• Aquaend Revelation Condition: a Revelation occurs when 2 pairs of identical cards are found under the Location. The 2 pairs must be different from each other.

• Psychorats' Dump Revelation condition: a Revelation occurs when 5 different cards (different characters) are under the Location.

• The Central Computer Revelation condition: a Revelation occurs when 4 identical cards (identical characters) are found under the location.

• The Crystal Forest This location requires that the cards are placed in a certain order. Only the value of the card is taken into account here, not the character. Starting with the card placed under the location at the time of placement, the following cards must be placed in ascending order one after the other. If the last card placed is a card of value 5, the next card must be a card of value 1. Revelation condition: there is a Revelation when 5 cards of different values are under the Location. Example: The card placed at the start is a card of value 3. The next card must be of value 4, the next of value 5, the next of value 1 and the last of value 2. This is when the Revelation takes place.

• The Underground River It is only possible to explore this location by placing a single character card from your hand. Once the card has been placed, the player reveals the top card of the deck and places it under the Underground River. He then adds up the total values of all the cards under the Location. Revelation condition: there is a Revelation if the sum equals 8, 9 or 10. The cards then remain under the Place and it is said to be closed. If the sum does not equal 8, 9 or 10, the exploration fails. The card played from the player's hand and the card from the deck are discarded. If the card drawn is a Damage card, the exploration also fails. The MOVE power cannot be used from or to this location.

• The Acid Lake Revelation condition: a Revelation occurs when 2 three-card sets of identical cards (identical characters) are under the Location. The 2 three-card sets must be different from each other.

"Enemies"

Each game uses one enemy. The initiation game uses the Bergs. The sheet describes the following enemies.

The Bergs

• Initial Placement: The silhouette is placed in the gap (between two Locations) located just before Suicide Alley clockwise (location A).
• Damage Card: "Depleted" Bergs, add 2 Damage cards inside the deck upon initial placement. "Normal" Bergs, add 4 cards to the deck.
• Activation: When the Metacraft passes over the Bergs, they move one gap counter-clockwise and a Damage card is moved to the discard pile.
• Additional Defeat Condition: Players have lost when the Bergs return to their original starting location (location A).

The Prezident's Hunchbacks

• Initial Placement: The silhouette is placed on the Location just before Suicide Alley clockwise (location B).
• Damage Card: The Prezident's Hunchbacks, add 3 damage cards to the deck upon placement.
• Activation: When the Metacraft passes over the Prezident's Hunchbacks, they move one Location counter-clockwise and then a Damage Card is moved to the discard pile.
• Ability: It is impossible to travel to the location occupied by the President's Hunchbacks.
• Warning: If it is impossible to travel to a location (blocked by the Hunchbacks or closed), the only thing left to do is to try the Ritual.

Gorgo the Fool

• Initial Placement: The silhouette is placed in the gap (between two Places) just before Suicide Alley clockwise (location A).
• Damage Card: Gorgo the Fool adds 2 cards to the deck on placement. (The sheet prints "2 cards cards"; the duplicated word is dropped here.)
• Activation: When the Metacraft passes over Gorgo the Fool, it moves one gap counter-clockwise. The active player randomly picks a card (excluding Damage card) from another player's hand then discards it. Finally, a card is added to the discard pile.
• Additional Defeat Condition: Players have lost when Gorgo the Fool returns to its original location at the start of the game (location A).

The Necrodroid

• Initial Placement: The silhouette is placed in the gap (between two Places) just before Suicide Alley in a clockwise direction (location A).
• Damage Card: The Necrodroid adds 1 card to the deck when placed.
• Activation: When the Metacraft passes over the Necrodroid, it moves one gap counter-clockwise. The active player then takes a Damage card from the reserve and places it directly into his hand. At the end of the turn, he must draw cards until he has 4 in his hand.
• Additional Defeat Condition: Players have lost when the Necrodroid returns to its initial position at the start of the game (location A).

The Great Darkness

• Incal tokens: When setting up, in phase 2, take the Incal tokens numbered 1 to 9, proceed as indicated, then place 4 tokens in the box (rather than 2).
• Initial placement: The silhouette is placed in the gap (between two Places) just before Suicide Alley in a clockwise direction (location A).
• Damage card: The Great Darkness adds 3 damage cards to the deck when placed.
• Activation: When the Metacraft passes over the Great Darkness, the latter moves one gap counter-clockwise, then a Damage card is added to the discard pile.
• Special rules:
  • Revelation: during a Revelation, proceed as follows: the player who reveals an Incal token consults it normally, but keeps it face-down in front of him (rather than resting it on the spot). Each player may not have more than 2 Incal tokens in front of him/her (except for 2 players, who may not have more than 3). Communication rules still apply.
  • Attempt the Transfiguration Ritual: This action is no longer available during the game. The ritual is triggered automatically when all Incal tokens have been taken by the players. Players take it in turns to reveal their tokens in ascending order, in no particular order and without speaking beforehand. Incal tokens must be revealed one by one, and only by their owner. Victory and defeat conditions remain the same as in a normal game.