Worldwide Tennis Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  • 1 – Goal of the Game
  • 2 – Number of Players
  • 3 – Components
• Basic Principles
  • 4 – Gameboard and Zones of the Court
  • 5 – How to Understand a Card
• Pre-Game
  • 6 – Play Modes
  • 7 – Setup
• Basic Rules
  • 8 – Serve
  • 9 – Rally
  • 10 – Play at the Net
  • 11 – End of the Point
  • 12 – Change of Ends
  • 13 – Special Cards
  • 14 – Warm-Up Match
• Advanced Rules
  • 15 – Using the Stars
  • 16 – Topspin and Slice Effects
  • 17 – Challenges (Optional Rule)
  • 18 – Player Cards (Optional Rule)
• Solo Mode
  • 19 – Solo Mode Setup
  • 20 – Managing Your Opponent
• Acknowledgements
• Credits

Introduction

1 – Goal of the Game

In Worldwide Tennis, you are a tennis player with only one goal: winning! According to the chosen mode, you'll need to win a decisive game or a match in the best of 2 or 3 sets. These play modes are detailed in paragraph 6 – Play modes.

2 – Number of Players

Just like in real-life tennis, singles match is the playing base in Worldwide Tennis. The rules will, therefore, be explained in that configuration for 2 players.

A solo mode exists too, detailed in paragraphs 19 and 20.

3 – Components

• 2 double-sided boards depicting a tennis court
• 2 Player pieces
• 1 score table
• 6 score trackers of each player's color — these pieces allow keeping the score on the table provided for that purpose.
• 1 round yellow token, depicting the tennis ball
• 12 Star tokens
• 4 Challenge tokens
• 1 Ball-in token
• 2 decks of 65 cards labeled from 1A to 65A and from 1B to 65B
• 2 Player aid cards
• 1 20-sided die (d20)
• 1 6-sided die (d6), only used for Solo mode

Basic Principles

4 – Gameboard and Zones of the Court

On the gameboard, there are 4 zones on each end:

• Backhand zone
• Neutral zone
• Forehand zone
• Volley zone

Worldwide Tennis implies a perception of the court according to the point of view of a right-handed player. It is only as a way to simplify and clarify the explanation of the rules.

Do not see it as a discrimination against the left-handed people, so well-represented among the tennis star-players!

5 – How to Understand a Card

Each card represents a stroke. It is essential to know how to find important information.

• Stroke's name — printed on the top band of the card.
• Stroke's type — the stroke family (for example Forehand), printed at the top-left of the card.
• Stroke's difficulty (number) and risk-level (color) — higher is the number, harder is the stroke. A blue background indicates a low-risk stroke, an orange background a medium-risk stroke, and a red background a high-risk stroke.
• Ball's effect (topspin or slice) — the topspin effect makes the opponent's move to the net harder. See 16 – Topspin and Slice effects.
• Card's number — printed at the bottom-left of the card, used to build the solo-mode piles and the setup instructions.
• Draw effect — at the end of the rally, this stroke permits to draw 1 card.
• Star effect — this stroke permits to win 1 star after the execution.
• Target zone — the court diagram on the card shows which zone of the opponent's end the stroke sends the ball to.
• Starting zones — the player piece has to be in one of the indicated zones to play this card.
• Malus (Clay / Hard / Grass / Indoor) — the penalty applied to the opponent according to the chosen surface, printed along the bottom of the card.

Refer to the Iconography player aid for the meaning and effects of the symbols.

Pre-Game

6 – Play Modes

In Worldwide Tennis, there are two play modes. Before playing, choose the right mode for your game:

• the "TIE-BREAKER" mode for a shorter game.
• the "WHOLE MATCH" mode for a total and immersive simulation.

A) Tie-breaker mode (± 15 minutes)

This mode is an excellent choice if you are not yet completely at ease with the tennis rules.

With this mode, you will play the tie-breaker of a real tennis match. The first player to score 7 points wins the game! To win, a 2-point difference between the players is necessary.

In this mode, when the total of the points is even, the server serves into the Forehand zone of the receiver. When the total of the points is odd, the server changes and serves into the Backhand zone of the opponent.

B) Whole match mode (± 1H30)

This mode is an excellent choice if you are an expert and/or if you want a long game.

In this mode, play an actual tennis match!

• To win a game: A game is won after scoring 2 points. Therefore, the score in a game is 0/40/game. For the first point, the server serves into the Forehand zone of the opponent. For the second point, he serves into the Backhand zone. At 40/40, a decisive point is played and the receiver chooses then on which side to play the return.
• To win a set: Just like in real life, a set is won after winning 6 games with a 2-games difference and a tie-breaker at 6-6.
• To win a tie-breaker at 6-6: When playing a decisive game, the order of servers is A/B/B/A/A/B/B... The first player to score 2 points more than the opponent wins the decisive game.
• To win the match: The first player to win 2 or 3 sets is the winner (depending on the players' decision at the beginning of the game).

7 – Setup

First phase:

a) Choose together the play mode of the match and the surface of the court (clay, hard, grass, or indoor). For the first game, a hard court is recommended.

b) Set the corresponding board between the 2 players.

c) Set the score table on the side of the gameboard and place the score trackers on 0.

d) Separate the deck labeled #XX A from the deck labeled #XX B and give 1 deck to each player.

Second phase:

Each player performs the following tasks:

e) Choose a color and place the Player piece on your end of the court.

f) Set 5 Star tokens in front of you: 4 tokens face-up and 1 token face-down.

Note: With the Players cards in the advanced rules, the number of stars at the beginning of the game can change.

g) Select the 5 Serve Cards of your deck (labeled from #61 to #65) and place them face-up between you and the gameboard, in ascending order of the stroke's difficulty (number in the top-left corner of each card).

h) Take in your hand the 6 cards with the symbol "starting hand."

i) Shuffle your deck, place it on the right side of the board and draw 6 more cards, thus beginning the game with 12 cards in hand. Please note that a hand can never have more than 12 cards.

j) Toss up to determine the first player to serve.

Let's now begin the match!

Basic Rules

8 – Serve

Each point begins with a serve. On serve, place your Player piece in the Neutral zone on your end of the court. Your opponent places its Player piece in the Forehand or Backhand zone according to the score (see 6 – Play Modes).

Then, choose one of the Serve cards face-up in front of you and slightly shift it. Higher is the stroke's difficulty (number in the top-left corner) riskier is the serve. It is an opportunity to make the return more difficult for the opponent.

Then, roll the d20.

• If the resulting figure on the d20 is a least equal to the stroke's difficulty, the serve is successful and the rally starts. Some serve cards allow, with a lucky roll, to achieve a winning serve (ACE effect on the card). In that case, the point is automatically won!
• If the resulting figure on the d20 is less than the stroke's difficulty, the serve fails. Try a second ball by choosing another Serve card. If your serve is successful, the rally starts. If your serve fails again, this is a double fault and your opponent wins the point!

Example:

Here is the first point of the match. Roger tries a 13-difficulty serve.

He rolls the d20 and gets a 19.

As the resulting figure is between 18 and 20, this is an ACE! Roger wins the point.

For the second point of the game, Roger tries a 13-difficulty serve again.

He rolls the d20 and gets an 8: this is a fault and the serve fails.

Then, he tries a second ball with a 4-difficulty serve.

He rolls the d20 and gets a 12: the serve is successful and the rally starts. As we are in the second point of the game, he sent the ball in the Backhand zone of his opponent.

9 – Rally

When a serve is successful, the rally starts. It is the opponent's turn to play and so on until someone wins the point (see 11 – End of the point).

During the rally, the turn of each player always follows the same pattern:

A) Move B) Stroke C) Move back / Move to the net

A) Move

The moving phase comes up after a successful stroke of your opponent. It means moving the Player piece from the zone where it stands to the zone where the opponent sent the ball.

When the Player piece is moved vertically or of 2 zones laterally, discard a card to simulate the strain caused by the movement.

Example: Discard a card to move your Player from the Forehand zone to the Backhand zone or from the Neutral zone to the Volley zone.

B) Stroke

Once the Player piece is moved, choose a card to play to send back the ball to the end of your opponent. The starting zone of that card has to correspond to the zone where the ball arrived (therefore where your player piece stands).

When answering a low-risk stroke from your opponent with a low-risk or a medium-risk stroke, your stroke is automatically successful.

In any other case, test the success of the stroke. To do so, add the difficulty of the stroke to the surface malus of the last card played by your opponent then, roll the d20.

• If the resulting figure is inferior, it is a fault. Your opponent wins the point.
• If the resulting figure is at least equal, it is a success. The rally continues.

When a stroke is successful, move the ball into the target zone indicated on the played card. If your card depicts several target zones, choose the zone into which sending the ball.

Example:

Let's go back together to the point in progress in the previous example. Roger validated a 4-difficulty stroke to the Backhand zone of his opponent Rafael.

Standing in his Backhand zone (this is the second point of the game), Rafael decides to take the initiative with a Backhand attack. He can do it because the Backhand zone is one of the starting zones of this card.

After a low-risk stroke, Rafael plays a medium-risk stroke. He doesn't need to roll the d20 and his stroke is automatically successful. He chooses to send the ball to the Forehand zone of his opponent.

Roger moves to his Forehand zone. He doesn't want to take any risk on this stroke and answers with a Baseline defense. He can do it because the Forehand zone is one of the starting zones on this card.

This low-risk stroke comes after a medium-risk stroke. Roger has to roll the d20 to test the success of his stroke. They play on a clay court, so he has to add the clay-court malus of the card played by Rafael (3) to the stroke difficulty (0). The score to reach is 3 + 0 = 3.

Roger rolls the d20 and gets a 14: His stroke is successful! He sends the ball to the Neutral zone on Rafael's end and gains 1 Star.

C) Move back / Move to the net

During this phase, there are three choices:

• staying in the zone where your Player piece stands.
• moving to the net: move your Player piece in the Volley zone. It is impossible to move to the net if your opponent is already close to the net.
• moving back your Player piece: pay 1 Star and move your Player piece to the Neutral zone. If your Player piece is moved back from the Volley zone, discard a card of your choice.

The choice made, your turn ends and your opponent's turn starts.

10 – Play at the Net

When your Player piece is in the Volley zone, no move is possible in the A phase of your turn. On the other hand, the Volley cards are usable against any stroke of your opponent, except against a Lob.

When your Player piece is in the Volley zone and your opponent plays a Lob card, you can answer with an overhead smash. If not, you may move exceptionally to the Baseline zone (and then discard a card) to keep going.

Warning: no possibility to move to the net during the first stroke hit from the baseline after a Lob from your opponent.

11 – End of the Point

A) Winning the point

Each point can end in 4 ways:

• A player succeeds with a WINNER card (winning shot) or with an ACE, so this player takes the point.
• A player makes a fault, so the opponent takes the point.
• A player refuses to move to play the ball, so the opponent takes the point.
• A player cannot play any card because of the position of the Player piece, so the opponent takes the point.

B) Clearing the board

When a player wins a point, respect the following steps before moving on to the next point.

a) Score update — Move the trackers on the score table to update the score.

b) Draws — Add the draw effects of the cards played during the last rally and draw the corresponding cards. If the draw pile is empty, shuffle all the cards of the discard pile.

Then, if your hand includes more than 12 cards, choose and discard enough cards to have a 12-cards hand again.

Note: With the Player cards in advanced rules, the maximum number of cards in your hand can change.

c) Discard the played cards — Place all your cards used during the rally, except the Serve cards, in your discard pile.

12 – Change of Ends

The changing ends only occurs in specific situations:

• in "tie-breaker" mode, each time 6 points are scored.
• in "whole match" mode, when the total of games in a set is odd — except at 1/10 — as well as at the end of a set.

When changing ends, choose between two actions:

• Recovery, and draw 1 new card.
• Focus, and win 2 Stars.

Besides these two actions, the change of ends is also a moment to elaborate a strategy. Each player can pay 1 Star to get a card of their choice back from your discard pile.

13 – Special Cards

a) Drop shot

The Drop Shot card can only be played if your opponent is in the Baseline zone.

Thanks to this card, your opponent could be driven to the net. If the stroke is successful, your opponent will have to discard a card to play the next stroke! (see paragraph 9 – Rally). But your opponent could play the next stroke without start zone limitation.

But there are consequences to this impressive stroke, especially useful on a clay-court. 1 Star has to be paid to play it.

Note: there is a Drop Volley card, also usable when your Player piece is in the Volley zone.

b) Winner

This high-risk stroke can allow you to immediately win the point. This card is in your starting hand.

Its difficulty is 22 minus the difficulty of all your successful strokes in this rally (except the serve).

Example: if a 5-difficulty stroke and a 3-difficulty stroke were successful, the difficulty of this stroke would be 22 – 5 – 3 = 14.

Win 1 Star only if the WINNER stroke is successful.

Lastly, this card is reusable: at the end of the point, take it back in your hand instead of putting it in your discard pile.

14 – Warm-Up Match

Before playing with the advanced rules, we recommend playing a warm-up match with these basic rules. In that way, you will gently learn the basic principles of Worldwide Tennis.

To keep the simplicity and the balance of the game, during this warm-up match, ignore:

• the star symbols (no Star gain during the rally).
• the topspin and slice symbols.

Advanced Rules

Now, you can play like a pro! Thanks to these advanced rules, your next match will have a deeper tactical dimension.

15 – Using the Stars

Before rolling the d20 to test the success of your stroke, paying 1, 2, or 3 Stars can reduce the difficulty. This bonus differs according to whether it is a serve or a stroke played in a rally.

Stars paid	Serve bonus	Rally bonus
1 star	-2	-3
2 stars	-4	-5
3 stars	—	-7

Example: Let's go back together to the ongoing point in the previous example. Focused on winning, Rafael tries a Forehand winning shot!

It is a high-risk stroke. Rafael has to get a 12 with the d20 to make this stroke a success.

To increase his chance of success, Rafael decides to pay 2 Stars to obtain a -5 bonus. The difficulty of the stroke becomes then 12 – 5 = 7.

Rafael rolls the d20 and gets a 9. The stroke is therefore a success and Rafael wins the point!

16 – Topspin and Slice Effects

Some cards have a topspin or slice effect. When a card displaying such an effect is played with success, this effect has consequences for the next turn of your opponent:

• Topspin: your opponent has to discard 1 card to move to the net during the next stroke.
• Slice: your opponent has to roll the d20 to play a medium-risk or a high-risk stroke, whatever the difficulty level of the previous stroke. Moreover, the difficulty of the stroke increases of 2.

Warning: if your opponent is close to the net, he is not affected by the slice effect.

Serves special cases

During the serve, the effects do not automatically apply. Announce your effect before rolling the d20. Only 1 effect by serve is possible.

If an effect is announced on a serve, the difficulty of this serve increases by 1 or 2, according to the Serve card's information.

17 – Challenges (Optional Rule)

When the match starts, each player has 2 Challenge tokens.

When rolling the d20 to test the success of the stroke and getting a result only 1 point under the difficulty, it means the ball is very close to the line. Someone might even consider the referee was wrong announcing a fault!

You may ask for a challenge. In other words, a radar-analysis of your stroke, highly precise and able to determine if the ball was really a fault.

In that case, throw 1 Challenge token in the air:

• if it falls on the Challenge face, your ball is right. Keep your Challenge token. The point is automatically won if your stroke was a Winner. Otherwise, replay the whole point.
• if it falls on the opposite face, your ball is a fault. The point is lost, as is the Challenge token.

In "whole match" mode, a Challenge token can be recovered at the end of each set. You can never have more than 2 Challenge tokens.

18 – Player Cards (Optional Rule)

Each player can choose a Player card at the beginning of the game. This card modifies the following rules:

• the number of cards in your starting hand (number in the top-right corner).
• the number of Stars (face-up and face-down) at the beginning of the game.

A Player card also modifies your deck. At the beginning of the game, the cards specified on the selected Player card – up to 6 – have to be withdrawn from your deck. Each Player card makes a different playing style!

On top of that, each Player card will give you specific abilities and disadvantages, all detailed on the card.

The "Winning shot on XX" capacity

Player cards may allow winning shots with specific strokes, depending on the die roll. When a player could use this capacity, but his stroke is automatically a success, he can:

• either benefit from the automatic success of the stroke, without any possibility of winning shot.
• or roll the d20 as a normal stroke. That way, the player can execute a winning shot on a lucky roll but is also taking the risk of a fault!

Example:

The Player card Roger has the Winning shot capacity with a Forehand attack if the die result is between 18 and 20.

Answering a low-risk stroke from his opponent (malus of 0), Roger tries a 4-difficulty Forehand attack. He can:

• either benefit from the automatic success of the stroke.
• or roll the die to try to make it a winning shot.

Roger chooses to roll the die and gets a 2. As it is under the required 4, the stroke becomes a fault!

Each Player card shows: the star tokens at the start of the game, the cards in hand at the start of the game, the powers of the player, and the cards to be removed from the deck before the match.

Solo Mode

Worldwide Tennis allows you to play against a virtual player whose reactions are entirely managed by the game.

In this mode, you play your own cards in the same way as in the 2-players game. The behavior of your opponent is automatically adjusted (see 20 – Managing your opponent).

19 – Solo Mode Setup

a) Choose the surface for the match (clay, hard, grass, indoor).

b) Set the gameboard in front of you.

c) Set the score table on the left side of the gameboard and place the score trackers on 0.

d) Place each Player piece on each end of the court, in the Neutral zone.

e) Set 5 Star tokens (4 face-up and 1 face-down) and 2 Challenge tokens in front of you. Your opponent has no Star or Challenge tokens.

f) Split the deck labeled #XX A from the deck labeled #XX B.

g) Deck B will be your opponent's deck. Separate the Serve cards (#61 to #65) from this deck, and create the 5 following piles:

• 1 Forehand pile with the cards labeled from #1 to #12
• 1 Backhand pile with the cards labeled from #13 to #24
• 1 Attack pile with the cards labeled from #25 to #37
• 1 Defense pile with the cards labeled from #38 to #47
• 1 Volley pile with the cards labeled from #48 to #60

h) Shuffle each pile then place them around your opponent's end of the court, following the indications on the gameboard.

i) Deck A will be yours. Select the 5 Serve cards of your deck (labeled from #61 to #65) and place them face-up between you and the gameboard, in ascending order of the stroke's difficulty (number in the top-left corner of each card).

j) Take in your hand the 6 cards with the symbol "starting hand."

k) Shuffle your deck, place it on the right side of the board and draw 6 more cards, thus beginning the game with 12 cards in hand. Please note that a hand can never have more than 12 cards. Place the rest of the Deck A on your right: this is your draw pile.

l) Finally, toss up to determine who will begin at the serve, from you or your virtual opponent.

Let's now begin the match!

20 – Managing Your Opponent

a) Roll of the die

Roll the d20 for your opponent each time it would be necessary for a 2-players game.

b) Serves

Your opponent always tries:

• a 10-difficulty serve as the first ball,
• a 4-difficulty serve as the second ball.

Each time your opponent serves, immediately roll both the d6 and the d20.

The d6 determines the effect of the opponent's serve:

• On a 1 or a 2, there is no effect on the ball.
• On a 3 or a 4, there is a topspin effect on the ball.
• On a 5 or a 6, there is a slice effect on the ball.

The d20 determines the success of your opponent's serve (just like in the 2 Players rules). Moreover, if the resulting figure is 15 or 16, your opponent moves to the net.

Just like in the 2-Players game, an effect increases the serve's difficulty.

Example: Your opponent tries a 10-difficulty serve with the first ball. You roll the d6 and the d20 and get a 5 (with the d6) and a 10 (with the d20). There is a slice effect on the ball, so the difficulty is no more 10 but 10+2=12. Then, your opponent's serve fails and he will have to try a second ball.

c) Rally

To select the card played by your opponent during a rally, carry out the following tasks, in decreasing order of priority:

• if your opponent is close to the net, draw a card from the Volley pile.
• if you are close to the net, draw a card from the Defense pile.
• if you and your opponent are in the baseline,
  • draw a card from the Forehand pile if you target the Forehand zone.
  • draw a card from the Backhand pile if you target the Backhand zone.
  • draw a card from the Neutral pile if you target the Neutral zone.

Example: You and your opponent are close to the net. You apply the rule "draw from the Volley pile" because it has a higher priority than the rule "draw from the Defense pile."

When one of the piles is empty, recreate it by using the corresponding cards in the discard pile.

d) Choice of the target zones

When your opponent has to choose between several target zones, select the target zone according to the result of the d20 rolled to test the success of the stroke (Even/Odd symbol).

• if the result of the d20 is even-numbered, your opponent aims the Forehand zone.
• if the result of the d20 is odd-numbered, your opponent aims the Backhand zone.

Even if the success of the stroke didn't require to roll the d20, roll the d20 to choose the target zone.

e) WINNER Card #37

When your opponent draws the WINNER card from its Attack pile, he automatically wins the point without rolling the d20.

f) Direct faults in defense

When your opponent draws a Defense card not usable (start zone doesn't match the position of the ball), place this card in the discard pile and draw a new card. If your opponent is not able to play this card either, this is considered a direct fault and you immediately win the point.

g) Moves

Sometimes, in a 2-Players game, your opponent's move leads him to discard a card. If this happens in the solo mode, the difficulty of all his following strokes in this rally increases by 1. This penalty is cumulative.

Therefore, if your opponent has made 3 moves in a rally leading him to discard a card, the difficulty of the following strokes is increased by 3.

h) Play at the net

Your opponent automatically moves to the net:

• when the resulting figure on the die is 15 or 16 at the serve.
• when he plays a card with the move-to-the-net symbol.

i) Overhead smash Card

When your opponent draws an Overhead smash card from the Volley pile and your previous stroke was not a Lob, save this card: it is considered "active." Then, draw a new card from the Volley pile to continue the point.

When your opponent is close to the net and you play a Lob:

• if your opponent has an active Smash card, he automatically plays this card.
• if your opponent has no active Smash card, he draws a card from his Volley pile.
  • if the drawn card is a Smash, he plays this Smash card.
  • if the drawn card is a Volley, discard this Volley card. Your opponent moves to the baseline to continue the rally.

j) Draws and Stars

Your opponent has neither hand of cards nor Stars. Consequently, ignore the draw symbols as well as the drawing phase at the end of the point for your opponent.

k) Challenges

You can use your Challenge tokens like you would use them in a 2-Players game. Your opponent cannot use Challenge tokens.

Acknowledgements

If the creation of a game is usually an individual process, its realization is always a collective action.

We particularly thank Armelle, Léo and Nicolas for their involvement in this project.

We also thank all the players who took the time to test Worldwide Tennis during its development, with a special thought for Rodolphe.

Finally, we would like to thank all our Kickstarter contributors: your support is essential to us!

Credits

Worldwide Tennis - Première édition - 2020

• Creation and development: Guillaume LUTON
• Playtests and corrections: Cécile DUVAL
• Graphic designer: Léo BLANDIN
• Drawing: Nicolas FERRU (ferrugraphiste.com)
• Translation: Armelle REINACH (akalita.fr)
• Edition: Worldwide Games (worldwidegames.fr)