Goal
Goal of the Game
Each player tries to outlast and defeat the opponent by controlling Sites, landing attacks, Pressuring enemy lanes, and draining the opponent's life force.
Your Main Deck, Resource pile, and Used pile together represent your remaining life force. You lose when all three are empty.
Board
The Board
Each player has three lanes. Each lane begins with a basic token Site, and real Sites can overlay those lanes.
Exterior The front line for most units, vehicles, and battles.
Interior Protected or sanctuary-style locations.
Space Where ships, space units, and Ship-Sites operate.
Cards
Main Card Types
- Units: Characters, spirits, vehicles, ships, and other battlefield cards.
- Sites: Locations that define where the game happens.
- Ship-Sites: Large ships that act like locations, such as The Miras 9.
- Planet / Spirit cards: Planet cards that track Echo and may awaken.
- Events: One-time effects, tactics, and reactions.
- Equipment: Upgrades attached to units.
Turn flow
Turn Structure
Awaken
Action
Attack Phase
Move
Attune
Pass Turn
Awaken
Ready your cards. Then choose one innate card-flow option: draw the top card of your Main Deck, or move the top card of your Main Deck to your Resource pile. Then generate resources from Sites, Ship-Sites, and card effects as allowed.
Action
Play Units, Sites, Events, and Equipment. Use abilities whose text specifically requires the Action Phase. Freely embark and disembark eligible units on Vehicles, Ships, and Ship-Sites.
Attack Phase
Declare attackers, choose legal unit or Site targets, assign blockers, and resolve Battle Damage from successful attacks against Sites.
Move
Move units, Vehicles, Ships, and Ship-Sites. You may also freely embark and disembark eligible units. Vehicles, Ships, and Ship-Sites carry embarked units with them when they move.
Attune
Manifest, Pressure, Restore, draw cards from the Resource pile, and resolve end-of-turn effects.
Pass Turn
End the turn. Units that entered play this turn stop being Unattuned when their controller passes the turn.
Life force
Resources and Life Force
Resources are generated by moving cards from the Main Deck to the Resource pile. When resources are spent, cards move from Resource to Used. During Attune, you may draw any number of cards from your Resource pile to hand.
Cards in Main Deck, Resource pile, and Used pile are your remaining life force. Drawing and spending give options, but also reduce long-term survival.
Units
Units, Wounds, and GRIT
Units take wounds instead of being defeated immediately. A unit is defeated when its wounds equal or exceed its GRIT. Defeated cards go to the Discard pile unless a card says otherwise.
Unattuned units cannot attack, Manifest, Pressure, add ATK to Battle Presence, or use tap abilities until their controller passes the turn.
Timing
Activated Abilities and Reactions
Activated abilities use reaction timing unless their card text names a specific phase or response window. You may activate an eligible ability during any active phase, including as an interrupt or reaction, while still paying every cost and meeting every target, status, and once-per-turn requirement.
An ability with a tap cost requires its source to be ready and Attuned. Using an ability does not tap its source unless tapping is part of the cost or effect.
Movement
Vehicles, Ships, and Ship-Sites
Vehicles and Unit-Ships usually need crew to operate. If unmanned, they can remain in play, be attacked, and take wounds, but they usually cannot move, attack, Pressure, or add ATK to Battle Presence.
Vehicles and Unit-Ships may Manifest or Pressure if manned and eligible. They use their own Echo score for the Echo gained or reduced, regardless of crew aboard.
Ship-Sites are not Units. They act more like mobile locations. The Miras 9 is a Ship-Site and lets friendly Characters aboard it Manifest while embarked if the Ship-Site is active at a friendly site or lane with no active enemy Battle Presence.
Combat
Attack Combat
Attack Units
A unit can attack a legal opposing unit in its current lane. Blockers and combat wounds are resolved in the Attack view, and defeated units go to the Discard pile unless a card says otherwise.
Attack Sites
A unit can attack an opposing Site or Ship-Site in its current lane. If the attack is unblocked, it assigns Battle Damage to the defending player.
Attacks against opposing Sites deal Battle Damage when they are not blocked.
Attacks
Attack Basics
- Choose one or more ready attackers.
- Choose a legal opposing unit, Site, or Ship-Site in each attacker's lane.
- Resolve available attack reactions.
- The defender assigns legal blockers.
- Resolve combat wounds and defeated units.
- Assign Battle Damage from unblocked Site or Ship-Site hits.
- Pay Battle Damage with Echo, Hand, Main Deck, Resources, or Used cards.
Echo
Echo, Manifest, and Pressure
Echo represents spiritual force, memory, and attunement. Characters and Spirits have ECHO values, and players can gain Echo tokens.
Manifest: At a friendly site or lane with no active enemy Battle Presence, an eligible Character, Spirit, Vehicle, or Ship may Manifest during Attune to gain Echo equal to its Echo score. Vehicles and Ships must be manned, and use their own Echo score regardless of crew aboard.
Pressure: At an enemy site or lane with no active enemy Battle Presence, an eligible unit, Vehicle, Ship, or card ability may Pressure during Attune. Pressure reduces the opponent's Echo by the pressuring unit's Echo score, to a minimum of 0. Vehicles and Ships use their own Echo score regardless of crew aboard. Only one Unit can Manifest or Pressure at a given site or lane each turn.
Aftershock
Aftershock
Aftershock is tabled for current playtesting. Echo still matters for Manifest, Pressure, awakened Spirits, and reducing Battle Damage.
Older Aftershock experiments may remain in prototype code, but the current attack and Battle Damage rules are official going forward.
Timing
En Route and Spotted
En Route cards are moving toward a site or lane but have not arrived yet. They do not count for Battle Presence and are not legal attackers or blockers until they arrive.
Spotted is the exception. A Spotted En Route card becomes active and present for combat purposes for the duration of the effect.
Quick reference
Quick Start Summary
- Build presence at Sites.
- Use resources carefully.
- Attack to remove threats.
- Declare attacks to pressure Sites and score damage.
- Manifest to build Echo.
- Pressure undefended enemy locations.
- Use Vehicles, Ships, and Ship-Sites to reposition and protect your crew.
- Win by draining the opponent's remaining life force.