Cardinger Rulebook
Cardinger (“card harbinger”) is a customizable card game for two players adapted from Card Games vs Literary Characters at the End of the World. Cycling through their personalized deck of 20 unique cards, each player will try to build their hand, score points, and attack the other player's cards to obstruct their progress.
The 80 card set contains one copy of every card - everything a player needs to build a single deck. It is recommended, but not mandatory, that each player builds their deck from their own complete 80 card set.
You can play Card Games vs Literary Characters at the End of the World for free, or buy a physical set of Cardinger cards from the Game Crafter.
Objective
The first player to score 20 points wins the game.
Setup
Each player needs a deck of 20 unique cards. You may not have more than one copy of the same card in your deck. Players may either create decks at will before playing, or they can create decks randomly by any method.
A recommended random deck creation method for first time players is as follows. First, remove any cards with a cost of 8 from the collection of cards. Then, create two face-down piles of cards: the first with cards with 0 cost, and the second with cards of cost of 1 or more. Next, draw cards from the second pile of cards until the total cost of all cards you have drawn is 10 or more. These cards will be the start of your deck. Then, draw cards from the 0-cost pile until you have 20 cards in your deck.
If both players are making decks from the same 80-card set, then you may run out of 0-cost cards before fully forming the decks. In that case, complete the deck by adding cards from the remaining pile of cards.
Besides the decks, players will need some way to keep track of score and some way to track changes to the health and defense of cards in play. You can use pencil and paper, dice, coins, tokens, or anything else to do this.
The Cards
All cards in Cardinger have the same format.
Name
The name of the card.
HP
HP, or health points, represents the number of attacks a card can endure before it is destroyed. Each printed heart icon represents one HP.
Cost
The cost of a card represents how many cards you must discard from your hand to play the card. If you don't have enough cards to play the cost, you can't play the card.
ATK
ATK, or attack, represents the strength of a card's attack action. If a card has an ATK of 0, it cannot attack other cards.
DEF
DEF, or defense, represents a card's resistance to other cards' attacks. If a card's DEF is equal to or greater than another's ATK, it cannot be attacked by that card.
DRAW
DRAW represents the number of cards drawn from the deck when this card takes a draw action. If it has a DRAW of 0, it cannot take a draw action.
SCORE
SCORE represents the number of points earned when this card takes a score action. If it has a SCORE of 0, it cannot take a score action.
Keywords
Cards may have up to three keywords printed on them with special rules for the card. There are currently 8 keywords in Cardinger: READY, DOUBLE, FRAGILE, OMNI, STEAL, DECAY, PROSPERITY, and DEVOUR.
Flavor Text
The italic flavor text printed on a card has no bearing on the game itself.
The Play Area
Cards should be arranged in front of each player as follows:
Field
The field contains all cards that a player currently has in play. There can be at most 5 cards in each player's field.
Discard Pile
Cards that have been discarded are placed face-up in your discard pile.
Deck
Each player's deck is placed face-down next to their discard pile.
Game Play
Starting the Game
Each player places their deck in front of them. Choose a player to go first. Both players then draw 4 cards from their respective decks into their hands.
A turn is split into 4 phases: “turn start,” “playing and retiring cards,” “taking actions,” and “turn end.”
Phase 1: Turn Start
Score a Point if you Replenished your Deck
At the very start of your turn, if you replenished your deck at the end of your last turn, score one point.
Draw a Card
Next, unless you are taking the very first turn of the game, draw a card. The only times you don't draw a card from your deck at the start of your turn is when you are taking the very first turn of the game or when you already have 10 cards in your hand. You can never hold more than 10 cards. In other words, the player who goes first will start with four cards in their hand, but the player who goes second, at the start of their turn, will draw a fifth.
After you've drawn your card (if able), it's time to play any cards from your hand that you wish.
Phase 2: Playing and Retiring Cards
Count the Cards in your Hand
Count the number of cards in your hand. Divide that number by two, then round up. That number is the number of cards you can play during this turn. If you start your turn with 10 cards in your hand, you can play 5 cards from your hand to your field. If you start with 3, you can play 2. If you start with 1, you can play the 1.
Play Cards
If a card has a cost of 0, you can play it directly from your hand to the field. If it has a cost of 1 or more, then, when you play the card, you must discard a number of cards from your hand equal to the cost. If you don't have enough cards in your hand to pay the cost, you can't play the card. For example, if a card has a cost of 2 and you have at least 2 other cards in your hand, you play the card, and then send 2 cards from your hand to the discard pile. If you only have 1 other card your hand, you can't play a card with a cost of 2.
You can only have up to 5 cards in play in your field at a time. You cannot play a card if your field is full.
Retire Excess Cards
If you have 5 cards in play, you may choose to retire a card from your field, sending it to the discard pile. If you're still able to play cards from your hand, you may then continue to do so. If you have 5 cards in play again, you can choose to retire another card, and so on.
Once you are done playing and retiring cards, it is time for you to take actions, if possible.
Phase 3: Taking Actions
Declaring Actions
A card may make one of three possible actions: attack, draw, or score. Attacking allows you to damage and destroy your opponent's cards, drawing adds cards from your deck to your hand, and scoring adds points to your score, advancing your victory.
You cannot take an action with a card you played this turn. Otherwise, each of your cards may take one action per turn. You do not need to take an action with every eligible card. Once you declare an action, you may no longer play any cards from your hand or retire any cards from your field for the remainder of the turn (you cannot go back to the previous phase).
To indicate that a card has taken an action or is otherwise unable to act this turn, you may rotate the card sideways (or “tap” the card). If you do, return all cards to the upright position at the end of the turn (“untap” the card).
Attack
When you take an attack action, compare the ATK value of your attacking card to the DEF of the target. If your card's ATK is greater than the target's DEF, the target takes one point of damage. They lose one of their HP, or hitpoints. If a card runs out of HP, it is destroyed and sent to the discard pile. The targeted card never loses more than one HP from a single attack, no matter how high the opponent's ATK value is.
A card cannot declare an attack if it cannot damage any of the opponent's cards.
Consider the following example. Let's say you decide to attack one of the opponent's cards with “The Chef.” “The Chef” has 1 ATK. The opponent's “Bumblebee” has 1 HP and 0 DEF. “The Chef” attacks and damages “Bumblebee,” so “Bumblebee” loses its only HP. Because its HP has gone to 0, it is destroyed and sent to the discard pile.
The opponent's “Big Bee” also has 0 DEF, meaning it is an eligible target, but it has 2 HP. When it is attacked, it loses 1 HP. It remains on the field with 1 HP, so it will be destroyed if it is attacked again.
The opponent's “Armor Bee,” however, has 1 DEF. Since its DEF equals “The Chef's” ATK, it cannot be attacked by “The Chef.”
Draw
When you take the draw action, you immediately draw a number of cards from your deck to your hand equal to the card's DRAW value. If there are not enough cards in your deck to draw the full amount, draw as many cards as you are able. You can have no more than 10 cards in your hand at a time. You cannot take a draw action if your deck is empty or your hand is full. If your hand reaches 10 cards, do not draw any more cards.
Score
When you take the score action, score the number of points indicated by the card's SCORE value. If you have 20 or more points, you immediately win the game.
Keywords
Be sure to follow the instructions given by a card's keywords when you take actions! More information on keywords is given later.
Changes to HP and Defense
Whenever a card takes damage and loses an HP, place a token on it to signify the change. I personally keep loose coins on hand and place a penny on a card to show that it has taken damage. Buttons, dice, pieces of paper, or anything else is acceptable as long as you have some way of keeping track of damage.
If a card gains HP or loses defense because it has the DEVOUR or DECAY keywords, use different tokens to signify those changes in a similar manner.
When you are done taking actions, your turn ends.
Phase 4: Turn End
Draw an Extra Card when Nothing Happened
If you did nothing during your turn, meaning you did not play any cards or take any actions, draw another card from your deck, assuming your deck is not empty and your hand has less than 10 cards.
Passing Turns
In either case, the turn then passes to your opponent.
Replenish your Deck
If your deck has been depleted by the end of your turn, you must replenish it by recycling your discard pile. You may shuffle your discard pile into a new deck during your opponent's turn. You must finish shuffling your new deck before you start your next turn. Any cards that are destroyed by your opponent during their turn are placed in your discard pile, not your new deck.
(Note: this is presently the only difference in the rules between the digital and tabletop versions of the game – when playing the digital version, the deck is replenished and reshuffled at the start of your next turn instead of the end of the current turn. The rule is changed here to speed up play.)
Game End
As soon as a player has 20 points, they win, and the game immediately ends.
Keywords
While basic explanations of each keyword are printed on the cards, here are full explanations and clarifications of their workings:
READY
A card with the READY keyword can take an action on the turn it is played, as opposed to most cards which can't take actions until the following turn. If it also has the DOUBLE keyword (as is the case with “The Lion” and “Gun Imp”), then it can take two attack actions during the turn it is played.
DOUBLE
A card with the DOUBLE keyword can attack twice per turn. It can attack two different targets or the same target, and it does not need to make both attacks at the same time. If a card with DOUBLE declares one attack, it cannot take a score or draw action, and if it takes a score or draw action, it cannot attack.
As noted above, cards with both DOUBLE and READY can make two attacks on the turn they are played. If a card has FRAGILE, DECAY, or DEVOUR, then the change to HP or DEF from those keywords happens both times the card attacks in a turn, so a card like “Demon Spawn” with DOUBLE and FRAGILE would lose 2 HP if it attacks twice. A card with STEAL (like “Pirate Twin”) that destroys two cards during the same turn scores a point for each destroyed card.
OMNI
An attacking card with the OMNI keyword targets all of the opponent's eligible cards at once. All of the opponent's cards with DEF less than the attacker's ATK take damage, without exception. If all of the opponent's cards have DEF equal to or higher than the attacker's ATK, then the attack cannot be declared. No matter how many cards are damaged by an OMNI attack, it always counts as a single action.
If a card has both OMNI and STEAL (such as “Raids”), then the attacking player scores a point for each card destroyed by the OMNI attack.
STEAL
Whenever a card with the STEAL keyword attacks and destroys another card, its owner scores a point. As mentioned previously, a card with STEAL and the DOUBLE or OMNI keywords that destroys multiple cards in the same turn scores a point for each destroyed card.
PROSPERITY
When a card with the PROSPERITY keyword takes a score action, it scores one extra point for every 5 cards in its owner's hand. If the owner has less than five cards, only the base SCORE value is scored. If they have 5 or more cards, they score an extra point, unless they have 10 cards, in which case they score 2 extra points.
DEVOUR
When a card with DEVOUR takes any action, that card gains 1 HP. Cards with DEVOUR cannot have more than 4 HP total at any time. If a card cannot legally perform an action, it cannot gain any HP that turn. For example, if a card can normally only take the draw action, but the deck is empty, it cannot declare that action, and therefore does not gain HP.
A card with DEVOUR and DOUBLE (such as “Blood Lance”) recovers 1 HP each time it attacks.
FRAGILE
When a card with FRAGILE takes any action, that card loses 1 HP. If a card loses its last (or only) HP this way, it is destroyed. Resolve any other effects from the card's action before destroying it. For example, if an “Elder Beetle” takes a score action but destroys itself by doing so, the score action is still completed.
As mentioned, a card with FRAGILE and DOUBLE loses 1 HP each time it attacks.
DECAY
When a card with DECAY takes any action, that card loses 1 DEF. A card cannot have less than 0 DEF.
As mentioned, a card with DECAY and DOUBLE loses 1 DEF each time it attacks.
“Classic” Rules
The rules here have been modified from those in the original release of Card Games vs Literary Characters at the End of the World. For those looking for a more traditional experience, make any or all of the following rule changes:
- Starting with the second player's first turn, each player gains a point at the start of their turn, regardless of whether their deck replenishes or not.
- Players can no longer retire cards from play.
- Players no longer draw an extra card at the end of their turn if they do nothing.
- Cards with the DEVOUR keyword can have up to 5 HP.
- Cards with the PROSPERITY keyword score an extra point for every 4 cards in hand.
- When replenishing your deck, you cannot start shuffling a new deck until your opponent ends their turn.
“Classic” rules are generally not recommended.
Card List
The 80-card set contains all of the cards from Card Games vs Literary Characters at the End of the World's first four expansions. While cards from the Starter Deck and first Booster are fairly balanced relative to each other, cards from Booster 2 and 3 are generally stronger. You can try removing the later Booster sets from the card pool for a different experience!
The cards from the fifth expansion, Booster Set X, were deliberately designed to be unfair and are therefore not included in this printed set.
Starter Set
| Name | Cost | HP | ATK | DEF | DRAW | SCORE | Keyword | Keyword | Keyword |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bumblebee | * | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Pick Boy | * | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| The Chef | * | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Surprise Attack | * | 1 | READY | ||||||
| Big Bee | 1 | ** | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Armor Bee | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Hammer Burt | * | 2 | |||||||
| Tall Kick Woman | ** | 1 | |||||||
| Twin Snail | * | 1 | DOUBLE | ||||||
| Miner Bee | * | 3 | |||||||
| Combo Miner | 1 | * | 4 | ||||||
| Princess Bee | * | 2 | |||||||
| The Empress | 3 | *** | 2 | ||||||
| Surprise Party | 1 | * | 1 | READY | |||||
| Holy Ace | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | READY | ||||
| Snowball | * | 2 | READY | FRAGILE | |||||
| Robo Bee | 3 | * | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| HDMI Cable | 2 | ** | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Cough | * | 3 | READY | FRAGILE | |||||
| Idealogue | 3 | * | 4 | 2 | READY |
Booster 1
| Name | Cost | HP | ATK | DEF | DRAW | SCORE | Keyword | Keyword | Keyword |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passion Explode | * | 1 | 1 | OMNI | FRAGILE | ||||
| Bee Sacrifice | * | 3 | FRAGILE | ||||||
| Caravant | 1 | ** | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Rollord | 1 | * | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Sir Mantis | * | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Duke Bee | ** | 1 | |||||||
| Elder Beetle | 1 | ** | 1 | 2 | FRAGILE | ||||
| Hatching | * | 1 | |||||||
| Wolf Spider | 1 | * | 2 | READY | |||||
| Honey Harvest | * | 3 | READY | FRAGILE | |||||
| Shell Eater | 1 | * | 2 | 2 | 1 | DECAY | |||
| Hired Muscle | 3 | * | 2 | 3 | STEAL | DECAY | |||
| Furry Thief | 2 | * | 1 | 2 | STEAL | ||||
| Evening Tears | 3 | **** | 4 | 2 | FRAGILE | ||||
| Beautiful Rogue | 3 | ** | 2 | 1 | STEAL | ||||
| Armadillian | 2 | ** | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Pigore | 2 | ** | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| MugDrake | 2 | ** | 1 | 1 | STEAL | ||||
| Trash Gremlin | 1 | * | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Fallen Dragon | 4 | ***** | 3 | 2 | 1 | FRAGILE | DECAY |
Booster 2
| Name | Cost | HP | ATK | DEF | DRAW | SCORE | Keyword | Keyword | Keyword |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heist | * | 3 | STEAL | FRAGILE | |||||
| Scallywag | * | 2 | STEAL | ||||||
| Pirate Twin | 2 | ** | 1 | DOUBLE | STEAL | ||||
| Raids | 1 | * | 1 | OMNI | STEAL | ||||
| Scuba Pirate | 1 | * | 3 | 1 | STEAL | DECAY | |||
| Sk8r Pirate | 1 | * | 2 | READY | STEAL | ||||
| Melting God | 3 | **** | 2 | 1 | PROSPERITY | DECAY | |||
| Sea Dragon | 4 | **** | 1 | 2 | 1 | PROSPERITY | |||
| Whale Golem | 1 | **** | 2 | FRAGILE | |||||
| PIRANHAS | 2 | **** | 3 | FRAGILE | |||||
| Octoperfection | 1 | *** | 1 | READY | |||||
| Shark | 1 | *** | 2 | ||||||
| Dolphling | ** | 1 | |||||||
| Fish Golem | *** | 1 | |||||||
| Jellyfish | ** | 1 | DOUBLE | ||||||
| Am Sans Porpoise | ** | 1 | |||||||
| Bladefish | ** | 2 | |||||||
| Squid Golem | ** | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Shield Friend | 1 | * | 2 | 1 | 1 | PROSPERITY | DECAY | ||
| Final Wish | * | 2 | PROSPERITY | FRAGILE |
Booster 3
| Name | Cost | HP | ATK | DEF | DRAW | SCORE | Keyword | Keyword | Keyword |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweep Rider | * | 1 | READY | PROSPERITY | |||||
| Earth Witch | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | PROSPERITY | |||
| Ritual | 1 | ** | 1 | 1 | PROSPERITY | ||||
| The Lion | 8 | **** | 4 | 1 | READY | DOUBLE | STEAL | ||
| The Tin Man | 8 | * | 2 | 4 | 2 | READY | STEAL | ||
| The Scare Crow | 8 | **** | 1 | 2 | PROSPERITY | FRAGILE | |||
| The Wizard | 8 | ** | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | READY | STEAL | |
| The Black Gate | * | 2 | 4 | FRAGILE | |||||
| Vampire Princess | 3 | *** | 2 | 1 | PROSPERITY | DEVOUR | |||
| Blood Knight | 2 | ** | 2 | 1 | DEVOUR | STEAL | DECAY | ||
| Blood Mage | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | DEVOUR | OMNI | |||
| Blood Lance | 3 | * | 2 | 1 | 1 | DEVOUR | DOUBLE | DECAY | |
| Gun Imp | * | 1 | READY | DOUBLE | |||||
| Bomb Imp | * | 1 | READY | OMNI | |||||
| Demon Spawn | ** | 2 | 1 | DOUBLE | FRAGILE | ||||
| Demon Whiptail | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | DOUBLE | OMNI | |||
| Demon Rot | * | 1 | 2 | DOUBLE | DECAY | ||||
| Demon Furnace | * | 1 | 2 | OMNI | DECAY | ||||
| Reaper Dragon | 4 | **** | 3 | 1 | 1 | STEAL | DECAY | ||
| Lil' Vamp | ** | 1 | DEVOUR |