Hi everybody! Polly Geist and Marsha Latte here are gonna give a demonstration of a typical game of Tiny Swords. For the sake of this tutorial, we're gonna peek at Paula's cards while she plays.
The basic game of Tiny Swords is played with just six cards: three Duel Cards, and three Sword Cards. For example, this is Polly Geist’s hand:
During each round of Tiny Swords, players take turns revealing cards from each other’s hand. The first person to reveal one of their opponent’s Sword Cards gets to turn it upside down, removing it from the game.
The first player to remove all of their opponent's Sword Cards wins the game!
A game of Tiny Swords is divided up into multiple rounds, and every round starts with a Duel. A Duel is like a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, and is played using these Duel Cards.
During a Duel, players each pick one card in their hand, and then simultaneously reveal their cards. Just like Rock Paper Scissors, there are three Duel Types- Parry, Thrust, and Slice- and also like in Rock-Paper-Scissors, each Duel Type beats one type and is beaten by another.
Whoever wins the Duel gets to attack their opponent's hand first!
Attacking and Counter-Attacking
In our example, Marsha won the Duel, so she gets to attack first. This means that they get to pick one card from their opponent's hand to reveal.
A player's hand consists of all of the cards they use, including cards used during a Duel. Their goal is to reveal an opponent’s Sword Card, so that they can remove it from the game! If a Sword Card is already revealed, then the player can immediately remove that card from the game!
Oof, Marsha picked one of Polly's Duel Cards. Because it's not a Sword Card, Polly keeps that card revealed, and then gets to counter-attack. This means that she gets to pick one card from Marsha's hand to reveal.
In Tiny Swords, cards that are revealed during a round stay revealed until the end of the round. That means any cards that are used during a Duel stay revealed. The same goes for any cards that are picked while players attack and counter-attack.
Players continue to take turns revealing cards until someone finds a Sword Card.
Think of it like a swordfight where the duelists trade lightning-fast blows- eventually, one of them will hit!
Looks like Polly found Marsha's Sweet Hilt! When a player picks a Sword Card, they can remove it from the game- this is shown by keeping the card flipped upside down and face-forward.
A card that is removed from the game stays that way for the rest of the game. Normally, only Sword Cards are removed from the game, but certain powers allow for any card to be removed from the game!
When a Sword Card has been removed, the round is over!
Both players turn all of their revealed cards around and reshuffle their hands if they wish. All cards that have been removed stay removed (face-forward and upside down, like the Sweet Hilt here), unless other specified by a Charm power. Then, they start the next round, and keep playing until someone loses all of their Sword Cards!
Now that we've gone over the basics of Tiny Swords, let's talk a little about what the Sword Cards do. Sword Cards come in three types: Blades, Hilts, and Charms.
You’ll notice that your Blades and Hilts have one of those Duel Types on them. That means that during a Duel, you can play that card as that Duel Type. Remember though, that when a card is used in a Duel, it stays revealed until the end of the round. If your opponent gets to attack your hand, they can remove that card from the game!
“But wait! Isn't that really risky? Why would you want to do that?”
It can be risky, but there's two reasons you'd want to. Some cards, like the Kitty Charm, reward you for using a Blade or Hilt in a Duel. In a normal game, though, the main reason to use a Blade or Hilt is in case of a draw.
When a Duel ends in a draw, players choose new cards and Duel again until someone wins. Once one of your Duel Cards has been revealed, it can't be used again until the start of the next round.
The other key things is that if a player has no more cards to Duel with, they automatically lose the Duel and their opponent gets to attack. This means that sometimes using your Blade or Hilt is your best option, or your only option. Pay close attention to which types your opponent uses, and use your Blade and Hilt to strike when they least expect it!
Charms, meanwhile, offer special powers that change how the game is played. Charms can do all kinds of things, like:
mixing up both player's cards
play bluffing games with your opponent
In Tiny Swords there are currently 20 different Charms, but there are two key types: Charms that are used When Removed, and ones that can be used Until Removed.
Just like the text says, a Charm card that says “When Removed” has a power that activates when the card is removed from the game, either by your opponent or yourself.
A Charm card that says “Until Removed” allows you to use that power as soon as the game starts. The card text will tell you more specifically when you can use that ability, and how often.
(pic of Spooky announcing using her power- word balloon with spooky icon?)
To use a Charm's ability, just announce that you're using the power. You may also show the card to your opponent, to prove that you actually have that power, and then shuffle it back into your hand.
In case two or more players want to activate their powers at the same time, the player who lost the previous round may go first.
If there's a conflict during the first round, the younger player may choose to go first.
Customizing Your Tiny Sword
The full Tiny Swords game offers a ton of Sword Cards for players to mix and match. There's no penalty for combining cards of different themes, so feel free to make the sword that suits you. In the basic game of Tiny Swords, players only play with one Charm, but once you feel comfortable with the rules, feel free to try adding another Charm or two to the match!
Mix and match Charm powers to make a truly fearsome Tiny Swordfighter!
Now that you’ve gotten a taste of the Tiny Swords game, you can learn more about all the different swords and charms, or buy a copy of the full game online!
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