IN-DEPTH GAMEPLAY
WISHLIST
TILE TYPES
A Forge map can contain many types of tiles, each
with unique gameplay implications.
Blank
Blank tiles are the default tiles in maps. They have no special characteristics.
Base
Each player’s base occupies one tile. Workers and commanders can be summoned adjacently.
Mineral
Mineral tiles can be occupied by workers to produce minerals at the start of every turn.
Wall
Wall tiles cannot be moved onto by units and obscure vision in line of sight.
Sensor
Sensors, while occupied by an allied unit, reveal all tiles on the map adjacent to a sensor.
Strife
Strife tiles inhibit health regeneration of occupying units at the start of turns.
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PHASES
Forge is a turn-based game, consisting of unique phases.
Players take turns attacking and defending. The
following phase descriptions are from the
attacking player’s perspective.
Start Phase
The Start phase is the only non-interactive phase. Three things happen in this phase:
  • All allied units are healed and unexhausted
  • Allied workers occupying a mineral tile collect minerals
  • You draw a card from your deck. If your deck is empty, your discard is first reshuffled into your deck.
Summon Phases
In the Summon phases, you can play both instant and non-instant cards. Your opponent can respond by playing only instant cards and abilities.
Move Phase
All allied units, even those summoned this turn, can be moved any number of tiles up to their movement range. Generally, movement can not cross Wall tiles.
Combat Phase
All nonexhausted allied units can attack adjacent tiles. The attacking player decides which unit attacks what tile. The defending player chooses in what order the attacks will play out. Defending units distribute their attack value in this order, always striking maximally for the attacking unit’s max health.
Rulebook
Dive in to the in-depth rulebook!
Below are all the rules, exactly as they are
implemented in the game.

  1. Each loadout consists of
    1. 1 Unit card designated to be the Commander
    2. 2 Unique workers (a primary and non-primary worker)
    3. 1 Base with 10 associated non worker cards
    4. 4 Forges each with 5 associated non worker cards
  2. A card which is designated as the commander may not be associated with the base or any forge
  3. A card may have a maximum of 3 occurances across all forges and the base

  1. Entities are objects present on the battlefield
    1. Each individual entity occupies an individual tile
  2. Entities provide vision with a radius of 5
  3. Entities have a maximum health value
    1. An entity's health cannot exceed its maximum health
    2. Entities can be dealt damage
      1. If the total damage dealt to an entity exceeds its maximum health it is removed from the battlefield
  4. If an entity is destroyed by an effect or action it is removed from the battlefield
  5. If an entity is sacrificed it is removed from the battlefield

  1. Units are a type of entity
  2. Units have an inherent movement distance of 4
  3. Units have a power value
  4. If the total damage dealt to a unit exceeds its maximum health it is removed from the battlefield and any card associated with it (sharing its instance id) is moved to the discard
  5. Playing a unit card requires targeting an unoccupied tile adjacent to a tower with an associated card with a matching naming ID
    1. The unit is placed on the battlefield directly after the card resolves
    2. The unit card is held with the unit as long as it is on the battlefield (it does not belong to any zone during this time)

  1. Towers are a type of entity
  2. Towers have associated cards which are added to the players deck when the tower is created
  3. Repairing a tower restores its current health by a certain amount
    1. If repairing a tower would result in its current health to exceed its max health, its current health is set to equal its max health

  1. Spell cards are moved directly from the stack to discard after resolving

  1. Equipments are cards which may be attached to valid units
    1. Each individual unit may be equiped with one individual equipment at a time
    2. You cannot target an equiped unit as a target for an equipment card
  2. If an equiped unit is removed from the battlefield it's equipment is put into the discard

  1. A base is a special tower entity
  2. Each player is given ownership and control of a base at the begining of the game
  3. Each base has 20 inherent max health
  4. Each base has an inherent ability to summon a commander
    1. This ability cannot be activated at instant speed
    2. This ability cannot be activated if the base's controller controls an entity with the same naming id as their commander
    3. This ability targets an unoccupied adjacent tile where the base's controller's commander will be placed upon ability resolution
    4. The cost of this ability is equal to the resource cost of its controller's commander
  5. Each base has an inherent ability to summon a primary worker
    1. This ability cannot be activated at instant speed
    2. This ability targets an unoccupied adjacent tile where the base's controller's primary worker will be placed upon ability resolution
    3. The cost of this ability is a number of generic resources equal to the number of workers the base's controller controls
  6. Each base has an inherent ability to summon a non-primary worker
    1. This ability cannot be activated at instant speed
    2. This ability targets an unoccupied adjacent tile where the base's controller's non-primary worker will be placed upon ability resolution
    3. The cost of this ability is a number of generic resources equal to the number of workers the base's controller controls
  7. Each base has 10 associated cards designated during the loadout creation phase
    1. These 10 cards are added to the base's controller's deck when the base is created (before the start of the game)
  8. When a base has 0 remaining health its owner loses the game

  1. A forge is a special tower entity
  2. Each forge has 10 inherent max health
  3. Each forge has 5 associated cards designated during the loadout creation phase
    1. These 5 cards are added to the forge's controller's deck when the forge is created
  4. When a forge has 0 remaining health that forge is destroyed
    1. When a forge is destroyed it is removed from the battlefield
    2. When a forge is destroyed the cards added uppon its creation are removed from its owner's deck, hand, discard, and lost
    3. If an entity would be removed from the battlefield and its card be put into any other zone after its forge's destruction, it is instead removed from the battlefield and its card is removed from the game

  1. A commander is a unit card designated during loadout creation
  2. Summoning a commander
    1. A commander must be summoned through the inherent base ability described in section [Base 4.]
  3. Removing a commander
    1. If a commander would be removed from the battlefield and put into any other zone (hand, deck, discard, lost) it is removed from the battlefield but not moved to said zone
    2. If a commander is removed from the battlefield its owner's base is dealt damage equal to its current health

  1. At the beginning of each of their controller's harvest phases each worker harvests resources in quantities described on the card
  2. Removing a worker
    1. If a worker would be removed from the battlefield and put into any other zone (hand, deck, discard, lost) it is removed from the battlefield but not moved to said zone

  1. Each player has a deck of cards
    1. Players cannot view the contents of their deck
    2. Players must maintain the order of the deck's contents
  2. Drawing
    1. A player who is instructed to draw a card, takes the top card of their deck and puts it into their hand
      1. If there are no cards in the deck the drawing player shuffles their discard into their deck and, if this results in the deck containing cards, draws
    2. At the start of each turn's draw phase, the turn player draws a card
  3. Shuffling
    1. If a player's deck is to be shuffled, the contents of that player's deck are randomly reordered
  4. Contents of the deck
    1. At the beginning of the game each player's deck contains the cards associated with their base [Base 7.1]
    2. Whenever a Forge is built, its controller adds its associated cards to their deck [Forge 3.1]
    3. Whenever a Forge is destroyed, its controller removes any cards associated to that forge from their deck [Forge 4.2]

  1. Each player has a hand of cards
    1. Players can view their contents of their hand
    2. Players cannot view the contents of their opponent's hand
    3. The chronology of cards in a players hand is maintained
      1. The oldest card in a player's hand is the card in their hand whose most recent introduction to their hand occured before the most recent introduction of all other cards currently in their hand
      2. The newest card in a player's hand is the card in their hand whose most recent introduction to their hand occured after the most recent introduction of all other cards currently in their hand
  2. Hand size
    1. A player can have no more than 8 cards in their hand at a time
      1. If a player is instructed to add a number of cards which would lead to their hand containing more than 8 cards, either through drawing or any other method, a number of oldest cards in their hand are discarded such that they will have exaclty 8 cards in their hand after drawing
  3. At the beginning of the game each player draws 4 cards (see [Deck 2.] for rules on Drawing)
  4. Whenever a Forge is destroyed, its controller removes any cards associated to that forge from their hand [Foge 4.2]
  5. When a card is discarded from a players hand it is moved directly from the hand to the discard

  1. Cards in hand may be played if the conditions for their playing are met
  2. Conditions
    1. Timing conditions
      1. To be able to play a card it must be your turn, your priority, it must be a summoning phase, and there must be no cards on the stack
    2. Targets
      1. To be able to play a card you must be able to select, and must select, valid targets for each target mentioned in the card's text
      2. All unit cards require targeting a tile adjacent to a tower that is associated with a copy of that card
      3. All equipment cards require targeting an entity who currently does not have an equipment and should recieve this equipment
    3. Resource costs
      1. To be able to play a card you must be able to pay its resource requirement
    4. Other costs
      1. To be able to play a card you must be able to pay any other costs, such as discarding a card
  3. When a card is played it is removed from the hand and moved onto the stack

  1. There is one stack in each game shared between all players
  2. When a card is played or an ability is activated it is moved onto the stack
  3. Visibility
    1. Unless all targets of a card on the stack are out of a player's vision, that player can see that card on the stack, otherwise they see a hidden card placeholder
    2. Unless the activating entity and all targets of an ability on the stack are out of a player's vision, that player can see that ability on the stack, otherwise they see a hidden card placeholder
    3. Players can see the targets that are within their vision of visible cards and abilities on the stack
  4. Resolution
    1. The stack is resolved when all opponents of the player who most recently added an action to the stack decide to advance to its resolution
    2. When the stack resolves actions on the stack resolve in sequence starting with the most recently added
      1. When an action on the stack resolves its card specific instructions are followed
      2. Spells are implicitly moved to the discard pile upon resolution
      3. Units are implicitly created on the battlefield upon resolution
      4. Equipments are implicitly equiped to a unit on the battlefield upon resolution
  5. Counter
    1. If a card on the stack is countered it will have no effect and will be moved to discard on resolution
    2. If an ability on the stack is countered it will have no effect on resolution
    3. If a card or ability counters a hidden card or ability the underlying card or ability is countered

  1. Each player has a discard zone
    1. All players can view the contents of each discard zone
    2. The order of the contents in a discard zone is maintained
  2. When a card is lost it is moved to the lost zone
  3. When a unit is lost its card is lost

  1. Each player has a discard zone
    1. All players can view the contents of each discard zone
    2. The order of the contents in a discard zone is maintained
  2. When a card is lost it is moved to the lost zone
  3. When a unit is lost its card is lost

  1. Upkeep
    1. At the start of the Upkeep all resources of the turn player are depleted
    2. At the start of the Upkeep all units recover
      1. A recovering unit has its curent health set to its max health
    3. At the start of the Upkeep all units the turn player controls are no longer exhausted
    4. The Upkeep phase is followed by the Harvest phase
  2. Harvest
    1. At the start of the Harvest phase all workers on mineral tiles collect minerals
    2. The Harvest phase is followed by the Draw phase
  3. Draw
    1. At the start of the Draw phase the turn player draws a card
    2. The Draw phase is followed by the Summon 1 phase
  4. Summon
    1. At the start of the Summon phase the turn player is given priority
    2. During the Summon phase players may activate abilities and play cards as apropriate
    3. When a player activates an ability or plays a card priority is passed to their opponent
    4. When a stack is resolved the turn player gains priority
    5. When the turn player declares they would like to advance
      1. The opponent may agree to advance phase, in which case the phase is advanced
    6. The Summon 1 Phase is followed by the Move phase
    7. The Summon 2 Phase is followed by the End phase
  5. Move
    1. At the start of the Move phase the turn player declares which units they would like to move and where they would like them to move to
    2. At the end of the Move phase, these movement declarations are carried out in order as possible
    3. If a Move order causes a unit to collide with another entity or wall then their movement is stopped and they gain vision of what stopped them
    4. The Move Phase is followed by the Combat Declaration Phase
  6. Combat Declaration
    1. At the start of the Combat Declaration phase the turn player declares which units they would like to have attack and what tile they would like to attack
      1. Units can only attack visible tiles for attack
      2. Units can only attack adjacent tiles
    2. At the end of the Combat Declaration phase, if there are multiple units delcaring combat on the same tile and an opposing player controls a unit on that tile, that player player may declare which order those units will attack
    3. The Combat Declaration Phase is followed by the Combat Resolution phase
  7. Combat Resolution
    1. At the start of the Combat Resolution phase the turn player is given priority
    2. When a player activates an ability or plays a card priority is passed to their opponent
    3. When the turn player declares they would like to advance priority is given to their opponent
      1. The opponent may agree to advance, in which case combat resolves
        1. When combat resolves each unit deals damage equal to its power to any entity on the tile it is attacking, the attacking entity also takes damage from any entity on the tile it is attacking equal to that entities power.
    4. The Combat Resolution Phase is followed by the Summon 2
  8. End
    1. At the start of the End phase all Fleeting effects are removed
    2. The End Phase is followed by the Upkeep phase on the next players turn

  1. Each match is played on a map selected before the start of the match
  2. Maps are constructed of hexagonal tiles arranged in a grid
    1. Each tile can be occupied by up to one entity at any time
  3. Each map has a designated position for each player's base which is known to all players
  4. Information on the tiles of the map is hidden to a player unless the tile is in vision of an entity that player controls

  1. Blank
    1. A blank tile may be occupied by an entity
  2. Mineral
    1. A mineral tile may be occupied by an entity
  3. Grass
    1. A grass tile may be occupied by an entity
    2. If a grass tile is occupied by an entity it recursively gives vision of adjacent grass tiles to that entity's controller
  4. Sensor
    1. A sensor tile may be occupied by an entity
    2. If a sensor tile is occupied by an entity that entities controller gains vision of all sensor tiles and all tiles adjacent to sensor tiles
  5. Wall
    1. A wall tile may not be occupied by an entity
    2. A unit cannot move over wall tiles
    3. A unit cannot see past wall tiles
  6. Strife
    1. A strife tile may be occupied by an entity
    2. A unit on a strife tile does not recover its health at the start of each turn
  7. Base
    1. A base tile may only be occupied by a base entity
    2. At the start of each game a base is created on each base tile

  1. Each player gains resources at the start of the harvest phase on their turn based on the workers they control occupying mineral tiles
  2. There are 6 different types of resources
    1. Frexine (purple) denoted by "F"
    2. Ornite (blue) denoted by "O"
    3. Rudine (red) denoted by "R"
    4. Grite (green) denoted by "G"
    5. Equint (yellow) denoted by "E"
    6. Generic (colorless) denoted by "C"
  3. Resource costs
    1. Resource costs of cards are shown in by amount of each type
    2. Resource costs of abilities are shown by a number indicating the amount of generic resources needed and a sequence of letters indicating each non-generic resource required
    3. Paying resource costs
      1. Generic resource costs may be payed using a number of resources equal to the generic resource cost
      2. Non-Generic resource costs must be payed using that many resources of that type of resource
    4. CMC
      1. A card's CMC is its Cumulative Mineral Cost, an amount equal to the sum of the ammounts of each resource needed to play that card

  1. Card Keywords
    1. Instant
      1. Instant cards can be played at any time a non-instant card can be played
      2. An instant card can be played on any player's turn during either summoning phase or the combat resoultion phase when the player playing the card has priority
    2. Unstable
      1. If a spell card with unstable would be put into discard after resolving, it instead is lost
      2. If a non-spell card with unstable would leave the battlefield it is instead lost
  2. Entity Keywords
    1. Adapt
      1. A unit with adapt gains a mentioned effect as long as it is on a non-basic tile.
    2. Brilliance
      1. A unit with brilliance has an activated ability which may only be used once per existence
    3. Defender
      1. A unit with defender cannot attack
    4. Entry
      1. A unit with entry has an effect that triggers when it enters the battlefield
    5. Haste
      1. A unit with haste can move one additional tile during the movement phase
    6. Indestructible
      1. A unit with indestructible cannot be destroyed
      2. If a unit with indestructible has its max health reduced below 1 it is removed from the battlefield and moved to its owner's discard
    7. Lethal
      1. If a unit with lethal deals damage to another unit, that unit is destroyed
    8. Memento
      1. A unit with entry has an effect that triggers when it is moved from the battlefield to discard
    9. Quick Strike
      1. During combat resolution, a unit with quick strike deals combat damage before its opponent
        1. If both units have quick strike their combat is treated as if neither has quick strike
      10. Revealed
      1. If a unit with revealed is on the battlefield, all players gain vision of the tile it is occupying
    11. Siphon
      1. If a unit with with siphon deals damage to another entity, the siphon unit's controller's base is repaired by that amount
    12. Sloth
      1. A unit with haste can move one fewer tile during the movement phase
    13. Spellbound
      1. A unit with spellbound has an effect that triggers when its controller casts a spell
    14. Splash
      1. If a unit with splash declares attack, it deals damage equal to its splash value to entities on tiles adjacent to its attack target during combat resolution
    15. Taunt
      1. If a unit with taunt is adjacent to an opposing unit, that opposing unit can only declare attacks on tiles occupied by a unit with taunt
    16. Unimpeeded
      1. A unit with haste can move through wall tiles during the movement phase
    17. Unity
      1. A unit with unity gains a mentioned effect as long as it is adjacent to another unit with the same controller
    18. Untargetable
      1. A unit with untargetable cannot be the target of a card or ability
    19. Worker
      1. If a unit with worker is on a mineral tile, it harvests minerals in a mentioned ammount at the start of its controllers harvest phase

  1. Each effect lists a duration indicating when it should be removed
    1. Fleeting
      1. A fleeting effect is removed at the end of the turn
    2. Lasting
      1. A lasting effect is removed when the effected moves to a different zone
    3. Eternal
      1. An Eternal effect is removed only when an action dictates its removal

  1. A game ends when a player wins the game
  2. A player wins a game when all of their opponents have lost the game
  3. A player loses the game when they forefit or when their base has less than 1 health

  1. Exhausted
    1. A unit becomes exhausted when it declares an attack
    2. A unit which is exhausted cannot declare an attack
  2. Trade blows
    1. If units trade blows they deal damage to eachother equal to their power
  3. X/Y
    1. X/Y is a notation used as a shorthand to indicate power and health values.
      1. X indicates power or a power modifier
      2. Y indicates health or a health modifier
  4. Token
    1. A token is a unit on the battlefield which has no card associated with it on the battlefield
    2. When a token is to leave the battlefield they instead are removed from the game
  5. Zone
    1. Zones are the different places a card can exist
    2. The following is a list of all valid zones: Deck, Hand, Stack, Discard, Lost, Battlefield
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