Universal Card Game Rules

 This is a little different from my usual stuff but I had the idea that it would be fun to be able to play a card game with whatever cards you want. These rules require a little charity, because I think if you played it super seriously, it would probably break. However, the shift on Turn 4 from making up tags to using only those that you've made introduces a real element of strategy. You can't keep sabotaging your opponent's every card or you're losing out on the opportunity to make Tags that could be useful for the next phase. I have played some test games with these rules over Discord and it was really fun! I hope you enjoy.

Universal Card Game Rules

- Both players compose decks of 30 cards from any games they like

- Each player draws 3 cards. 

- Flip a coin to see who goes first 

- First player does not draw and plays

- Second player draws one card and plays. Both players draw one card at the beginning of their turn after the first turn. 

- When you play a card, you give the card two Tags and define one. 

- Your opponent then defines the other Tag. 

- If you use an already defined Tag for one of your Tags, you may define the second Tag.

- This proceeds until Turn 4 ends. On Turn 5, each player can only use Tags already created.

- Each card on your Board gives you a Victory Point at the end of the game.

- Victory Points are only ever awarded at the end of the game. 

- The game ends on Turn 8, after both players have played 8 cards. 

- The player with the most Victory Points wins.

Rules for Tags:

- Tags cannot automatically win or lose a player the game. 

- Tags cannot automatically create more than one Victory Point at a time without some justification. For example: Requiring multiple cards of a similar type, creating tokens over time, ect.

- Tags cannot destroy more than one card at a time 

- The wording of Tags cannot be changed by future Tags, but future Tags can build off previous ones.

- Tags can reference any element of the card, including art, name, numbers, ect. so long as they don't mandate all cards in the game have said element to interact with this Tag. For example, not every card has an Attack stat, so it might be better to reference the highest number on the card rather than a game specific stat.

For Example:

Turn 1, I go first and play:

I give this card the Tags: Realistic and Developer.

I'll define Developer: Each time a new Tag is created, this card gains another Victory Point at the end of the game.

Then my opponent gets to define Realistic.

Realistic: Realism requires conformity. There must be at least two cards with the Realistic tag in play or this card produces no Victory Points at the end of game. 

My opponent then plays:

They give Caleb Cook and Homie. 

They define Cook: Each Turn, this card creates a Homemade Mac N Cheese card on the controlling player's board. These cards each grant 1 Victory Point at the end of the game as per normal.

Then I define Homie: Your opponent may immediately replace this Tag with one that already has been defined.

I immediately replace Homie with Realistic.

So you see the back and forth? That's how it goes until Turn 5. After Turn 5, the player playing a card would select two already defined Tags for the card. You basically collaborate on creating the game rules in the first half of the game, then really try to win in the second half.