Challengers!

Will your dream team succeed? Helped by your Bard, your Kraken just captured the flag! You’re now waiting for your opponent’s attack ready to fight back with your Necromancer and your Rubber Duck! From outer space aliens to deep-sea creatures, improbable allies working toward a common goal:

WIN THE WORLD’S GREATEST CAPTURE THE FLAG TOURNAMENT!

Contents

• 8 Starter Decks (6x Cards Each)
• 1 Robot Deck (19x Cards)
• 1 Basic City Set (20x Cards)
• 6 Additional Sets (40x Cards Each): Castle, Film Studio, Funfair, Haunted House, Outer Space, Shipwreck
• 9 Tournament Plans
• 4 Flags
• 40 Fans
• 28 Trophies
• 4 Parks
• 3 Card Trays

Setup Steps

1. Parks: Take the parks according to your player count and place them on the table.
2. Tournament Plans: Give a Tournament Plan to each player according to the number of players. Then, each player sits at the park half which icon and background color is depicted in the first line of their Tournament Plan. (The player count is highlighted in white in the upper right corner of each Tournament Plan.)
3. Flags: Place the flag of the matching color in the middle of each park.
4. Trophies: Sort all Trophies according to their round number into piles. Then shuffle each of those piles separately. For each park, create a face down stack of Trophies by drawing one from each pile and by stacking them in descending order (7 at the bottom, and 1 on top). Place a stack on the Trophy icon of each park.
5. Fans: Form a general supply with the fans .
6. Card Trays: Place the 3 card trays (A, B, C) at a spot that is easy to reach. Note: Each card tray has a discard compartment and a Level-Pile compartment.
7. Card Decks: Take all the cards of the Basic City Set (This Set is needed in every game). Select 5 of the 6 additional Sets and put the remaining one back into the box. Then, separate all cards of each Set by Level (A, B and C). Shuffle all Level-A cards together and place them as the Level-A-Pile, face down, in the corresponding card tray. Repeat these steps with the cards of Level B and Level C.
   Note: We suggest to not play with the Outer Space Set in your first game.
8. Starter Decks: Each player takes the 6 cards of the Starter Deck matching the icon of their Tournament Plan.
9. Exhaust Pile: Each player leaves a free space at the right of their deck for their exhaust pile.

When playing with an odd player count the Robot Deck is used (see details on p. 4).

Goal of the Game

• First: Qualify yourself for the final by being one of the two players with the most fans at the end of the 7th match.
• Then: Win the final!

Gameplay Overview (3 to 8 Players)

(see additional rules for 2 players and solo mode on p. 4)

Players are participating in a 7-round tournament. Each round starts with the Deck Phase and is followed by the Match Phase. During the Deck Phase, players improve their deck by selecting new cards. During the Match Phase, each player plays against one opponent. After the 7th round, the two players with the most fans are facing each other in the final.

Deck Phase Summary (Independent)

1. Move to another park (if necessary).
2. Draw and pick cards.
3. Remove cards from your deck (optional).

Match Phase Summary (With an Opponent)

1. Shuffle your deck and determine who begins.
2. Attack until one of your cards is in flag possession.
3. If you win, take the top-most Trophy.

Each player handles their Deck Phase independently from the other players and in their own time.

A. Move to another park if necessary

Check your Tournament Plan in which park half you are playing this round. If necessary, change your seat. Take your Tournament Plan, deck, won fans and Trophies with you.

B. Draw and pick cards

Draw 5 cards from the available Level Pile of the current round.

The letter A, B or C shows the available Level Pile. The amount of card icons shows how many cards you can pick and add to your deck.

• A: Pick 2 cards from Level-A-Pile.
• B / C: Pick 2 cards from Level-B-Pile or pick 1 card from Level-C-Pile.

Discard the cards you did not pick in the discard compartment of the corresponding card tray. When no additional card fits in the compartment, shuffle all cards in it and place them at the bottom of the corresponding Level Pile.

Once per Deck Phase you may discard the cards drawn this round and draw that number of new cards from the same Level Pile. If you are allowed to pick 2 cards you may discard and draw new cards before or after you picked your first card.

C. Remove cards from your deck (optional)

At the end of the Deck Phase you may remove any number of cards from your deck. Put each removed card in the discard compartment of the corresponding card tray (Level A, B or C). If you remove Starter Deck cards (S), put them back into the box.

You play the Match Phase with your opponent, independently of the other players.

A. Shuffle your deck and start

Shuffle your deck and place it face down next to your Tournament Plan.

IMPORTANT: During the Match Phase you must not look at your cards or rearrange their order except if an effect allows you to do so.

Determine who begins with a flag toss. That player reveals the top card of their deck, puts it into their park half and places the flag on their card. This card is now in flag possession.

From round 2 onward, the player who has the Trophy with the higher round number begins. If there is a tie, toss the flag.

B. Attack until one of your cards is in flag possession

When the card of your opponent is in flag possession you are on the attack.

During your attack reveal cards one after the other until their total power is equal to or greater than the total power of the card in flag possession. Compare the total power after each revealed card.

If you have to reveal more than 1 card, add up the base power and power bonuses of all revealed cards.

As soon as the total power of your card(s) is equal to or higher than the total power of the card of your opponent, take the flag and place it on your latest revealed card. You must not reveal more cards than needed to get in flag possession.

Your latest revealed card is now in flag possession. Slide all other cards that you may have revealed during your attack underneath your card in flag possession.

Your opponent has to put the card that has just lost the flag and all cards slided underneath it face up on seats of their bench. Put all cards with the same name on 1 seat. (The 6 seats of the bench are located on your right.)

Your opponent is on the attack now. Continue to play until a player wins the match.

There are 2 ways to win:

1. Your opponent is on the attack but cannot get enough total power to get in flag possession.
2. Your opponent must put one or more cards on their bench but does not have enough empty seats available.

C. If you win, take the top-most Trophy

If you win the match, take the Trophy of the current round from your park and place it next to your Tournament Plan.

The back of a Trophy shows how many fans it is worth. Keep it hidden from other players. The amount of fans on the Trophies increases in later rounds.

At the end of a match, collect all cards that are part of your deck: from your bench, your park half, your exhaust pile and your unplayed cards.

After rounds 1 to 6 continue with the Deck Phase of the next round.

Overview of a Card

• Base power: Indicated in upper corners of each card. In Level A cards have a base power up to 3, Level B up to 5 and Level C up to 10.
• Set icon: Located below the power.
• Card Name: Centered at the top.
• Effects: Many cards have effects and some of those effects give a power bonus (see effects section on p. 4).
• Rarity: Most of the cards are in 4 copies. Rare is used if there are 3 or less copies. Common is used if there are 5 or more copies.
• Level: The letter in the bottom right shows the Level of the card.

Card Effects

When you reveal a card without keywords, you must immediately resolve the effect of the card as much as possible.

Important: If a card gets an immediate power bonus, that card keeps it even in flag possession.

When you reveal a card with bold keywords, these indicate when their effect applies or will be resolved:

• During the attack: Their effect only applies to the attack in which you reveal them. The effect is no longer active when one of your cards is in flag possession.
• From the bench: Their effect applies as soon as this card is on the bench and is active as long as it remains on the bench. The power bonuses of multiple cards with the same name add up.
• In flag possession: Their effect applies as soon as the flag is placed on this card and is active as long as the flag remains on it.
• Flag loss: Their effect is resolved when the flag is taken away from this card. Therefore this card must have been in flag possession beforehand. Flag loss effects are resolved prior to effects that apply when a card gets in flag possession.
• When picked (only in Outer Space Set ): Their effect is resolved once only in the Deck Phase in which you pick this card.

If the first revealed card that begins a match has an effect, do not forget to resolve it.

If an effect lets you take fans , take them from the general supply and place them next to your Tournament Plan.

With some effects you can put cards on your exhaust pile. There is no limit to the number of cards in your exhaust pile. Put all cards on the exhaust pile face up, so you do not mix them up with the cards of your deck.

Tournament Final

After round 7 every player adds up the fans depicted on their collected fans and on the back of their Trophies. The players with the most and second most fans are facing each other in the final.

Break ties in favor of the tied player who won more Trophies. If there is still a tie it is broken in favor of the player who has the single Trophy with the highest round number.

Before the final starts, you do not draw and pick new cards, but you may remove cards from your deck as in the Deck Phase.

Determine who begins as usual.

The player who wins the final is the winner of Challengers!

The Robot (Odd Player Counts)

If you play with an odd number of players, the Robot substitutes for a missing player.

Place a Tournament Plan that corresponds to your player count next to the park half indicated in the first line of the Tournament Plan. If all players agree, it is recommended to use the Tournament Plan that only shows the icon for the Robot.

The Robot start cards (S) form the Robot’s Deck. Place it next to its Tournament Plan.

The Robot does nothing in the Deck Phase.

At the start of the Match Phase, shuffle the Robot’s Deck. Play according to the rules of the Match Phase by revealing cards for the Robot when it is on the attack.

If the Robot wins the match, place the Trophy of the current round back into the box.

After the match, take all cards of the Robot’s Deck and its Tournament Plan. Place them in the park half it is playing next according to the Robot’s Tournament Plan.

Robot Difficulty Levels

For Level 1 the Robot’s Deck only consists of the Robot start cards (S). If you want to play with a higher difficulty level, during setup, shuffle the R cards and:

• Level 2: Replace the Alpha-card with a random R-card.
• Level 3: As Level 2 and additionally replace the Beta-card with a random R-card.

2-Player Game

There are two changes to the game end:

1. You do not play a final. Instead, the player with the most fans after the 7th round wins.
2. You win the game immediately if you have at least 11 fans more than your opponent at the end of a Match Phase. Keep your fans and won Trophies face up, so you can always see the number of fans each player has.

Solo Mode

You play alone against the Robot. The rules of the 2-Player game apply, as described above. In contrast to the multiplayer game, the Robot collects the Trophies it has won and can also win the game immediately if it has at least 11 fans more than you.

Follow the Setup with Robot as described above. If you want a special challenge include the SOLO cards to the other Robot cards (R) before randomly adding 1-5 of them.

Solo Mode Difficulty Levels

If you want a real challenge, you can try even higher difficulty levels in the solo mode:

• Level 4: As Level 3 and additionally replace the Good Bot-card with a random R-card.
• Level 5: As Level 4 and additionally replace the C.H.A.M.P-card with two random R-cards.

Designers: Johannes Krenner & Markus Slawitscheck
Producer: Sophie Gravel
Game Editors: Martin Bouchard, Roman Rybiczka & Julian Steindorfer
Illustrator: Jeff Harvey
Graphic Design: Bree Lindsoe
Consultant Cultural Sensitivity: Calvin Wong Tze Loon

Z-Man Games is committed to diverse representation and accessible gaming for all. If you have any concerns or suggestions, please contact us through our website.
© 2022 Z-Man Games. Z-Man Games is a ® of Z-Man Games. Gamegenic and the Gamegenic logo are TM & © Gamegenic GmbH, Germany. © 2022 – 1 More Time Games OG. Agency: White Castle Games.