How battles work

A battle is a little card game played one round at a time. Build your hand, read your rival and line up the right cards in the right order.

Where battles happen

• Wild Brissies. Walk close to one on the map to fight it and get a chance to catch it.
• Training yards. Practise or take on a ranked opponent.
• Beacons. Beat a beacon's defender to claim it.
• Duels. Challenge another explorer nearby.

Build your round

1. Draw a hand. Start with four cards. Draw two more each later round, up to six in your hand.
2. Read the intent. Against a wild Brissie or another game opponent, you can see its planned card shapes and projected damage. In a duel, both plans stay hidden until they are locked in.
3. Line up your cards. Play up to three fight cards in order, plus tactic cards, with a limit of five cards total. You can hold a fight slot empty so your next card lands in a later slot, or play nothing and bank your energy.
4. Watch the clash. Tactics happen first. Then the fight cards in slots one, two and three meet, with both sides acting at once in each slot.

You have 25 seconds to plan. If time runs out, the game plays the cards you have lined up, or your free move if your plan is empty.

Quick, Heavy and Ward

Each fight card has a shape. Put the right one opposite your rival's card:

• Quick beats Heavy.
• Heavy beats Ward and breaks through its block.
• Ward beats Quick, blocks that hit and reflects some damage.

In a normal counter, the winning card deals 150% damage and the losing card deals 50%. Matching shapes trade evenly. A card facing an empty slot lands an open hit at normal power. Ward also blocks damage in the slot where you play it.

Elements

Every Brissie belongs to one of 10 elements, and each move has an element. A strong match hits for 115%, a resisted match for 85%, and a neutral or matching element for 100%.

The field guide lists every Brissie by element.

Energy and the free move

You start with 3 energy and gain 3 at the start of each round. Unspent energy carries over, up to 6. Paid fight cards cost 1 to 3 energy; tactic cards have their own costs. Your Brissie's cost-free move is always available once per round. Playing it gives you one extra energy next round.

Tactic cards

Tactics change a round without using a fight slot. Focus makes Heavy cards hit harder; Brace adds block; Swift Step gives energy; Mend restores health. Other tactics can draw cards, weaken your rival or set up a stronger combo. Everyone starts with Focus and Brace. Winning battles can earn more tactic cards, and duplicate cards make a tactic stronger.

Winning a battle

Every fighter has 120 health. A fighter at zero loses; if both reach zero together, the fight is a draw. After 12 rounds, the fighter with more health wins, unless the difference is within 10 health. Your Brissie's level raises its damage and upgrades its fight cards as it grows.

Catching wild Brissies

When a wild Brissie is weak enough, you can capture it. Its health persists in the world, so another explorer may have already fought it. A wild Brissie will not wait around forever.

Training and duels

Training yards let you practise safely or enter a ranked fight with resolve at stake. In a duel, challenge a nearby explorer and build your plan in secret. Both phones reveal and resolve each round together.

These are the rules of the current test version of Brismania. Numbers may be rebalanced before and after release.