NOCAUT!
NOCAUT! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Nocaut! puts you in the shoes of a wrestler on the ring during a full tournament. It is a game for 1 to 6 players, in games of about 20 minutes.
Contents
- 20 wrestler cards
- 6 summary cards
- 49 attack cards
- 9 equipment cards
- 7 object cards
- 9 event cards
- 6 intervention cards
Objective of the Game
The objective is to reduce the life points of the other players to zero. The number of life points each player starts with depends on the number of players and the game mode:
Classic and Exhibition game modes
- 2 players: 50 points
- 3 players: 40 points
- 4 players: 30 points
- 5 or 6 players: 20 points
Wrestler Classes
Each player has a wrestler drawn at random from the wrestler deck. Players may have a maximum of 2 wrestlers in their team, which are used to determine the combos they can use.
There are four wrestler classes:
- Professional
- Acrobat
- Heavyweight
- Street Brawler (Callejero)
Each class specialises in one type of combo, which is detailed on the combo card.
Combo Card
The combo card (Carta de combos) lists every combo. The card is organised in areas:
- Basic combos (top): combos that all wrestlers can perform.
- Class combos (one area per class: Professional, Acrobat, Heavyweight, Street Brawler): combos exclusive to wrestlers of that class.
The basic combos on the card are:
- Catapult (Catapulta, damage 2)
- Hammer Blow (Golpe martillo, damage 2)
- Low Kick (Patada baja, damage 2)
- Throw (Lanzamiento, damage marked with a "?")
The class combos on the card are:
- Professional: Dragon Punch (Puño dragón, damage marked with a "?") and Wombo Combo (Wombo combo, damage 3).
- Acrobat: Aerial Kick (Patada aérea, damage 3) and Bomb Jump (Salto bomba, damage marked with a "?").
- Heavyweight: Great Charge (Gran embestida, damage 3) and Against the Ropes (Contra las cuerdas, damage marked with a "?").
- Street Brawler (Callejero): From Behind (Por la espalda, damage marked with a "?") and Treacherous Attack (Ataque a traición, damage marked with a "?").
The icons (attack cards) required for each combo are printed on the card itself. A "?" in the damage marker means the damage depends on the object used for the combo (see the Object Cards section below).
Definitive Combo and Passive Ability
Each wrestler can perform a definitive combo and has a passive ability, both shown on the wrestler card. On the lower part of the card, the damage caused by the combo is shown, together with the attack cards needed to combine to perform it.
Finally, the passive ability is shown. This ability is an advantage of the wrestler, which is always active during the game.
The example in the manual is the wrestler card Dios nórdico (Norse God), whose definitive combo is Golpe del trueno (Thunder Blow). Its card text reads: "When using Thunder Blow, the target player discards their whole hand and draws 5 cards."
Attacking
Your attacks are made by discarding cards from your hand. These cards must form combos, combinations of attacks in sequence that require the use of several attack cards.
Gather the necessary cards and choose a rival, who will lose the life points indicated on the card for your combination.
When you finish, discard the cards used and place them in the discard pile.
Preparation
Give each player one summary card (carta de resumen de combos). Then separate the cards into 2 decks, one with the orange back, with all the wrestlers, and another with the blue back, with the rest of the game cards. Each player draws a wrestler blindly from the orange deck and places it face up in their play area.
Then each player draws 7 cards from the blue deck. These cards are kept in the hand and may not be seen by other players.
The player with the biggest biceps starts, and play continues clockwise.
Turn Structure
On your turn, you should try to create as many combos as your hand allows, using the attack cards you have in hand. You may also use as many event, object, intervention and equipment cards as you wish. However, it is not always necessary to use all your cards; you may prefer to keep some for use in your next turn.
At the end of your turn, you may discard up to 2 cards from your hand and then draw until you have 7 again.
Equipment Cards
Equipment cards are violet and serve to improve your wrestler.
Place an equipment card next to your wrestler to gain its advantages.
Each wrestler may have only one equipped card. If your character already has one, discard it and equip a new one.
Tip: In the same turn you may equip yourself with one equipment card, discard it, and then equip another one, in order to get rid of cards you do not want.
Object Cards
Objects are essential in Nocaut!
To perform some combos you will need to make your attacks with an object. Also, some wrestlers benefit more from certain objects.
For example, you will need an object to perform the "Throw" (Lanzamiento) and "Treacherous Attack" (Ataque a traición) combos.
The damage of these combos is indicated on the combo card with a question mark, because it depends on the object you have used.
Example: If we use "Throw" with a bottle, we cause 3 points of damage. But if we use "Treacherous Attack" with the bottle, we cause 7 points of damage.
Event Cards
Event cards are blue and may only be used during your turn. These cards have a certain effect in the game when played, for example swapping a wrestler, injuring a rival wrestler, or even getting a new wrestler.
Intervention Cards
Intervention cards are pink and may be played at any moment of the game, including outside your turn.
Discard Pile
It is important to keep the cards on the table well organised. We recommend creating two separate discard piles: one orange (for wrestlers) and another blue with the rest of the game cards.
If the cards run out, shuffle the discard piles and add them back into the game.
Game Mode: Tag Team
So far we have seen how to play Nocaut! in its Classic mode.
The objective in this mode is the same, but you play in pairs and share your life point counter.
At the end of your turn, and before discarding and drawing, you may exchange one card with your partner.
Tag Team player count and starting life points
- 2 teams: 40 points
- 3 teams: 30 points
Game Mode: Exhibition
There is also a game mode for the friendlier players. In Exhibition, the objective is not to damage your rivals, but to perform combos to score points.
The objective is to reach a determined score, which depends on the number of players, the same as in the Classic mode. The game ends at the moment one of the players reaches the victory score indicated in the table (see "Objective of the Game").
To do this, the damage of the combos is replaced by exhibition points. In this mode, the wrestlers do not use their passive abilities.
Game Mode: Solitaire
To play this mode, we must remove the "mono" (monkey) and "trío trilero" (shell-game trio) cards from the game. We choose a wrestler at random to compete against, place it in front of us, and determine the difficulty level:
- Apprentice (Aprendiz): 2 damage points
- Professional (Profesional): 4 damage points
- World Champion (Campeón mundial): 6 damage points
Both sides start with 50 life points.
We now play our turn normally and try to deal as much damage as possible to our opponent. When the rival's turn comes, we place a counter on their wrestler card and subtract from our life counter the amount of damage determined by the difficulty level.
The rival wrestler may have as many counters on its card as the attack symbols indicated by its definitive combo. When the counters reach the maximum, we remove them and receive the damage of the last counter plus the damage of its definitive combo (our rivals do not apply their passive ability).
Example: We are playing at professional difficulty and Violeta (the rival wrestler; the draft prints the name in lowercase, "violeta") begins its third turn. We place a last counter on the card. We receive 4 damage points plus 7 from its definitive combo, and we remove all the counters from the card.
When a wrestler is discarded, it loses all its counters and a new wrestler is drawn at random. If the rival wrestler manages to perform its definitive combo, we add its second wrestler in front of us, so we will receive double the damage each turn.
Let's Play!
Closing banner of the rulebook: ¡A JUGAR!