Shift: The Single Card CCG Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• How to Win
• What You'll Need to Play
  • Optional Gear
• Understanding Your Card
  • Modifier Types
  • Mod Icon Key
• Setup
• Turn Order
  • Start Phase
  • Shift Phase
    • Spirit Shifting
  • Attack Phase
  • End Phase
• Attack Subphases
  • 1) Attack Declaration
  • 2) Defense Declaration
    • Types of Guarding
  • 3) Mod Activation
    • Activating Modifiers
  • 4) Mod Resolution
  • 5) Damage Resolution
  • 6) Downshift:
  • 7) Critical Resolution
    • Criticals
• Your Damage Zone and Spirit
• Glossary
  • Tips

How to Win

Both players have five spirit tokens. Each time you damage your opponent, they'll move one spirit token from their token stack to their damage zone.

If you damage your opponent while they have five spirit tokens in their damage zone, you win!

What You'll Need to Play

1 Card: Your card represents a being who is a part of the Shift, a cosmic event that has given a chosen few incredible powers. You'll be doing battle with this card, so take some time to become familiar with it.

5 Spirit Tokens: Pennies. When you take damage, you also get spirit. Spirit can be burnt to do the impossible! When playing with pennies, heads are lit, and tails are burnt. When playing with tokens, the white side is lit, and black is burnt.

1 Coin: Quarter. In order to activate many of your abilities, you'll have to flip coins! Not only do these flips decide the results of an attack, sometimes they can give you even greater abilities called criticals! We recommend a quarter.

6 sided die: If coin flipping is too difficult, you can buy an official Shift H/T die from our website at http://laboratory.vg/shift/ or use a regular die where 1-3 is heads, and 4-6 is tails.

Playmat: If you're new to Shift, we recommend going to http://laboratory.vg/shift/playmat and printing out a Shift Playmat! This mat has handy information like your 'turn order' and definitions of the symbols on your card.

Optional Gear

Card Sleeves: Card sleeves are plastic cases that can prevent your card from being scratched or bent. If you're keeping your Shift cards with you, it might be a good idea to sleeve them!

Smartphone App: If you have a smartphone, go to the Shift website at http://laboratory.vg/shift and download the app! It has a life tracker, a card store, and you can even read these rules on it!

Understanding Your Card

The card has seven numbered parts:

1. Character Name: This is the name of the character this card represents!

2. Ability: An ability's text is constantly true, regardless of the gear you are in. Each card has a different ability. Some abilities are triggered by events if they use words like "if," and "when."

3. Gear Level: This number is the relative power of the Gear. You start the game in Gear 1. There are two Gear 2's, and opposite of Gear 1 is Gear 3. A higher Gear Level usually indicates it has more powerful modifiers and better attack and guard values.

4. Gear: A Gear is a set of the Modifiers, Power, and Guard values. Each gear is associated with a gear level. You can only attack with mods in your current gear.

5. Power: A gear's power shows your card's strength in combat while in that gear. This number can be increased using modifiers!

6. Guard: A gear's guard shows how tough a card is to hit while in that gear. In order to deal damage, your power must be greater than your opponent's guard.

7. Modifiers (mods): Modifiers contain blocks of text that, if activated, can augment your attack and make it even more powerful! Once you activate a modifier, you must do what that modifier says.

Modifier Types

Modifiers have types. These are Alphas, Betas, Deltas, and Omegas.

Alphas, Betas, and Omegas: Alphas, Betas, and Omegas are attack modifiers, and can be selected during your attack phase to modify your attack.

Deltas: Deltas can't be chosen during your attack phase. Rather, their text is constantly true while you're in a gear with that delta. Deltas are still active during your opponent's turn. Some deltas are triggered by events if they use words like "if," and "when."

Critical Badge: Modifiers containing a badge have critical effects that can be applied during an attack (see the Critical Resolution section).

Mod Icon Key

• Heads
• Tails
• Wild
• Burn Spirit
• Refresh Spirit
• Power
• Guard
• Flip
• Heal
• Critical

Setup

1. Token Stack: Place your five spirit tokens here.

2. Coin

3. Card: Start the game in gear 1 (such that the Shift logo is on the bottom right of the card).

4. Damage Zone: When you take damage, move 1 spirit token from your token stack to the damage zone.

Turn Order

Once you and your opponent have set up the game, flip a coin. Have one person flip, and the other call heads or tails. The winner of the coin toss decides if they want to go first or second. The player who goes first cannot attack on their first turn.

Each turn has three phases: the Start Phase, then either the Shift Phase or the Attack Phase, then the End Phase.

The Attack Phase has seven subphases:

1. Attack Declaration
2. Defense Declaration
3. Mod Activation
4. Mod Resolution
5. Damage Resolution
6. Downshift
7. Critical Resolution

Start Phase

At the beginning of your start phase, remove any effects a modifier had on your card. Then you may spirit shift. Nothing else happens in the start phase unless a card refers to the start phase or the start of your turn.

Shift Phase

You may shift during the shift phase. If you choose to shift here, you must skip the attack phase.

When you attack you use the modifiers, power, and guard of the gear you're in. The gear you are in is the one that is closest to you on your card. Shifting allows you to rotate your card, which allows you to change which gear you're in! To shift, simply rotate your card 90 degrees in either direction.

Spirit Shifting

If you don't want to give up the chance to attack during your turn, you may burn 1 spirit during your start phase, or your end phase, to shift in that phase. You may only spirit shift once per turn.

Attack Phase

If you didn't shift in the shift phase, you must attack. If you did shift in the shift phase, you must skip this phase. The attack phase is where you attempt to deal damage to your opponent. It has 7 subphases which we'll go over in the attack subphases section.

End Phase

If you didn't spirit shift in the start phase, you may spirit shift during the end phase. Nothing else happens in the end phase unless a card refers to the end phase or the end of your turn.

Attack Subphases

1) Attack Declaration

The attacking player declares that they are attacking. Then they choose an Alpha, Beta, or Omega modifier in their gear, and declares that it is the modifier they're using. If the defender asks, the attacking player must read the modifier, and any other relevant information.

2) Defense Declaration

The defending player must now declare if they are Active guarding, or Spirit guarding, or both; and if so, they must declare which gear(s) they are active/spirit guarding with.

Types of Guarding

Active Guarding: Choose a gear that is below your current gear level, and add that gear's guard to your current gear's guard. You must downshift during the downshift subphase.

Spirit Guarding: Burn one spirit, then choose any other gear's guard and add it to your current gear's guard. You may do this as much as you can afford. You cannot spirit guard with a gear you're already spirit/active guarding with. You must downshift during the downshift subphase.

3) Mod Activation

The attacking player must now attempt to activate their chosen modifier. If a player does not successfully activate their modifier, skip the mod resolution subphase. A modifier's activation requirements are between its type and the colon (:). There are two types of modifier activations: flip activation and spirit activation.

Activating Modifiers

Flip Activation: If you see coin faces, or the wild symbol, this modifier is flip activated. To activate this modifier, the player must flip a coin as many times as there are coins displayed, and they must get the displayed coin faces in any order.

Example: Tails, Tails, Heads: "Flip 3 times, get 1 Heads and 2 tails." If there is a critical badge on the modifier, and your flip results were in the same order as the displayed coin faces, you will get the critical's effect during the critical resolution phase.

Spirit Activation: If you see the 'burn spirit' icon followed by a number, this modifier is spirit activated. In order to activate this modifier, you must burn spirit equal to the number next to the icon. Spirit activation modifiers automatically get their critical effect.

4) Mod Resolution

If you've successfully activated your modifier, you now apply the effects of the modifier. Otherwise, skip this phase. Some modifiers will have you flip more coins to calculate benefits, follow their instructions carefully.

5) Damage Resolution

Compare your current power against your opponent's current guard. If your power is greater than your opponent's guard, you deal 1 damage in the form of a spirit token. Move that spirit token from the token stack and place it heads up in the damage zone.

6) Downshift:

If you attacked, or active/spirit guarded, downshift your card back to first gear.

7) Critical Resolution

If you got a critical during the mod activation phase, apply its effects now.

Criticals

• Damage Crit: If this attack is successful, it deals 1 extra damage.
• Heal Crit: Remove one spirit token from the damage zone.
• Shift Crit: Shift for free.
• Duo Crit: Skip your opponent's next turn.
• Refresh Crit: Refresh all of your spirit.

Your Damage Zone and Spirit

When you receive damage, move one spirit token from your token stack to your damage zone. When you heal, move a spirit token from your damage zone back to the token stack.

Each token you have in your damage zone represents 1 damage. But each token that is heads up in your damage zone is also equal to one spirit.

When you burn spirit, (either to activate a modifier, or to spirit guard or spirit shift) you flip a damage token to its burnt side. When you refresh spirit, flip a burnt token back to its lit side.

When you heal, remember to heal burnt spirit tokens before healing the rest of your tokens.

Glossary

• Spirit: Each spirit token in the damage zone that is lit.
• Damage: Each spirit token in the damage zone.
• Burn Spirit: Flip a spirit token from lit to burnt.
• Refresh Spirit: Flip a spirit token from burnt to lit.
• End of Turn: Refers to the end phase.
• Start of Turn: Refers to the start phase.
• Successful: An attack is successful if it deals damage.
• Fails: An attack fails if it doesn't deal damage.
• Natural Guard/Power: A stat before mods are applied.
• Downshift: When you shift to a lower gear.
• Autocrit: If there is a critical badge on that modifier you automatically get that critical.

Tips

• You'll need spirit, so don't be afraid to take a little damage early on.
• You can use your ability no matter which gear you're in!
• Communicate the possible outcomes of an attack so the defending player can quickly reach a decision.
• Always heal your burnt spirit tokens before healing the rest of your spirit tokens.