Duel 52

Goal

Win 2 of the 3 lanes. You win a lane by clearing your opponent out of it once they have no cards left to play.

Cards

Use a standard 52-card deck without Jokers. Every rank has a power, set out under Card abilities.

Setup

Lay out three lanes between the players. In each lane, deal one card face down on each player’s side. These are the Base cards, and nobody looks at them. Deal 5 cards to each player, then set 10 cards aside unseen, which aren’t used in the game. The rest are the draw pile.

Play

1. Draw, then take 3 actions. Start your turn by drawing a card while the draw pile lasts. The first player takes only 2 actions on their first turn. You must use all your actions if you can.
2. The actions. Each action is one of these, in any mix:
   • Play a card from your hand face down into a lane on your side.
   • Flip one of your face-down cards face up. Many powers act when their card is flipped.
   • Attack with one of your face-up cards.
   • Pair two of your face-up cards of the same rank in the same lane.
3. Attacking. A card attacks a card on the other side of its own lane and deals 1 damage. Each card can attack once a turn. A card has 2 hit points, so a second damage kills it, and a damaged card still attacks. A killed card goes to the discard pile. A card killed face down goes there face down without being shown.
4. Pairs. The two cards of a pair attack together, as one action, and deal 2 damage to one card. Each card in a pair still takes damage on its own. A card can be in only one pair, so there are no triplets or quads.
5. Base cards can’t be attacked, flipped, or moved until the draw pile is empty. From then on they’re ordinary cards.
6. Winning a lane. Once the draw pile is empty, you win a lane when your opponent has no cards in it and none in hand, and you still have a card there. A won lane stays won, and no more cards can be played into it. The first player to win 2 lanes wins the game.
7. Nothing to do. A player who can’t take any action passes. If both players pass in a row and no card is frozen, the game ends. The player who has won more lanes wins, and equal lanes is a draw.

Card abilities

A card’s power works only while it’s face up, except the 3. A flip power acts when the card is flipped. A constant power works for as long as the card is face up.

• 2, View (flip). Draw a card, then discard a card. It does nothing once the draw pile is empty.
• 3, Trap. If it’s killed while face down, it turns face up instead, with no damage.
• 4, Foresight (flip). You may look at any face-down card, a Base card included. Only you see it.
• 5, Flip (flip). Flip all your face-down cards in its lane, and your Base card too once the draw pile is empty. Their powers act in the order you choose.
• 6, Freeze (flip). Your opponent’s cards in its lane are frozen until the end of their next turn. A frozen card can’t attack, and its owner can’t flip it. A face-up 9 can’t be frozen.
• 7, Heal (flip). Remove all damage from your cards, in every lane, face up and face down.
• 8, Retaliate (constant). A card that attacks it takes 1 damage, and both cards of a pair do. A 9 isn’t affected.
• 9, Nimble (constant). It can’t be frozen and isn’t hurt by an 8. A 10 can’t hit it and another card in one attack, but can hit it alone. It deals 2 damage to a face-up Jack, and a pair of 9s deals 3.
• 10, Twinstrike (constant). Its attack deals 1 damage to each of two different cards in the lane, and it must hit two when two can be hit. A pair of 10s deals 2 damage to one card and 1 to a second.
• J, Taunt (constant). It has 3 hit points. While it’s face up, only face-up Jacks on its side of the lane can be attacked.
• Q, Move (flip). You may move one of your cards from another lane into her lane, face up or face down. A Base card can be moved only once the draw pile is empty. A moved card leaves its pair.
• K, Empower (flip). Your face-up 2s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, Queens, and Aces in his lane use their powers again, in the order you choose. Other Kings and the constant powers don’t.
• A, Action (flip). Gain 1 action, and the Ace can attack twice this turn.

Power icons by Judd Madden & Nina Riddell, used with their permission.

Variants

Game length. The standard game sets 10 cards aside. The quick game sets 16 aside, and the long game sets none aside, so the draw pile lasts for fewer or more turns.

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