Basics
In Chaos Fractal each player uses a 40 card deck. These decks are made by picking cards from the card database. You can only have a maximum of 4 copies of each card.
The card database is divided into four Quadrants. These just represent the location of the card. Affinity the skies and high mountains, Dynasty the cold depths of the oceans, Dominion the rolling plains and valleys, and Regency the highlands of the tropics.
Each card located in these Quadrants is of a particular Element. Elements not only thematically identify a card but also play a very crucial role in gaining gameplay advantage.
Note four of the eight elements are overlapping elements i.e present in two Quadrants. For example Radiance cards can be both from Affinity, or from Regency. (see Image on the right)
There is no restriction as to which elements or quadrants you use to make your deck, or how many of them you use, but there are advantages of using cards of same element (discussed later).
Cards
There are three main card types.
- Creatures, which are summoned for their special effects, attacking and/or blocking.
- Spells, which have all types of different effects, ranging from helping you gain more resources to destroying your opponent's creatures.
- Runes, these are used to give creatures additional special abilities to make them even stronger.
On the image of a card you can see the card name, cost, rules text, element and the quadrant the card is from. In addition to that, creature cards also have power rating and race started on the card. Since the element of a card is one of the most important parts of a card, there is a symbol on every card that represents its element.
Gameplay
When the game starts, each player shuffles their deck, puts it face down on the side and draw the top 5 cards of their deck. Then after a coin-toss, the winner decides who goes first. Each player draws the top card of their at the start of each of their turns with the exception of the first turn of the player that goes first.
In addition to cards in hand each player also has a Tempo Zone. Tempo is required to pay for summoning creatures, casting spells, activating effects and generating runes. Players gains 1 tempo at the start of each of their turns. The player that goes first must right-click their tempo area and click Accelerate Tempo.
The Conflict is where the creatures summoned by you and your opponent attack, battle, block, use their effects or just stand their ground. To summon a creature you have right-click that creatures name from your hand and then Move To Conflict. Summoning a creature automatically depletes (uses) the amount of charged tempo (unused tempo) that is required to pay the card cost. Similarly moving spells and runes to the conflict works in the same way.
The amount of tempo required to play a card depends on two things: The cost indicated on the card and the number of creatures you have in the conflict which belong to that cards element. Each card you play costs one tempo less for each creature of its element you already have in the conflict. But keep in mind that cards can't cost less than 2 tempo this way.
For example, if you wish to summon Jonas (4 cost Gravity creature) and have 1 other Gravity creature in the conflict already, Jonas will cost you 3 tempo instead of 4. Now if instead of 1 other Gravity creature you had 3 of them, Jonas would cost 2 tempo instead of 1 tempo because as the rule state the cost cannot be required below 2 tempo.
A creature cannot attack in the same turn that it is summoned. You must wait for your next turn for the creature to come out of its Disoriented state. Blockers can still block even if they are disorientated.
Creatures enter the conflict in the Ready position and remain in this position until they attack or block. After attacking or blocking they switch to the Exhausted position. In the exhausted position creatures are vulnerable to attacks from opponent's creatures. Unlike Exhausted creatures, Ready creatures cannot be attacked. If you decide to attack one of your opponent's exhausted creatures right-click it and Exhaust For > Creature Attack and then click your opponent's exhausted creature that you wish to target. Once the attack hits the battle takes place. During the battle the power of both creatures is compared; the creature with the higher power wins while the other ones loses and is destroyed. If the powers are equal, both creature lose the battle and are destroyed.
When you cast a spell by moving it to the conflict its effect happens automatically. After the effect is complete you can move the spell to your grave by right-clicking > Move To > Grave. This is also how you move creatures to the grave after they are destroyed or discards cards from your hand. Each player has their own Grave where their used spells, destroyed creatures and discarded cards get collected.
In-order to attack with a creature right-click the card image in the conflict and then Exhaust For > Player Attack or Creature Attack - depending on whether you wish to attack one of your opponent's exhausted creature or their Grid. Grid is an imaginary field that protects a player against direct attack. Each player starts with 5 grid points. In order to win the game a player must damage all 5 of their opponent's grid points and then make one final direct attack. Every time a players Grid is damaged by an opponent's creature that player gains 1 tempo. This way if your opponent quickly summons a lot of creatures and attacks your grid with them, you have gain tempo which can be utilized to fight back.
FAQ
Q1: What are Runes?
Runes are cards that can be generated by paying their cost just like any other card, though unlike Creatures, Runes do not give cost reduction.
Normally an additional cost has to be paid in-order to activate a Rune's effect. These effects are mostly focused on giving special abilities to creatures you have in the Conflict. You may activate a Rune's effect more than once on the same or different creatures by paying the cost again.
Runes remain in the Conflict until they are broken by an opponent's creature. Only creatures that have power greater than 2000 can break a rune.
Q2: What does [Consume 1] mean?
When a players tempo is reduced it is said to have been consumed. Consume can work in many ways: There are some cards that allow you to consume your opponent's tempo so that you can reduce their options; Some cards allow you to use special abilities and effects if you consume your own tempo, such as [Consume 1] and [Consume 2].
Q3: When can I used deplete effects such as [Deplete 2]?
These effects are used after you draw a card for the start of your turn and before you start attacking with any of your creatures, unless stated otherwise
Q4: What is [Born Ready]?
Creatures that have [Born Ready] don't get disorientated and can attack in the same turn they summoned.
Q5: What is [Toxic]?
Whenever creatures with [Toxic] loses a battle, the opponent's creature is also destroyed.
Q6: What is [Blocker]?
When a creature with [Blocker] is in Ready state it is capable of stopping an incoming attack by changing to Exhausted Position (see screen shot above) and then the Blocker and the attacking creature battle.
Q7: What does "This creature can't attack players." mean?
Creatures with "This creature can't attack players" can't attack your opponent's Grid, but they can still attack creatures and break runes.
Q8: What is [Damage 2]?
When a creature with [Damage 2] attacks the opponent Grid, your opponent loses 2 Grid Points instead of the usual 1 Grid Point. As a result your opponent also gains 2 tempo instead of the usual 1 tempo.
Q9: What is [Responcer]?
Unlike regular cards, cards that have [Responcer] can also be played during your opponents turn right after one of your opponent's creatures finishes attacking. Sometimes a responcer cost is specified other times it should be assumed that you have to pay cost of the card as you normally would, if you wish to trigger a [Responcer]. As always you will need to have enough charged tempo to pay this cost.
The best way to understand how the game works is to play the game.
Good luck, and Enjoy!