COMPREHENSIVE RULEBOOK

Version 2.0

INTRODUCTION
Free RealmsTM Trading Card Game is based on the Free Realms MMO (massively multiplayer online) game and can be played in two different ways: A physical, tabletop version with cards and a playmat. An online version played from within the MMO. The rules for both versions are the same. This rulebook is divided into three major sections: Online Game shows how to use the computer game client. Standard Rules explains the rules for playing the game. Glossary provides definitions and explanations of rules.

Dock

Click the Dock icons to move quickly to destinations in the game. Move your mouse over these icons to see their names in tooltips. From left to right, these icons are: Exit TCG Click to exit the game. Card Store Open a browser window to buy cards. Duelist on Demand Turn your character into a hero. Preferences - Adjust various features of the game. Collection View your cards and set trade requests. Main Screen Return to the first screen you saw. Trade Cards Post trades and chat with other players. Casual Games Meet other players to play games. Deck Builder Sort your cards to build and save your decks.

ONLINE GAME
GAME LOBBIES
Welcome Screen

Casual Games Lobby

After logging in to the online game, you will see the Welcome Screen. You can Learn to Play the game with a quick, singleplayer tutorial or proceed directly to the Casual Games Lobby.

Card Hall
In the lower right corner of the screen, you can see the Card Hall. Its on nearly every screen in the game. Click it and expand the Dock to see all the destinations in the game.

The Casual Games Lobby is the place to go to play the game. Its also the busiest lobby, so if you just want to chat about all things Free Realms, this should be your destination. The Casual Games Lobby has three main areas: Three navigation buttons in the upper left. An area showing casual games in progress, on the right. A chat bubble on the bottom left.

Navigation Buttons Three buttons are provided in the upper left: Learn to Play Go to the tutorial game Single-Player Scenario Play a game against a computer opponent using a starter deck Two-Player Game Create a game for two players See the sections on Chat and User Lists for more information on those functions. Creating a Game To create a game, click the Two-Player Game button in the upper left to open the Create Game box.

This will open the Join Game box.

The deck selection defaults to the last deck that you used. Click Select Deck to choose another deck to use to play the game from a list of your saved decks. Click the Join button to confirm your selection. Watching a Game The Play button changes to a Watch button for a game thats under way. If you want to watch a game, click Watch. You can chat with the players, but you cant see either players hand or other secret information. Right-click on the playmat and select Stop Observing to exit to the Casual Games Lobby. Current Deck The last deck you used. Change Deck Click to change the deck youll use to play. Play Format Click Friends Only to allow only players on your Friends list to join. Time Limits Click 30 Minutes to limit the time. When you are finished adjusting the settings of your game, click the Play button. This creates a game medallion in the Casual Games Lobby, and youll see the Waiting for Opponent box. At the top of some of the lobbies are tabs that allow you to see which players and friends are online. Click Players to see a list of all players in the game. The small icon (like the Dock icon) that shows what theyre doing. Click Friends to see the same information about your online friends. Click the buttons below the player names to Get Info about that player or to add that player to your Friends List. To learn more about how to play the game, see Standard Rules and Glossary.

User Lists

The game medallion that you create shows your Avatar, your Username, and a Play button. Joining a Game To join a game, click the Play button on a game medallion.

Free Realms Trading Card Game

To trade, one player specifies the exact trade that he is looking for (both what he wants and what he is offering in exchange) and leaves it in the Trade Lobby like a post on a message board, waiting for another player to reply and accept the trade. When you enter the Trade Lobby, available trade listings are shown. Each listing contains the following information: Username The name of the player that posted the trade. Offered A list of the items offered by that player. Wants A list of the items wanted by that player. Search, sort and edit this list of trades with the buttons on the panel at the right. You can restrict your view to: Trades I Can Do The Player Info screen shows a Win/Loss Record. Trades from Friends Trades with Virtual Rewards Trades without Virtual Rewards Trades I created Click Reset to show all trades once again. If you see an offer youd like, and you have what is specified in the Want column, double click on the listing to open the Posted Trade Detail window.

The Friends button sends a message to that player with a request to have him or her join your Friends List. Youll see a box while that player considers your request. The right button on your own Player Lobby icon lets you manage your Friends List. Youll see a list of all your friends and you can remove a player from that list if you want.

Trade Lobby
The Trade Lobby is where players meet to post trades for booster packs and other tradable objects.

Youll see a listing of all the details from that trade. If any of the items are listed in red, then that player doesnt own those items and the trade cant be accepted. Click Accept or Cancel. If you accept, the server will first confirm that both parties still own the items in question, and then automatically complete the trade. To post your own trade, click the Create Trades button at the upper left of the Trade Lobby.

Free Realms Trading Card Game

Quick Chat
Click the Quick Chat icon in the lower left to show a list of emotes and sayings you can use to chat with your friends. Click the Quick Chat icon again to collapse the choices.

Youll see a view of a collection of Free Realms TCG cards shown in the right window. The tabs at the top change your view from My Cards to Their Cards. On the left, two windows show the cards I Will Get and the cards They Will Get. To create a trade, follow these steps: Click Their Cards and add cards you want to I Will Get. Click My Cards and offer cards to They Will Get. When both windows correctly display the trade youre looking for, click Submit to post it, and wait for another player to come along and agree to your trade. (You can also click Clear to start over or Exit to leave this screen.) You may create a trade specifically for one other player if you wish. Add items to your trade as described above, then check the Only offer trade to box at the bottom right of the screen. Type the name of the player you want to receive your offer, then click Submit to post it. Your trade will be visible only to that player.

Free Chat
If you are not using an underage account, you can use Free Chat. Click in the window next to the Quick Chat icon and you can type to chat with your friends. If youre playing a game, hit Enter and youll see a bubble appear above your players head. You can type there and when you hit Enter again, the text will appear in the chat log to the left. When you enter a lobby, you will automatically join its chat, and can see messages sent to it. Messages sent to you from a player on your Friends List appear in blue chat bubbles. Messages sent to you using the whisper command appear in pink bubbles. Chat Window Commands You can type commands in the chat window to access special messages. Each command begins with the / character. /whisper [player] [text] Privately say something to a player in the same lobby as you. That message appears in a pink bubble, and only that players chat. For example, if your player name is Carol, and you want to send a private Hello to Bob, you would type: This appears only in Bobs chat: And only you see: /time /whisper Bob Hello Carol whispers to you, Hello You whisper to Bob, Hello

Live Trades
You can also trade live with another player in the Trade Lobby. Click the Players or Friends tab to show other players in the lobby, then click the left button on the Player Lobby icon of the player you want to trade with. You add and remove items from a live trade just like you do when creating your own trade. In a live trade, however, youll be able to chat with the player youre trading with (if you are not using an underage account), and see the items that player adds or removes from the trade.

Get the time from the server. Events are scheduled according to server time. /version Find out what version of the software you have. A message appears that includes the version number. /help Typing /help or /? displays a list of chat window commands. Free Realms Trading Card Game 4

Adjourn and Resume

While playing a game, you can rightclick the playmat to Offer Adjourn to your opponent. When you and your opponent agree to adjourn a game, youll be able to resume that game at a later time when you are both in the same lobby again. You will see a box while your opponent considers your offer. A button there allows you to cancel your offer if you want. Your opponent sees a box describing your offer to adjourn, and uses it to accept or reject your offer. When you enter a lobby, if any of the opponents from any of your adjourned games are in that same lobby, youll see a button allowing you to Resume a Game. When you click this button, youll see a window listing all of your adjourned games that are currently available for you to resume. Select a game from the list to Delete or Resume that game. The Collection Window on the right shows all the cards in your collection. The Deck Window on the left shows the cards in the deck youre working on. You can move your mouse over the vertical divider between these two windows and drag it left and right to resize both windows. You can add cards to your deck in two ways: Double-click a card to add one copy. Right-click a card and select the number of copies youd like to add to or remove from the deck. At the top left are three buttons to manage your decks: New Deck clears the deck youre working on. Open Deck opens a deck youve already saved.

DECK BUILDER
You can start playing the Free Realms Trading Card Game right away using any starter deck. Most players, however, like to personalize their own decks. You may build a deck using any of the cards in your collection.

Constructing Your Deck

Using your online collection, you can create decks for casual games and tournaments.

The Load/Delete Deck box opens, and you will see a list of decks youve already saved. Click on a deck in the list to select it, and then click Delete Deck or Load Deck. Save Deck saves the deck youre working on. (Decks are not saved on your computer but on the server instead.) If youre new to trading card games, click Deck Builder Helper and youll go through a few simple steps that make a playable deck from your card collection.

Free Realms Trading Card Game

COLLECTION MANAGER
The Collection Manager is where you organize your cards, packs, and decks. You have the same Search and Filter tools at the right of the Collection Manager that you have in the Deck Builder.

You can type your Deck Name and choose an Image to appear beside this deck in your list. The Spheres used in your deck are also displayed, along with a green check or red X to show Validation for your deck. At the right are your Search and Filter tools. Type a word on the Search line and your Collection Window will show only cards that have that word in their names, traits, or text. Click a Sphere icon (Chaos, Nature, Machine, or Order) to show cards belonging to that sphere (theres an icon to show Hero creatures as well). Click a Type icon to show Creatures, Resources, or Tricks. Filter for Cost by clicking the arrows next to Low and High. You can search for cards that cost between 2 and 4, for example. Filter for Attack/Defense in the same way. Filter for Rarity by clicking Common, Uncommon, Rare, Exclusive, Promo, or Starter. Show your Foil Cards or your Non-Foil Cards. Click Reset to remove all searches and filters. Just below the Deck Window on the right is a number that shows your average number of gems flipped for the current deck. Since gem flips add to your battle totals, youll want this to be as high as you can get and still have playable cards in your deck. On the left is the Count of cards in the current deck and a button to check Validation for that deck. If you see a green check on this button, your deck validates and youre ready to go. If you see a red X there instead, click the button to see an explanation of why your deck doesnt validate.

The Collection Manager is also where you open products youve bought in the Online Store, won in tournaments, or received from other players in trade. New, unopened items appear on the first page(s) of your binder. Right-click on a starter deck or booster pack to open it (or, if you wish, multiple packs).

Three numbers are listed under every card: Have how many copies you own; Want how many copies youd like to own; and Trade or Need if Have is more than Want, the number of copies you want to Trade is shown; if Want is more than Have, the number of copies you Need is shown. You can adjust Want using the up and down arrows. When you participate in a trade, other players will see only your cards that have Trade of 1 or more. This makes trades easier by displaying only the cards that you want to trade. In the example shown above, I Have 12 copies of Brody Sparfist and I Want 3, so I have 9 to Trade. I Have 12 copies of Bullseye and I Want 13, so I Need 1. I Have 12 copies of Ernie and I Want 12, so I Need 0. You can hide the information about your Haves and Needs by clicking the Show Trade Limits button

Free Realms Trading Card Game

Collector Information
On the bottom of every Free Realms Trading Card Game card, youll find information to help you identify it. Youll see a numberletter-number combination like 1U133. The first number tells you which set the card comes from (for example, 1 is the Base Set). The letter tells you the rarity of the card: C is Common U is Uncommon R is Rare E is Exclusive P is Promo S is Starter Last is the number for that card in the set.

PREFERENCES
Preferences can be accessed from the Card Hall to customize the games behavior and appearance. There are several sections to the Preferences screen: Sound, Game/Playmat, Card Size, Hide Screen Introductions, and New Player Tips.

DUELIST ON DEMAND
Click Duelist on Demand in the Dock to create a TCG card that features your Free Realms MMO character! You can even order physical printed copies to give to your friends.

Sound

Adjust the volume for sound effects and music separately or turn all sound on or off.

Game/Playmat

Just follow these simple steps: Click Create a Hero Card Choose Job and Image Choose your Background Choose your Game Text Save your Hero Print your Hero Here you can turn Foil Effects on or off, and turn Show cards I dont own on or off for your Deck Builder and Collection Manger.

Card Size

Select Small, Medium, or Large size to display cards for your Deck Builder Collection and Deck Builder Deck.

Free Realms Trading Card Game

Hide Screen Introductions

Turn off the Screen Introductions you see when you enter any of the game lobbies.

New Player Tips

Click to reset any New Player Tips you may have turned off and want to see again.

Free Realms Trading Card Game

STANDARD RULES
For a tutorial on how to play the Free Realms Trading Card Game, go online to www.FreeRealms.com!

BATTLE SEQUENCE
Each player gets one star for each card in his inventory.

Introduction
Your deck has creatures from Free Realms that hunt and attack to score cards. Play resources to earn more creatures and use tricks to win battles.

1. Playing Tricks
The attacker can play a trick by spending stars or he can pass. The defender can play a trick by spending stars or he can pass. Keep playing tricks until both players pass in a row.

Goal
The first player to score 12 cards wins the game!

2. Attacker Flips
The attacker flips a card from the top of his deck. If the flipped card has gems that match the attacking creatures power-up, then that power-up happens. Add the number of gems on the flipped card to attack.

Setup
You and your opponent each need a deck that has at least 40 cards to play the game. You can use the playmat from your starter set, but its not required. Shuffle your deck and draw six cards for your hand. Flip a coin to see who goes first. The first player can shuffle his deck and redraw. (If this player doesnt like his opening hand he can shuffle those cards back into his deck and redraw six cards.) The second player can shuffle and redraw.

3. Defender Flips
The defender flips a card from the top of his deck. If the flipped card has gems that match the defending creatures power-up, then that power-up happens. Add the number of gems on the flipped card to defense.

4. Winner and Loser

The player with the highest attack or defense wins the battle! The losers creature is destroyed (put in his discard pile). If its a tie, both creatures are destroyed! If the attacker won the battle, his creature scores a card. Discard all the tricks played and flipped cards.

TURN SEQUENCE

Ready Phase
Draw two cards. (On the first turn, the first player skips this step.) Ready your zapped cards by turning them back right-side up. (You have no zapped cards on your first turn.)

SAMPLE CARD LAYOUT

Set Phase
Play a resource to your inventory (or play any other card facedown instead.) Get one coin for each card in your inventory. Play creatures and use actions by spending coins. (You can play a new creature to a column where you already have a creature. Chase the old creature by putting it in your discard pile.) Finish your Set Phase and lose all your unspent coins.

Go Phase
Each of your creatures can zap to hunt or attack. Zap your creature by turning it sideways to show that its not ready. When your creature has no foe (an opponents creature in the same column), it can hunt to score a card. When it scores a card, put the top card of your deck face-down in the score pile behind the creature. When your creature has a foe, it can attack that foe. See Battle Sequence. Finish your Go Phase. Your turn is over and your opponent begins his turn.

Free Realms Trading Card Game

GLOSSARY
Action
Game text that has an arrow is an action. The text before the arrow is the cost, and the text after the arrow is the effect. You must pay all the costs to get the effect.

Creature
Creature cards are shuffled into your deck and played from your hand to one of the three columns on the playmat. Usually, you play a creature during your Set Phase. A Hero is a special kind of creature. A creature has a name, traits, coin cost, attack, defense, game text, and gems.

Ally
Your creatures allies are all your other creatures in play.

Crush
This is a label for game text that refers to a battle won by 4 or more.

Attack
This attribute on your creature is used when its battling and you are attacking.

Deck
Shuffle your deck before the game begins and place it face down on the playmat. Neither player can examine the cards in a deck. Mouse over either deck icon on the playmat to see how many cards are in that deck.

Battle
During your Go Phase, your creature can zap to attack its foe and begin a battle. (See Battle Sequence.)

Chase
You can play a creature to a column where you already have a creature. The old creature is chased by the new one. When you chase a creature, place that creature in your discard pile. A chased creature is not destroyed.

If at any time your deck runs out, reshuffle your discard pile to make a new deck and continue. If you have no cards in your discard pile when this happens, you cant draw, flip, or score a card. This happens very rarely, and playing tricks puts cards in your discard pile to make a new deck again.

Deck Building
You must have at least 40 cards in your deck (there is no maximum). You cant have more than three copies of each card in your deck. Each card is identified by its collector information. For example, Bixie Stick is card 1C42, and you can have only three copies of 1C42 in your deck. As another example, my Chaz Lambo Chef Hero card is 1P41, and my Chaz Lambo Card Duelist Hero card is 1P52. I can have three copies of 1P41 in my deck and three copies of 1P52 in my deck, even though all of those cards have the same name. The easiest way to make a deck is to choose a sphere. Then choose cards that match the sphere. Youll want to have more lower-cost creatures in your deck than expensive ones. Youll also want to include some Heroes, since they are among the most powerful cards in the game. Your starter deck is a good example of how to build a deck.

Coin
When your Set Phase begins, each resource card in your inventory creates one coin for you to spend on creatures and coin actions. At the end of your Set Phase, you lose all unspent coins.

Coin Action
During your Set Phase, you can spend coins to use actions on your cards in play that have a coin cost in their game text.

Collect
Collect text begins with the word Collect followed by a number (such as Collect: 3). Your creature gets its collect game text while there are as many cards in its score pile as that number. For example, a creature that has Collect 3 game text only gets that game text while there are three or more cards in its score pile.

Defense
This attribute on your creature is used when its battling and you are defending.

Collector Information
Cards are identified by their collector information, found in the lower left corner. The first number tells you the set the card comes from. Then there is a letter identifying rarity. Finally is that cards number in the set. For example, Bixie Stick is card 1C42, which means its from set 1, C (or Common) rarity, and number 42.

Destroy
Place your card in your discard pile from play. You cant destroy a card in your hand.

Column
Three columns on the playmat define where creatures and scored cards are played. Each column has one space for each player to play one creature. The score pile goes on the players end of that creatures column.

Discard
Place your card in your discard pile from your hand. You cant discard a card in play.

Discard Pile
When your cards are flipped, discarded or destroyed, they are put in your discard pile. Cards in your discard pile are face up and both players can look at them. Mouse over either discard pile icon on the playmat to see how many cards are in that pile. Right-click that icon to examine the cards in that pile.

Cost
Creatures and coin actions have numbers that show you how many coins you must spend to play or use them. Tricks and star actions have numbers that show you how many stars you must spend to play or use them. Actions can have other costs, such as discarding or zapping a card, in addition to a coin or star cost.

Draw
Take a card from the top of your deck and put it in your hand.

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End The Battle

When an effect ends a battle, there is no winner or loser and no cards are scored.

Lore
Text found in italics at the bottom of a cards game text box is lore text. Lore provides fun facts about the world of Free Realms and it has no effect on game play. Many cards in the Online Game have a lore button that you can click to read their lore texts.

Face Down
When a player uses an action on a resource, often that card is turned face down. Face down cards in your inventory dont count as resources.

Lose
Your creature loses a battle when its attacking if its attack is less than its foes defense. Your creature loses a battle when its defending if its defense is less than its foes attack. When your foe wins a battle as an attacker, it scores a card. When a creature loses a battle, that creature is destroyed. When one creature is removed from the battle before the battle ends, the creature that remains is the winner.

Flip
Reveal the top card of your deck face up to look at its gems. When youre done with a flipped card, place it in your discard pile.

Foe
Your creatures foe is an opponents creature in the same column.

Game Text
Nearly every card has game text that tells you what it can do in the game. Game text includes coin actions, star actions, and power-ups.

Move
When a card effect allows your creature to move, you can only move it to one of your empty spaces. If you have more than one empty space, you can choose where it moves.

Gems Name

Nearly every card has one to four gems along its bottom edge. The gems on a card are used when you flip that card in battle.

Go Phase
Your Go Phase is the last phase of your turn. Thats when your creatures hunt and attack. When a battle begins, cards in your inventory create stars for you to spend on playing tricks and using star actions.

Every card has a name at the top. You cant play a Hero card that has the same name as a Hero card you have in play.

Play
Take a card from your hand and place it in play on the playmat.

Playmat
The starter sets come with a playmat that is used when learning the game. It shows three columns for creatures and score piles. Also provided are inventory, deck, and discard pile areas for each player. The online version of the game shows the same areas.

Hand
Cards in your hand cant be examined by other players. There is no limit to the number of cards you can have in your hand. Mouse over either hand icon on the playmat to see how many cards are in that hand.

Power-Up
Game text that only happens when you flip a card in battle and match the gems of that game text.

Ready Hero
You cant play another Hero that has the same name as one you already have in play. Heroes are creatures, but they dont have spheres. For example, you have a Hero creature named Nirvi in play. You cant play another copy of Nirvi. Turn your zapped or stunned card back right-side up.

Ready Phase
Your Ready Phase is the first phase of your turn. Thats when you draw two cards and ready your zapped cards. After you ready your zapped cards, zap your stunned cards.

Hunt
During your Go Phase, your creature can zap to score a card if it has no foe, or if its foe is stunned.

Resource
Resource cards are shuffled into your deck and played to your inventory during your Set Phase. Like any other cards in your inventory, resources create coins to spend on creatures and stars to spend on tricks. A resource has a name, traits, game text, and gems. Resources can be zapped or turned face down for other effects as described in their game texts. When a resource is turned face down, it is no longer a resource, and its just like any other face down card in your inventory.

Inventory
When you play a resource, it goes to your inventory. You can play any card from your hand face-down to your inventory instead of playing a face-up resource. All the cards in your inventory (face up resources and face down cards) are counted to create coins in your Set Phase and create stars during battles in your Go Phase.

Reveal
When an effect tells you to reveal a card, that card is shown face up to both players.

In Play
A card that is on the playmat is in play. Cards in any hand, deck, or discard pile are not in play.

Set Phase
Your Set Phase is the second phase of your turn. Thats when you play one card to your inventory and then cards in your 11

Look At
When an effect tells you to look at a card, only you can see that card. Its not shown to the other player. Free Realms Trading Card Game

inventory create coins for you to spend on playing creatures and using coin actions.

Win
Your creature wins a battle when its attacking if its attack is greater than its foes defense. When your creature wins a battle as an attacker, it scores a card. Your creature wins a battle when its defending if its defense is greater than its foes attack. When one creature is removed from the battle before the battle ends, the creature that remains is the winner.

Score a Card
Put the top card of your deck in a score pile face down without looking at it. Creatures score cards by battling and hunting. Cards can also be scored by power-ups or other game text.

Score Pile
Cards that your creature scores are placed in a pile right behind that creature. Players cant look at cards in score piles.

Zap
Physical Game Turn your card sideways to show that its not ready.

Space
Each of the three columns on the playmat has a space on your side in which you can play one creature.

Sphere

Online Game Your card is dimmed and marked with a lightning bolt. Only a ready card can be zapped. Exception: In your Ready Phase, after you ready your zapped cards, you must zap your stunned cards.

Every card (except a Hero creature) has a sphere. There are four spheres: Chaos, Machine, Nature, and Order.

Star
When a battle begins, each resource card in your inventory creates one star for you to spend on tricks and star actions. At the end of that battle, you lose all unspent stars.

Free Realms Trading Card Game

2005 - 2009 Sony Online Entertainment LLC. Free Realms and FreeRealms are trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC in the United States and/or other countries. SOE and the SOE logo are registered trademarks of Sony Online Entertainment LLC. The ratings icon is a registered trademark of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks or trade names are properties of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Star Action
During a battle, you can spend stars to use actions on your cards in play that have a star cost in their game text. You can use a star action on your creature thats not in the battle.

Stun
Physical Game Turn your card 180 degrees (upside down).

Online Game Your card is dimmed and marked with stars. During the Go Phase, a stunned creature cant zap to attack or hunt, and it cant be attacked. Also, the foe of a stunned creature can hunt past it without battling.

Tie
When the attacking creatures attack and the defending creatures defense are equal at the end of a battle, that battle is tied. There is no winner and no loser and both creatures are destroyed.

Traits
Creatures and resources have traits. These are labels that can be referred to by another card. For example, a card gives all your Chugawugs +1 defense. That means it gives +1 defense to all your creatures that have the trait of Chugawug.

Trick
Trick cards are shuffled into your deck and played from your hand. Play a trick when your creature is battling. A trick has a name, star cost, game text, and gems.

Trickster
While your creature that has this keyword is attacking, its foe uses its attack instead of its defense.

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