'thx alic'
The standard BINMAT deck is composed of seventy-eight (78) cards. These cards are distributed in six suits, displayed below:
& - FORM
% - KIN
+ - DATA
! - CHAOS
^ - VOID
# - CHOICE
Every suit contains thirteen cards. Nine of these cards are numbered 2 to 10, and are referred to as such. The other four cards are as follows:
@ - TRAP
* - WILD
? - BOUNCE
> - BREAK
These cards are known as 'modifiers'.
To begin the game, first both players shall assume a role. One player is to be the 'attacker', and the other player is to be the 'defender'. These terms will be used for the duration of this rulebook without further explanation.
The attacker and defender should be seated opposite each other, and the area between them is hence known as the 'play area'. The play area should be divided into six parallel 'lanes' which traverse the area from attacker to defender or vice versa.
The BINMAT deck being used for gameplay (The Binmat Deck) should be shuffled, and then dealt as follows:
Deal thirteen face up cards in a deck at the defender's end of the right three lanes. Deal thirteen face down cards in a deck at the defender's end of the left three lanes.
These decks are referred to as 'lane decks'.
Enough space for another deck should be left behind (defender's perspective) the decks in each lane, as this is the location of the 'lane discard pile'.
Enough space should also be left beside the play area for another deck, the 'attacker deck', and behind it space for the 'attacker discard pile'.
If the competitive rules are being followed, the BINMAT app (Game Structure) may now be placed equidistant from the attacker and defender at one side of the play area.
The following is an ASCII representation of the play area at the conclusion of setup:
attacker sat here
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | - position of attacker stacks
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| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
+----+ | | | | | | |
phone with | | | | | | | | |
BINMAT app | | | | | | | | | - position of defender stacks
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
(optional) +----+ | +-+ | +-+ | +-+ | +-+ | +-+ | +-+ |
| |h| | |h| | |h| | |2| | |6| | |@| | - lane decks
| +-+ | +-+ | +-+ | +-+ | +-+ | +-+ |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | - space for lane discard piles
| | | | | | |
defender sat here
The game is composed of 110 turns (55 for the attacker, 55 for the defender). Under competitive rules, each turn is not to exceed a maximum of five seconds. This rule can be ignored for casual play.
If competitive rules are being used, the BINMAT app (available for iOS and Android) provides an effective timer and turn counter. If not, any method of counting down from 110 to 0 can be used.
The defender and attacker alternate turns, with defender starting first. On your turn, you may perform one action or pass.
The actions available are:
- Draw a card. Drawing a Card
- Play a card from your hand to a lane's stack. Playing a Card
- Initiate combat in a lane. Combat
The defender can draw a card from any of the six lane decks. The attacker can only draw from lane decks without a defender stack in front of them. The attacker can also draw from a special 'attacker deck' which is to be placed at the side of the play area, in front of the attacker discard pile. This deck is not present at the start of the game, but can be formed via the rules below:
When a draw is attempted from an empty deck, the following takes place: The deck's corresponding discard pile is shuffled into the deck. The card can then be drawn from the top of the newly formed deck.
Any deck which has its discard pile shuffled into it is to be placed face down. This includes previously face-up lane decks.
Playing a card is slightly different depending on your role as the attacker or defender. See the subsections below:
First, select the card from your hand which you wish to play. If this card is a number card, BOUNCE modifier (?), TRAP modifier (@) or WILD modifier (*) it can be placed on any of your six defender stacks. If the defender stack on which you place this card is face up, the card must also be placed face up. If not, it must be placed face down.
If this card is a BREAK modifier (>), it can be placed face-up or face-down on any defender stack which already contains at least one card, and does not contain another face-up break. When you place this card face-up, immediately initiate combat in the lane to which it was played. See Combat.
First, select the card from your hand which you wish to play. If this card is a number card, TRAP modifier (@) or WILD modifier (*) it can be placed on any of your six attacker stacks.
If this card is a BOUNCE modifier (?), you may perform one of the following: Place this card face-up on an empty attacker stack. The defender stack in that lane is turned face-up. Any BOUNCEs in the defender stack are sent to the attacker discard pile, and then the BOUNCE you played is sent to that lane's discard pile. Defender stack remains face up. Place this card face-down to any attacker stack.
If this card is a BREAK modifier (>), it can be played face-up or face-downon any attacker stack which already contains at least one card. When you place this card face-up, immediately initiate combat in the lane to which it was played. This combat has slightly modified calculations, as described in Combat.
When combat is initiated in a lane, the cards in both attacker and defender stacks are revealed.
- For all present TRAP modifiers in the stack of the player who initiated combat:
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- If the TRAP was turned from face-down to face-up by this revealing, send the top card in your opponent's stack to your discard pile. (lane discard for defender TRAPs, attacker discard for attacker TRAPs)
Now repeat this for all present TRAP modifiers in the stack of the other player.
If a BOUNCE modifier is present in either stack, send the attacker stack to the attacker discard pile. All present BOUNCE modifiers now go into the opponent's discard pile. (lane discard for defender BOUNCEs, attacker discard for attacker BOUNCEs)
The number cards present in the stack should now have their sum calculated. Any present WILD modifiers should be resolved now. (The Wild Modifier)
If the sum is not now a power of two, the stack has attack power zero. Otherwise, its attack power is the power of two to which the sum is equivalent.
If the attacker stack has a lower attack power, then the attacker stack goes to the lane's discard pile and the defender stack remains in its lane, face up.
If the attacker stack has an attack power equal to or greater than the defender stack, then the following takes place:
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If a BREAK modifier is not present in the attacker stack:
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- Calculate the absolute difference between attack powers, and then add one to it. This is the damage value.
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If a BREAK modifier is present in the attacker stack:
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- The attack power of the attacker stack is now the damage value.
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While the damage value is greater than zero:
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- If there are cards left in the defender's stack, send the most recently played card there to the attacker discard pile.
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- Else if there are not, but there are cards remaining in the lane's lane deck, send the top card from the lane deck to the attacker's hand.
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- Else if there are no cards remaining in the lane deck either, the attacker has won the game. (Win Conditions)
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- Subtract one from the damage value.
The attacker stack is now sent to the attacker discard.
The WILD modifier is applied to a stack during combat resolution. It brings the sum of its stack up to the next highest power of two. If there are no number cards in a stack, the first wild is treated as a 2 card, and all other WILDs apply as normal to this value.
The game is won by the defender if all 110 turns have elapsed without the attacker achieving victory. The game can also be won by the defender if the attacker is unable to draw any cards from the lane decks, and has no cards in attacker stacks or in their hand. The game is won by the attacker if they deal more damage to a lane deck than the lane deck has cards. This is mentioned in combat resolution (see Combat)
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