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Materials
- 15 Action cards
- 9 Slayer cards
- 7 Heart cards
Set Up
1. Shuffle the 15 Action cards and deal five to each player.
2. Remove the top two remaining cards of the deck and reveal them to all players.
Play
Each player starts play with 3 hearts. If you are reduced to 0 hearts, you lose.
PUNISH is played in a series of Measures.
Each Measure is made up of four Breaths. A Breath is a single round of play where each player selects a card from their hand and reveals them simultaneously. The effects of the cards are resolved, and if both players still stand, play continues to the next Breath. The fourth Breath concludes the Measure.
At the end of a Measure, all played and revealed cards are shuffled back into the deck, each player draws cards until they have 5 cards in hand, and the top two remaining cards of the deck are removed and revealed. Then, each damaged player recovers 1 heart.
Card effects are resolved in an order of priority. The order goes Guard > Rush > Dodge > Strike > Punish (noted by the number at the top left of the card). If two identical attacks are played in the same Breath, they CLASH and deal no damage. If a player would be reduced to zero health before their card has resolved, they lose.
Cards
Guard - Reduce damage taken this Breath by 1.
Rush - Deal 1 damage.
Dodge - Reduce damage taken this Breath to 0.
Strike - Deal 2 damage.
Punish - Deal 3 damage. You become EXHAUSTED.
Status Effects
When you become EXHAUSTED, you cannot play a card on the following breath in the measure.
When you become DISARMED, cards you play do not deal damage on the following breath in the measure.
When you become EXPOSED, cards you play do not reduce damage on the following breath in the measure.
Examples
Example #1: The Normal Case
Phantom (P) and Kleg (K) are playing a game of PUNISH. They have drawn up their hands of 5 cards, revealed the two out-of-play cards (a Punish and a Dodge) and are ready to start the game.
On the first breath, P plays a Rush and K plays a Punish. K takes 1 damage because Rush is faster than Punish, but P then takes 3 damage and loses. Punished!
Example #2: The Normal(er?) Case
P is back for revenge. The players set the game back up and begin play (revealing a Guard and a Strike).
P leads with a Dodge this time and K plays a Punish again. Dodge has a higher priority than Punish, so the Punish deals no damage.
On the second Breath, K cannot play any cards, so P counter-strikes with a Punish of their own. Defenseless, K takes 3 damage and loses. Counter-punished!
Example #3: The Meta Case
P and K are ready to settle the score of the Best of Three. They set up (revealing two Strikes) and get started.
P leads with a Guard and K leads with a Punish. Ouch! P takes 2 damage, but the fight isn’t over.
K cannot play any cards this turn again, but P doesn’t have a Punish of their own to kill K with. So, P plays a Strike instead which deals 2 damage to K. Sudden Death!
P and K both play a Rush this turn hoping to finish off their opponent, but they CLASH and deal no damage.
In the final Breath of the measure, P plays a Guard and K plays the last Rush. The Guard reduces the Rush damage to zero, so both players survive to the second Measure.
The played and revealed cards are shuffled back into the deck, both players draw cards until they’re back up to 5 in hand, two cards are removed and revealed from the top of the deck (two Strikes again) and the second Measure begins.
P plays a Rush and K plays a Punish. The Rush resolves first, killing K and crowning P as the champion. GG!
Optional Rules
Blindfolded (4 stars) - Players decide what card they will play on each Breath of the Measure before revealing any of their plays. We are not entirely sure how this changes the game, but it sounds cool.
Feint (3 stars) - Once per Measure, after both players have chosen their card for a Breath but before they reveal, a player may play the top card of the deck rather than the card they have chosen. The card they chose originally still gets discarded as though it was played.
Blitz (2 stars) - There are only 3 Breaths in a Measure instead of 4. This rapid-fire style creates great comeback chances with perfect play.
[Your Rule Here] (5 stars) - Feel free to try out your own cool ideas once you’ve got the hang of the game. It’s always refreshing to switch up the meta and find new ways to enjoy it.