Global smash-hit Palworld has a lot to love: absorbing base building, explosive battles, and hundreds of Pals to collect. Those features mean it’s a match made in heaven for TCG fans. And, on July 30, those worlds collide, with the debut of the Palworld OFFICIAL CARD GAME.
The Palworld OCG is a punchy two-player game that pits Pals against Pals. You’ll play with 60 cards. 50 of these form your Main Deck, which is stuffed with powerful Pals, Gear, Events, and Structures. The last 10 are your Soul Deck, which you’ll use to pay for the cards you play.
How do the cards work?
Each of your Main Deck cards has a cost that shows how many Souls you’ll need to rest (turn it sideways) to deploy to your Base. Most cards come with a special ability, but their card type decides how these affect play.
Event cards, for example, are explosive one-time effects. They can totally turn the tide of battle, but they go to your Graveyard once used.
Gear cards stick around a little longer. They can be used to inflict damage on rival Pals, or they can be equipped to your Pals to give them a handy boost.
Structures offer useful buffs, and they create all kinds of interesting strategies. Some of their effects are instant, some are ongoing, and others require you to assign a Pal to the structure by resting them.
Beware, though – Structures have a Durability score that means they can be destroyed by attacks. Guard them wisely!
Now onto the main event of your Main Deck: Pals. Like all other cards, these have a Soul cost. They also have a unique color, sub type, power, strike value, ability, and work suitability tags.
That’s a lot of terms to remember, but don’t worry. They’ll be easy to remember once we teach you how to play.
How do I play the Palworld OCG?
Start by deciding who goes first. Maybe you’ll play Rock, Paper, Scissors, or maybe the last person to play Palworld takes the first turn!
The second player starts the game with one Soul card face-up in their Soul area. Otherwise, the setup is the same. Each player shuffles their Main Deck and draws five cards.
If you only have high cost cards in your hand which aren’t playable for the first round, you’ll get one chance to redraw (in the world of TCGs, we call that a mulligan). Simply shuffle your first hand back into the deck, then draw five cards again.
A typical turn is split into five phases: Stand Phase, Draw Phase, Soul Phase, Main Phase, and End Phase.
On their first turn, player one skips straight to the Soul Phase, placing two Soul cards in their Soul area. You’ll do this every turn until you have a maximum of 10 Soul cards in play.
After that comes the Main Phase, where you’ll deploy cards by resting souls equal to their cost. You can also activate a card’s abilities or attack with them as soon as they enter your Base.
That might mean playing a card, attacking with it, playing a different card, and attacking again. You can perform all these actions during your Main Phase in any order, which gives you the flexibility to pull off some formidable combos.
When a Pal attacks, they can target a player, a resting Pal, or a Structure. Whatever you aim for, your opponent can rest one of their standing Pals to block an attack. They might even bring a surprise Pal to interrupt the attack if they have one with the Quick icon – so be ready for anything.
Structures can’t defend themselves, but a defending Pal can strike back. Both the attacker and defender deal damage equal to their Power. Cards that take damage equal to or exceeding their Power (or Durability) go to the Graveyard. Any remaining damage on these cards is removed in the End phase of each turn.
When a player is attacked and can’t defend, things get dangerous – but you still have one last chance to protect your Life Points. After being attacked, you’ll reveal cards from the top of your deck equal to the incoming damage.
If you find a Pal with the Lucky icon, STOP! That attack is cancelled, and you’ll take zero damage.
Play continues until either player’s Life reaches 0, or a player has no cards left in their deck. The last player standing is the winner!
How do I start playing?
Learning to play the Palworld OCG is a breeze thanks to its snappy, streamlined rules, but you can make things even easier. Trial Decks come with a bite-sized single page of rules, a handy playmat, and a ready-to-play deck. Grab a friend with their own Trial Deck, and you’ll be ready to battle in minutes.
Anyone who’s played a TCG before knows that playing is only half the fun, though. The Palworld OCG knows it too – that’s why Trial Decks come with a sealed Booster Pack to kickstart your collection. The deck is carefully constructed to show you the ropes of the game, but who knows what rare Pals might be in that Booster?
You’ll have to grab one to find out! The Palworld OCG’s first set, Dawn of Palpagos, as well as its two Trial Decks, are available worldwide from July 30. Head to the Palworld OCG website to find out more!
Source: Wargamer
