HOW TO PLAY
Twin Tower City is a two-player or team-based card game. It’s a game of skill, strategy, and luck.
One side plays the Forces of Light (The Patriots). The other side plays the Forces of Darkness (The Cabal).
A Twin Tower City card deck consists of 80 cards (50 Battle Cards, 10 Dark Army Cards, 5 Dark Warrior Cards, 10 Light Army Cards, 5 Light Warrior Cards).
Games are played in rounds of five battles.
Before the game, each player draws 17 random cards from their deck, as follows:
The 50 Battle Cards are shuffled, and 13 random cards are drawn for each player
The 10 Dark Army Cards are shuffled, and 3 random cards are drawn for the Dark player
The 5 Dark Warrior Cards are shuffled, and 1 random card is drawn for the Dark player
The 10 Light Army Cards are shuffled, and 3 random cards are drawn for the Light player
The 5 Light Warrior Cards are shuffled, and 1 random card is drawn for the Light player
Before looking at any of their drawn cards, each player deals five Battle Cards from the top of their hand, face down, and facing the other player’s five Battle Cards, as shown below. These pairs of Battle Cards represent the starting position for each of the five rounds. The players are now free to look at their remaining cards.
During each round, each player will play another two cards, in addition to the card already played. This means three cards are played per player per round. At the end, after five rounds, 15 of each player’s 17 drawn cards will have been played, and two cards per player will remain unplayed.
The objective is to win the round by playing three cards that have a combined Power value greater than the Power of the opponent’s three cards.
BEGIN ROUND ONE BY FLIPPING THE FIRST PAIR OF BATTLE CARDS
Both players flip their Round 1 Battle Cards on the table face up (the other four pairs of Battle Cards for the next four rounds remain face down).
Each Battle Card depicts a Dark Warrior, a Dark Item, a Light Warrior, and a Light Item.
Each Warrior and Item has a Power value. The Power of an Item increases if wielded by a specific Warrior, or if wielded against a specific opponent’s Warrior.
For example, the Virus has a base Power of 6. When wielded by Doctor Sickle, the Virus gains a +5 Bonus. When wielded against Don Triumph, the Virus also gains a +5 Bonus. If the Virus is wielded by Doctor Sickle against Don Triumph, then it gains both bonuses for a total Power of 6+5+5=16.
For Item bonuses to take effect, the wielder or opponent do not need to appear on the same card as the item. If Doctor Sickle appears on any of the six cards played by either player by the end of the round, and Virus also appears on any of those six cards, then Doctor Sickle is assumed to wield the Virus. Likewise, if Don Triumph appears on any of those six cards, then the Virus is assumed to be used against Don Triumph and gains a +5 Bonus.
CONTINUE ROUND ONE BY PLAYING THE SECOND PAIR OF BATTLE CARDS
The players toss a coin or roll dice to decide who will play first.
The first player selects a Battle Card from their deck and plays it behind their own first card.
Then the second player also selects a Battle Card from their deck and plays it behind their own first card.
The second player usually has an advantage as they get to see their opponent’s second card before playing their own second card.
The objective for each player is to play a second card that maximizes their own Power and Bonuses, while minimizing their opponent’s Bonuses.
Every Battle Card played depicts a player’s own Warrior and Item, but also depicts a Warrior and Item that their opponent will be using against them.
For example, if a Light player sees that either player’s first card depicts the Virus, then playing a card depicting Don Triumph next may not be a good idea, because Don Triumph is weak to the Virus. It also might not be a good idea for the Light player to play a card depicting Doctor Sickle, since that would give his opponent a +5 Bonus.
Likewise, if a Dark player sees that either player’s first card depicts the Virus, then it might be a good idea for the Dark player to play a card depicting Doctor Sickle next (if Doctor Sickle doesn’t already appear on one of the first cards) in order to gain the +5 Bonus.
Each Dark and Light warrior can only participate once in a battle. If two cards are played depicting Don Triumph, then only one can participate. The other one, and the item they could normally wield, are nullified. For example, if a Light player sees that one of the cards on the board already depicts Don Triumph, then it makes little sense to play another card depicting Don Triumph, unless they have no other option.
This feature can be used to the advantage of either player. If a Dark player sees that a card depicting Don Triumph is already on the board, then the Dark player can play another card depicting Don Triumph, thereby gaining Power from his own dark Warrior and Item on that card, while ensuring his card provides no Power to the Light player.
There is no similar restriction on Items. If an Item is depicted on multiple cards, then it can participate multiple times, as long as there is a Warrior to wield each copy of the item.
FINISH ROUND ONE BY PLAYING THE THIRD PAIR OF CARDS
The player who went first goes second now (so the advantage switches).
For their third card, each player can choose to simply play another Battle Card as described in the previous section.
Alternatively, instead of playing a Battle Card, each player can instead choose to play an Army Card or a Warrior Card as their third card. There are not enough Army Cards and Warrior Cards to do this in all five rounds, so players should decide carefully when to play these cards.
Army Cards
Army cards depict five Dark Warriors or five Light Warriors. The player can choose to replace any TWO of their own Warriors already on the table, with any TWO of the five Warriors depicted on the Army Card. This tactic can be used to pick up bonuses from a player’s own items, nullify bonuses from their opponent’s items, or rectify a situation where two identical Warriors are on the board (meaning one Warrior was nullified). Playing an Army Card will not always be advantageous. Sometimes it will be better to play a regular Battle Card, or a Warrior Card.
Warrior Cards
A Warrior Card depicts a leveled-up version of a single Dark or Light Warrior. By playing this card, any one of the player’s own warriors already on the table is replaced with the new leveled-up Warrior. For example, a Light player could replace a Patriot Anon (Power 4) with a Level 10 Don Triumph (Power 18). Playing a Warrior Card will often be sufficient to secure victory in any round, but each player only has one of these cards per game, and therefore must decide carefully when to play it.
TIP: If a Warrior is replaced using an Army Card or Warrior Card, it might be helpful to obscure the image of the original Warrior (for example, place a coin on top) so both players know which Warrior was removed from play.
SCORING
At the end of the three rounds, the Power values are calculated for each side based on the Warriors and Items depicted on the six cards in play.
If there are more Light Items on the board than Light Warriors (because one or more Light Warrior is nullified due to multiple copies of the same Warrior) then the Light player must decide which one or more of their Light Items is also to be nullified (since there is nobody to wield the Item/Items).
In addition to Warrior and Item Power values, the Environments also confer a bonus to either side.
Depending on whether Battle Cards or Army/Warrior Cards were played as the third pair, either four, five, or six of the played cards will depict an Environment.
For example, in the game we’ve been following, there are four Environments in play at the end. The Army Card and Warrior Card played as the third pair do not include Environment bonuses.
BEGIN ROUND TWO BY FLIPPING THE NEXT PAIR OF BATTLE CARDS
The winner of Round 1 is noted. The cards played during Round 1 can be cleared away, or can remain on the table, but they can’t be used again in subsequent rounds.
Round 2 begins and gameplay resumes by flipping the next pair of Battle Cards that were placed face down on the table at the beginning of the game. The player who began first in the first round begins second in the second round.
As each round proceeds, the number of cards available in each player’s hand diminishes. If a player uses their best cards in early rounds, then they won’t be available for later rounds.
After five rounds, the player who won the most rounds is victorious. All cards are returned to the deck, the cards are shuffled, 17 cards are dealt to each player, and a new game of five rounds can begin.
GAMEPLAY FORMATS
Twin Tower City can be played by anyone simply by printing a random selection of 80 NFTs to use as the deck (50 Battle Cards, 10 Dark Army Cards, 5 Dark Warrior Cards, 10 Light Army Cards, 5 Light Warrior Cards). There are 19,700 Twin Tower City NFTs, so the range of potential decks is almost infinite.
The TTC team also plans to produce professionally printed decks of cards for public sale.
Multi-player is possible with any number of players. Each player joins either the Light or Dark team and contributes a card or cards to each round. As long as both teams play an equal number of cards in each round, then the standard rules can apply. The main challenge is the additional complexity of calculating the final score if the number of cards in play during each round is greater than the standard six cards.
This is where online play comes in. An online game will make it much easier to keep track of scores when many cards and players are involved.
We intend to develop a browser-based online game where players can combine their Twin Tower City NFT collections into decks and hands, and compete with other players for fun, or for profit (by staking cryptocurrency or their own cards).
Players with rarer and more powerful cards will generally be more successful, but to keep the games fair, there will be options to compete only against players with roughly equally powered cards.
Players who don’t own enough Twin Tower City NFTs to create their own full hand (i.e. 17 cards) will be able to contribute any cards they do own to a team, or they can use a randomly generated hand. So the online game will be available to everyone, not just to players who own many cards.
The development of this game is dependent on sufficient funds being raised through the initial NFT sale.
GAMEPLAY VARIATIONS
These variations are available to make the game simpler, or more complex, depending on the skill level of the participants.
Starting cards begin face up. All five pairs of starting cards for each of the five rounds can be flipped face up at the beginning of the game. This increases complexity and forces both players to better strategize about which cards they might wish to reserve in their hands for later rounds.
Open Hands. Both players place their hand cards face up in a row on the table. This further increases complexity and forces both players to better strategize about which cards their opponents might play next. For example, one player might try to force the other player to use his most valuable card in the first round.
Environment bonuses are ignored. This option is available to slightly simplify the scoring process.
All bonuses are ignored. Scores are calculated simply using the base Power value of each Warrior and Item. This option greatly simplifies the scoring process but eliminates most of the strategy. This is a good option for quick games, or for kids who wish to play. If kids are playing, please first remove any cards with quotes that might be too dark.
Random Dark and Light Bonuses. This option will be available for online play only. Each Battleground Card NFT also includes a Random Dark Bonus trait and Random Light Bonus trait. These random bonus values are unrelated to the images displayed on the card and can confer an additional random element to online gameplay. This option is not available for offline/in-person games as there is nothing on the cards to visibly represent these bonus values.
EXAMPLE:
The Dark player flips a card in D.U.M.B. North East (Dark Environment, Power 3)
The Light player flips a card in Cityscape East (Light Environment, Power 1)
Combined, the cards depict the following Dark Warriors and Dark Items:
Patriot Anon (Light Warrior, Power 4). Don Triumph (Light Warrior, Power 9).
X22 Missile (Light Item, Power 5). The Constitution (Light Item, Power 8).
Blamtifa Thug (Dark Warrior, Power 3). Pedro Peter (Dark Warrior, Power 4).
Muzzle (Dark Item, Power 5 + 5 Bonus, as this is Pedro Peter’s preferred Item). Virus (Dark Item, Power 6 + 5 Bonus, as Don Triumph is weak to this Item).
Total Light Power = 1+4+9+5+8=27.
Total Dark Power = 3+3+4+5+5+6+5=31
At this stage, the Forces of Darkness are in the lead.
EXAMPLE: The players toss a coin and the Dark player resolves to play first.
The Dark player selects from his hand a card in Subway North (Dark Environment).
Then the Light player selects from his hand a card in Snowfields North West (Light Environment).
Combined, the cards on the board now depict the following:
Environments: Cityscape (P1). Snowfields (P2). D.U.M.B (P3). Subway (P3).
Light Warriors: Patriot Anon (P4). Don Triumph (P9). Lady Triumph (P5). Kenosha Kid (P4).
Light Items: X22 Missile (P5). The Constitution (P8). Red Pill (P3+5, as this is Patriot Anon’s preferred Item). AR-15 (P1+5+5, as this is Kenosha Kid’s preferred Item, and also Blamtifa Thug is weak to this Item).
Dark Warriors: Blamtifa Thug (P3). Pedro Peter (P4). Renegade (P7). Crooked (P7).
Dark Items: Muzzle (P5+5). Virus (P6+5). Bioweapon (6). False Flag (P3+5, as Kenosh Kid is weak to this Item).
Total Light Power = 1+2+4+9+5+4+5+8+3+5+1+5+5= 57
Total Dark Power = 3+3+3+4+7+7+5+5+6+5+6+3+5=62
The Dark player has increased his lead by one point.
EXAMPLE: Because the Dark player played his second card first, now the Light player goes first.
Instead of playing a Battle Card, the Light player decides to play his Warrior Card (Don Triumph Level 9). Don Triumph has a base Power of 9, so Don Triumph Level 9 has a Power of 9+9=P18. This Warrior Card can replace any Light Warrior on the table, but since Don Triumph is already on the table, and only one instance of the same Warrior can participate, it only makes sense to replace Don Triumph (base) with Don Triumph Level 9.
Instead of playing a Battle Card, the Dark player decides to play one of his three Army Cards. With this move, he can replace up to two of his Warriors on the table with any two Warriors depicted on the Army card. In this case he decides to make only one switch. He replaces Blamtifa Thug with Doctor Sickle. This is a devastating move.
Since Blamtifa Thug is no longer on the table, the Light Player loses one of his +5 Bonuses for the AR-15 Item.
And since Doctor Sickle is now on the table, the Dark player gains another +5 Bonus for the Virus Item.
In addition, Doctor Sickle (P6) is already more powerful than Blamtifa Thug (P3).
So while the Light player increased his score by 9 points (by replacing Don Triumph base (P9) with Don Triumph Level 9 (P18), the Dark player increased his score by 8 points, and reduced the Light Player’s score by 5 points.
The final scores are shown on the next graphic.
EXAMPLE: The Dark player extended his lead again by replacing Blamtifa Thug with Doctor Sickle.
Combined, the cards on the board now depict the following:
Light Warriors: Patriot Anon (P4). Lady Triumph (P5). Don Triumph Lvl 9 (P18). Kenosha Kid (P4).
Light Items: X22 Missile (P5). The Constitution (P8). Red Pill (P3+5). AR-15 (P1+5).
Dark Warriors: Doctor Sickle (P6). Renegade (P7). Pedro Peter (P4). Crooked (P7).
Dark Items: Muzzle (P5+5). Bioweapon (6). Virus (P6+5+5). False Flag (P3+5).
Environments: Cityscape (P1). Snowfields (P2). D.U.M.B (P3). Subway (P3).
Total Light Power = 4+5+18+4+5+8+3+5+1+5+1+2=61
Total Dark Power = 6+7+4+7+5+5+6+6+5+5+3+5+3+3=70
The Dark player wins this round by 9 points. But perhaps he has already played some of his best cards now, and may not be so successful in the following four rounds.