HOW TO PLAY

You are the Abstract

Your core — 30 HP of latent essence — rests at the centre of your geometry. Reduce the enemy core to 0 to win. There is no separate hero: the concept itself is the life you defend.

Turns

• Each turn you gain a mana crystal (up to 10), refill mana, and draw a card.
• Drag followers from your hand onto the empty nodes (dots) of your geometry. Each node grants a different bonus — hover a dot to see it.
• Spells are cast by clicking them; they resolve immediately (some need a target).
• Each follower may act once per turn — but not the turn it is played (zZ).
• Your deck never runs dry: when it empties, your spent cards shuffle back in — the litany begins anew. But a card drawn to a full hand is forgotten, gone from the cycle for good.
• From turn 25, both cores decay at the start of each turn (1, then 2, then 3…). No duel lasts forever.

The ritual: links and essence

Followers played on adjacent nodes form a link — the edge between them lights up. Links are the conduit of the ritual:

• Invoke — a follower with an invoke value (the violet badge) may channel it into your essence instead of attacking, but only while linked. An isolated follower cannot invoke (its badge dims). Not every follower can invoke.
• Communion — start your turn with every node filled and the complete circle channels +1 essence per follower, passively. Your opponent will want to break the circle before your turn comes.

Essence is a currency

• Summoning your form costs essence — 8 for Fear, 12 for Knowledge, 15 for Justice — and 5 more each time it is unmade.
• Your form's ability — once per turn, while your form is in play, pay its cost to unleash it.

The manifested form

While your form is in play it shields your core completely — all damage strikes the form until it is unmade. The form cannot attack or invoke; it protects, triggers its arrival power, exerts its aura (all auras trigger at the start of your turn), and offers its ability.

• FEAR (6 HP, summons at 8) — cheap to conjure, quick to fall, always returning. Arrival: empty nodes fill with 1/1 Terror Spiders. Aura: 3 damage and a random enemy follower is Terrified (cannot act next turn). Brood (3): summon a 2/2 Giant Spider that deals 1 damage on death.
• JUSTICE (10 HP) — arrival: Day of Judgement, each enemy follower takes damage equal to its own Attack. Aura: if outnumbered, 2 damage to a random enemy follower; if outnumbering, restore 2 HP; at equal numbers, both. Verdict (6): destroy the strongest enemy follower.
• KNOWLEDGE (10 HP, summons at 12) — arrival: Awakening, your followers gain +1 invoke value, draw a card. Aura: draw a card and gain 1 mana. Insight (4): draw 2 cards; in communion, also gain 1 essence and deal 1 damage. Knowledge alone can distil its diagram: spells dissolve empty nodes forever, the circle tightens, and communion comes closer.

Press Esc, click Cancel, or click empty ground to deselect. Every turn is the same dilemma: press the attack, hold the line, or feed the circle.

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