Gauntlet

New-player setup · canonical v0.6.1

Your first game starts here.

Learn the shape of Gauntlet, choose the institution and leader that interest you, then load a complete recommended starter deck ready to print.

Begin Open the rulebook
  1. 1UnderstandSee what the game is and what each player needs.
  2. 2ChoosePick a faction and one of its two leaders.
  3. 3LearnRead the shared first-game flow in play order.
  4. 4PrintLoad the matching starter deck and print the package.

Step 1 · Understand

A campaign fought across six territories.

Gauntlet is a two-player tactical card-and-territory game. Each player brings a different faction, leader, deck, and three-territory line.

Advance, fight, and hold what you take.

The players join their territory lines into one six-position battlefield called the Gauntlet. They advance toward one another, commit hidden cards in battle, build lasting assets, occupy enemy ground, and capture it only after holding it through the opponent's turn.

The normal victory is to capture the opponent's final territory, advance beyond the battlefield, and win the resulting Last Stand. Five factions also have an additional victory route tied to their own system.

What each player needs

  • One faction and one leader
  • One 30-card recommended starter deck
  • Three different territories
  • One player token and one six-sided die
  • Any trackers, references, or supplemental cards used by that faction

The Deckbuilder print package includes the chosen leader, playable cards, territories, strategy summary, and required printable faction components. Tokens and dice are supplied separately.

You need another player. Each player should complete this page separately and print a different starter deck. You can learn together; neither player needs to act as a permanent teacher.

Step 2 · Choose

Which institution will you lead?

Scan all six. Open the full guide only for factions that catch your attention; you do not need to study every option before choosing.

Choose a faction
Choose one of that faction's leaders

Choose a faction first.

Step 3 · Learn

Follow the first game in play order.

This teaches the ordinary flow. Keep the browser rulebook and Rules Arbiter available for exact timing, faction procedures, and unusual interactions.

The shape of play

One action opportunity. One movement. Every advance matters.

On your turn, capture ground you held, draw a card, decide when to use your action opportunity, move, resolve any battle immediately, then clean up. Your faction changes what you can build toward, but both players share this same turn and battle structure.

01

Cards and zones

Your hand is private. Your draw pile supplies cards; your discard pile can be recycled; your graveyard normally cannot. Face-up assets remain in your asset bank.

Cards may have an action, gambit, tactic, or flexible battle effect. An action is played from hand during your action opportunity. Gambits and tactics are committed during battle.

02

Setup

  1. Shuffle each playable deck.
  2. Secretly arrange each three-territory line.
  3. Join the lines and reveal all six territories.
  4. Prepare leaders, trackers, references, and faction components.
  5. Place each token just before its own end territory.
  6. Each player draws three cards.
  7. Roll to determine the first player; reroll ties.
03

Your turn

  1. Capture: capture enemy ground you still occupy from the previous turn.
  2. Draw: draw one card.
  3. Action before movement: use your action opportunity now or save it.
  4. Movement: advance, hold, or withdraw; resolve any battle immediately.
  5. Action after movement: use the opportunity here if you saved it.
  6. Cleanup: resolve end-of-turn effects and discard down to three cards in hand.
04

Actions and assets

During your action opportunity, play one card for its action or use a faction action that explicitly consumes the opportunity. Most one-time actions go to the discard pile.

Some cards become assets and remain in play. Your normal asset limit equals the number of territories you control.

05

Movement

Move one position toward the opponent, remain where you are, or move one position toward your own end. Entering the opponent's position starts a battle.

A battle ends the movement that started it. Winning does not automatically let you keep moving unless a card, leader ability, or rule specifically says so.

06

Battle sequence

  1. Resolve effects that happen as the battle opens.
  2. Each player may set one eligible hand card as a face-down gambit.
  3. Set hands aside and draw three cards as each player's private reserve.
  4. Reveal and resolve gambits.
  5. Each player may choose one eligible reserve card as a face-down tactic.
  6. Reveal and resolve tactics.
  7. Roll dice and determine the higher battle total.
  8. Resolve the aftermath.

When totals tie while the defender controls the contested territory, Defender's Advantage means the defender wins.

07

Aftermath

The loser retreats. The winner takes or keeps the contested position. Gambits normally enter the graveyard; tactics and unused reserve cards normally enter the discard pile.

Return each player's permanent hand after the temporary battle cards have gone to their proper zones.

08

Control and capture

Occupying an enemy territory does not capture it immediately. You must still occupy it at the start of your next turn. During that turn's capture step, rotate it to face you and take control.

This gives the opponent one turn to counterattack before the capture becomes permanent.

09

Run the Gauntlet

Push across the battlefield, capture the opponent's final territory, and advance beyond the column. This begins a Last Stand battle.

The defender wins tied totals there and separately adds +1 to their battle total. Win the Last Stand to run the Gauntlet and win the game.