how to play the shin megami tensei tcg

Many of the basic rules of the Shin Megami Tensei TCG are similar to those of other card games such as Magic: the Gathering. The game is made for one-on-one play, though I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to adapt the rules for play with three or more.

Familiar Cards
These cards allow the player to summon demons, gods, and other mythological entities to fight for him/her. Each Familiar possesses certain Special Abilities. Magnetite is required in order to summon Familiars; Familiars also release a certain amount of Magnetite that can be used to summon other Familiars or to use Magic and Special Abilities.

There are two kinds of Familiar Cards, normal Familiars and Fusion Familiars

A player may have a max of six Familiars in play at any given time.

Both Familiar and Partner Cards are considered Units.

Partner Cards
Partners are various characters from the Shin Megami Tensei series who will come to the player's aid. Similar to Familiars, they can participate in battle, use Special Abilities, and release Magnetite. Also like Familiars, Partners cannot use magic unless it is specified as one of their Special Abilities.

Unlike Familiars, no summoning cost is required.

You may summon one Partner per turn. A player may have a max of one male and one female Partner in play at any given time. Beginning with wave 4, male Partners are marked with a blue symbol underneath their name, and female Partners are marked with a red one.

Both Familiar and Partner Cards are considered Units.

Item Cards
Coming soon!

Magic Cards
Coming soon!

Before Play
In order to play, each player requires a deck of cards. Deck construction is simple: you must have exactly 60 cards - no more, no less - with no more than 4 of the same card permitted per deck. Otherwise, anything goes. You'll also need a 6-sided die (it's required by various Special Abilities).

Beginning the Game
At the beginning of the game, each player starts with 200 life points. This is the upper limit of life you can have; nothing can raise your life above 200, so it's all downhill from there. You win when you reduce your opponent to 0 (or fewer) life points.

Your starting hand is seven cards (seven also being the maximum hand size; during each player's turn, if he or she has more than seven they will discard down to seven).

Anatomy of a Turn
Coming soon!