Basic introduction to the my little pony collectable card game.

[RainbowTashie 378]

Here are the basics for the my little pony collectible card game that i put together to be as simple as possible. For anyone who has heard of it or is curious about playing. I think the game is very good in my opinion. 

 

Basics

 

A deck consists of a minimum of 45 cards, a mane character(who is in play all the time) and a deck of 10 problem cards. 

The aim of the game is to solve problems which provide you with points up to a maximum of 15. In order to solve problem cards you need to meet the requirements that are on the card. They are represented as the elements of harmony or 6 colours. For example, a standard problem may require 2 yellow and two blue in order to solve it. You will need to either play or move ponies there with the correct requirement in order to receive points from that problem.

 

There are always two problem cards in play your card and your opponent's. You may solve either or both of them. If you both meet the requirements at the same problem that results in a problem faceoff. A faceoff involves adding up the combined power of your ponies at a problem and comparing that to the score of your opponent. The player with the most power gains a point for winning the faceoff in addition to any bonus points that problem may have. If one player is solving both problems it is called a double faceoff and that player may use all the ponie's power that they control on both problems.

 

There are several phases in the game.

 

Ready phase

 

.Draw a card (what it says on the tin)

 

.Ready any exhausted characters

 

When a character is exhausted it is flipped on its side and cannot contribute it's power to problems or faceoffs) readying a card turns it back to normal.

 

.Collect action tokens

 

Action tokens are used to play cards. For example a card may cost 2 action tokens to play.The number you receive per turn is based on the winning players score; so you will never be at a disadvantage.

 

Troublemaker phase

 

Trouble maker cards represent the villains in equestria. You may turn any trouble makers face up in this phase as well as confront troublemakers. Troublemaker cards make it harder for the opponent to solve problems. They have to first confront the troublemaker before they can solve the problem.

 

Main phase

 

.Play cards

see how many action tokens a card costs to put into play and if you have enough put into play!

 

.Draw additional cards

 

You may draw additional cards for one action token each

 

.Move cards

 

Cards can be moved for 2 action tokens. They can be moved from your home to a problem or from a problem to another problem or from a problem to home. Regardless of the card's cost it will always cost 2 to move unless you have game text that says otherwise.

 

Score phase

 

In the score phase you receive points for solving problems and also resolve any faceoffs. You receive bonus points for being the first for solving a problem and a standard one point if you are the second to solve it or have previously solved it. You may 'spam' points for each turn you are solving it providing you are constantly meeting the problems requirements until another player solves the same problem or both problems=faceoff begins.

 

End phase

 

.Make sure you have no more than 8 cards in your hand if you do then you will have to discard until you have 8

 

.Make sure you have no more ponies at home than described in your home limit. (A home limit is how many friends you are allowed at home. It is decided by your main character it is usually 4 or 5 depending on which mane you chose. YOUR MANE CHARACTER DOES NOT COUNT TOWARDS THIS.

 

On the playmat

 

Things you will see in front of you:

 

.Your home 

 

(where your mane character starts off and where ponies go if they lose a faceoff friends and resource cards can be played here.

 

.Your deck

 

.your problem

 

.your opponent's problem

 

.discard pile

 

Discarded cards go here( no brainer)

 

.Banished pile

 

When a card is banished it cannot re enter play during the game whereas discarded cards can be retrieved if you have a card that permits it.

 

 

Types of cards

 

Mane character

Your mane character is with you throughout the whole game. They are double sided a start side and a boosted side. In order to turn a card to it's boosted side you need to meet the requirements as depicted on the start side. (It is worth flipping it over because it provides more power as well as other beneficial game text)

 

Problem cards

The main source of winning the game

 

Event cards

Event cards can be played in the phase that it depicts on the cards. They can only be used once then are discarded after use.

 

Resource cards

Resource cards can be played to your home or on other cards they become attached to the card you place them on.

 

Friend card

A Friend card depicts anypony who can be found in the show from earth ponies to griffons. They all have different costs(how many action tokens it costs to play them) different power(how much they contribute) different abilities( for example there is one called swift that enables you to move a pony for one less action token) and obviously the colour of the card pinkie is pink duh.

 

Troublemaker cards

Trouble maker cards are the monsters of this card game and can make it harder for the opponent to solve problems. They enter play at a problem face down and can be turned over in your next troublemaker phase. There are a few cards out there that allow you to flip them over the same turn they were played but i won't go into that now.

 

Sorry about the wall of text but i hope it clears it up for anyone who wants to start playing the game. I am willing to answer any questions you may have.

 

The cards also look great in a folder if you want to just collect them.

 

There are 3 expansions out so far. You will find that the first one had better or OP cards because now they are trying to make games last longer. But the other 2 are really good if you dive into it. They are called:

 

.Premiere

.Canterlot nights

.The crystal games

 

 There are also 2 mini sets:

.rock n rave set

.celestial solistice set

 

these contain cards that can't be obtained in boosters.

 

It is an expensive hobby for die hard collectors since promo cards are constantly being released. But it is easy to make a good deck on a budget try ponyhead.com for inspiration.

 

There are some downloadable printable cards on enterplay's facebook page so you can find out if you like it without spending money. Pm me for the link.

 

If you do fancy a gamble the starter decks are pretty cheap and have everything you need to start playing.

 

Have fun!