Traditional battle
Every active player reveals one card. Rank order is 2 through 10,
Jack, Queen, King, Ace. Suits never break ties. The highest card takes
every committed card, placed at the bottom in visible commitment
order.
Multi-player war
Only players tied for the highest rank continue. Each commits exactly
three face-down cards and one face-up card. Lower cards remain in the
pot. A player unable to supply all four cards is eliminated
immediately and commits every remaining card.
Modes
Classic uses pure rules. Power War adds loadouts. Wager Battle adds
fictional chips. Tournament is a four-stage ladder with entry costs
and unlocks. Quick Match exposes all options. Survival advances
through increasingly difficult tables while retaining progress.
Powers
Powers use energy, charges, and battle cooldowns. Resolution order is
defense, Counter, rank changes, replacement, battle modifiers, then
post-win effects. A canceled power loses its charge, enters cooldown,
and refunds half energy rounded down. Counter cannot be countered.
Shielded contributions return in commitment order; Recovery returns
the two most recently contributed cards in that same order. Scout
expires on the next reveal or Swap. In sudden death, Shield, Recovery,
and Scout are unavailable.
Wagering
Every player antes 10 fictional chips. During each war stage, tied
players may check, call, raise, or fold. A player unable to ante is
bankrupt and eliminated. There is one matched raise per war stage,
capped so every remaining participant can call; Double Stakes doubles
its configured raise amount. Bankrolls never go below zero.
Match length & stalemates
Choose full elimination, 30/40/45 cards, 3/5/10 minutes, or 25/50/100
points. Timed ties use card count, total rank value, battle wins, then
the final reveal. Repeated states first cause one ownership-preserving
shuffle; a repeat or 5,000-battle limit starts 20-battle sudden death
using the same tie-break order.
Controls
Space or Enter reveals or resolves. Number keys 1–5 select powers; E
activates. A toggles auto-play. P or Escape pauses. C calls and F
folds in a war. Alt+1, Alt+2, and Alt+4 change speed. R confirms a
restart. Touch and mouse users can tap the deck and the matching HTML
controls.