TOMEBOUND

TomeBound is a fast-paced, spell-slinging dueling game by Lothar Bacher. Disrupt your foe with a deluge of wind and water, build and demolish with powerful earth spells, and reduce your enemy to ashes with an onslaught of fire and lightning. TomeBound is a game of planning, timing, clever counter play, and epic battle magic! A deckless deckbuilder that approaches the classic concept of dueling wizards from a new and unique perspective!

And there is a Nether Regionz expansion pack coming soon to the Nether Regionz Kickstarter HERE!

Setup

TomeBound's setup is simple. Find a friend, shuffle the deck, and deal five cards face up to the stacks. Once the game begins, players will be able to take cards from the stacks, but the players don't start with any cards. Set your life counter to 25, choose a first player, and you're ready to jump into the game!

The turn

The first player's first turn will consist of 2 actions; Each player's turn for the rest of the game will consist of 3 actions until one player's life reaches 0. On their turn, a player may perform any combination of the following actions:

Research

A player may take a card from the stacks and put it in their hand. At the end of the turn, they will replace it with a card from the top of the deck.

Bind

A player may play a card from their hand as a page into a new or existing spellbook.

Cast

A player may cast a spell from their hand if they have a spellbook with pages that match the cost of that spell. When they do, they return the pages in that spellbook to their hand, and resolve the effects on the spell they cast. An Aura or a Barrier spell will stay in play, otherwise, the spell will also be returned to their hand for use as a page in another spellbook or to cast again later.

The game ends when a player's life reaches 0.

TomeBound is a deckless deckbuilder! That means the cards you draft never get shuffled away. Once you research a spell, it's yours to bind into spellbooks as a page or cast throughout rest of the game. Also, there is no 'drafting phase' in TomeBound. Spending an action to research comes at the opportunity cost of spending one or more of your three actions per turn. You'll need more than a lucky top deck to win in TomeBound! You'll have to plan ahead, and draft responsibly! 

TomeBound is easy to learn, but the strategy is nuanced and deep. You'll need to familiarize yourself with the various spells, strategies, and elemental combinations to outmaneuver and out-magic your opponent. Let's discuss the elements!

Fire magic sets your opponents ablaze with magical flames that can deal tremendous damage if not dealt with. Cards with the Blaze mechanic will put blaze tokens on your opponent that will deal damage each turn until the flames are extinguished. Blaze only works if the spell damages your opponent's life, so beware your enemy's protective barriers!

Earth magic creates barriers and destroys them better than any other element. A spell with Crush will deal additional damage when directed towards an Aura or Barrier spell. Cleverly using Crush can lead to extremely high damage, making an opponent question whether their Barrier or Aura spell was even worth the effort.

Water magic requires planning and timing, but your patience will be rewarded with powerful disruption and high damage output. Drench your opponent so they can't cast a spell on their next turn, or unleash a powerful Frostbite spell while they are still Drenched for devastating results

Wind magic uses speed and tempo to control your enemies and make consistent, incremental gains throughout your duel. Gust your opponents and they will be stuck picking up the pages of their well-planned spellbooks, or shoot into the lead by taking extra actions.

Lightning magic is a direct and simple answer to your opponent's strategy. Use a spell with Charge, then spend it to activate the Discharge effect of one of your lightning spells. A little bit of sequencing makes for a lot of direct damage and pressure

"Intuitive, strategic, and an all around blast to play. TomeBound hits all the notes and just feels right. Easily the new top pick for 2 player games in my collection."

-Jeremy Peggins, The Game Haven

"The concept of ‘easy to learn, hard to master’ is such an overdone cliché, but there are few better ways to describe TomeBound. You think you get it early, but you keep learning dozens of games in. It’s the simplest deckbuilder I’ve ever played, but deep enough that the counterplay keeps the game seriously interesting for a long time. I will play this with my mom and with my gaming group."

-Chris Cook, Director Super Smash Con

"The first time I played a game with Matt it was obvious he was a naturally gifted game designer. He intuitively grasped structures, intelligently prioritized decisions, and enjoyed meaningful choices and counterplay. His work in TomeBound is a perfect example of bringing that tight balance between investment and payoff into an exciting two player card game. I've had the opportunity to see him develop this game from a rough paper prototype into this beautiful spell slinging treasure - back it now! You'll have a fantastic game to share with a friend and will be investing in the future of a great game designer."

-Dorian Newcomb, Oxide Games