Field Guide
How to Play
Be the first to collect 3 Qi cards to win. Use elemental creatures to attack, perform combos, and cast spells to steal Qi from your rivals.
Prototype for playtest. Cyclémental is still under active development — these rules are a work in progress and subject to change.
Field guide updated 18 July 2026
How It Works
Welcome to the game of Cyclémental! The rules are pretty simple: be the first to collect 3 Qi cards to win the game. Use elemental creatures to attack, perform combos, or cast a spell to take Qi cards from other players. Or, if you're lucky, you might just draw a Qi card for free!
The Elemental Cycle
The elemental cycle balances each element by working like rock, paper, scissors — but with five elements.
Fire burns Wood and melts Metal.
Wood breaks Earth and absorbs Water.
Earth holds Metal and extinguishes Fire.
Metal carries Water and cuts Wood.
Water quenches Fire and dissolves Earth.
Setup
- 1Remove all 8 Qi cards from the deck.
- 2Deal 5 cards to each player and 1 Qi card as a starter (6 cards total). Keep your hand secret, but you can place your Qi down.
- 3Shuffle the additional Qi cards back into the deck. The game can now begin.
Tip · Qi cards by player count
Qi Cards
8 cards
- When drawn, Qi cards enter your hand like any other card.
- Qi cards cannot be used as elemental cards or discarded voluntarily.
- Qi cards' backs are distinct, so everyone can see them.
- Qi cards can be stolen through Attacks, Combos, and Spells.
- If you hold 3 Qi cards at the start of your turn, declare it and you win!
On Your Turn
Start your turn by doing any of the following, in any order:
Attack
Attack another player.
Combo
Play a Hand Combination (only once per turn).
Spell
Cast a Spell card.
Then, end your turn by drawing a card.
1Attacking
Attacking lets you take a card from an opponent if it succeeds. Choose 1 element card (any) and declare your attack on a target player. Your opponent may counter with 1 card of an element that beats yours, if they have one.
- For example, if you attack with Fire, your target might defend by playing a Water or Earth card (see the elemental cycle).
- If countered successfully, the defender chooses between keeping their counter card OR your attacking card. The other is discarded — you cannot counter back.
- If not countered, your target has to give you 1 card of their choice. Your attacking card also returns to your hand.
- Attacks may also be countered by Spell Cards or Hand Combos.
Failed attack
Your opponent counters with an effective element, Spell, or Combo. They choose to keep either your attack card OR their defense card — the other is discarded.
Successful attack
They have nothing to counter with — lucky you! Your opponent gives you 1 card of their choice, and you also get your attacking card back.
2Hand Combos
Play Doubles or Triples combos to trigger special effects unique to each element. Combos can only be countered using Spell Cards — not other hand combos (except for Earth's Petrify). After playing a combo, discard the cards used.
Ignite
Double Fire
Force target to give you 2 cards of their choice.
Inferno
Triple Fire
Force target to give you half their hand (rounded down), their choice.
Ripple
Double Water
Reveal target's full hand to everyone, take 1 card of your choice excluding Qi.
Vortex
Triple Water
All players pool their hands (excluding Qi), then shuffle and redeal evenly. Leftover cards go to you.
Harvest
Double Wood
Draw the top 2 cards from the deck to your hand.
Overgrowth
Triple Wood
Draw the top 4 cards from the deck to your hand.
Petrify
Double Earth
Cancel an attack, combo, or spell targeting you.
Gravity
Triple Earth
Every player with more cards than you discards down to match you after using this combo.
Calibrate
Double Metal
Look at and rearrange the top 3 cards of the deck. Take 1 card into your hand.
Transmute
Triple Metal
Look through the entire discard pile. Take any 3 cards into your hand.
Qi Mastery
When you have one of each element, you can demand 1 Qi card of your choice from any player! Be careful of getting Nullified, though.
Fun fact
Combos are designed and inspired by the nature of the elements:
FireDestructive, aggressive, passionate→DiscardWaterFluid, revealing, adaptive→IntelWoodGrowth, accumulation, patience→DrawEarthRigid, immovable, determined→DefenceMetalPrecision, control, cunning→Deck manipulation3Spells
Spell cards are played freely on your turn without spending elemental cards. Discard Spell cards after activating their effects.
Nullify
4 cardsCancel any single Attack, Combo, or Spell targeting you. This card can be played out of turn.
- You can Nullify a Nullify to negate it, and so on.
- You can Nullify any player at any time, even if it's not your turn.
- Yes — Nullify and Double Earth's Petrify are the same!
- You cannot Nullify someone's turn (use Freeze instead).
Hotpot
4 cardsPlayer with the largest hand must give cards to the smallest hand until equal (exclude Qi). If the difference is odd, the larger hand keeps the one extra.
- Example: you have 2 cards and target has 10 (12 total). They give you 4 cards so you both end at 6.
- Example: you have 3 and target has 10 (13 total). They give you 3 cards — 6 for you, 7 for the target.
- Do not include Qi cards in the calculations.
- Acts as an equaliser, so be careful of hoarding too much.
Red Pocket
4 cardsDraw 2 cards from the deck to your hand.
Wheel of Karma
2 cardsChoose a player. You and that player swap hands (exclude Qi).
Ancestral Offering
2 cardsRetrieve any 2 cards from the discard pile into your hand.
- This can be any cards, including elemental creatures and Spell cards.
Deflect
2 cardsRedirect any Attack, Combo, or Spell targeting you to another player of your choice instead.
- You can deflect a Nullify / Petrify combo back to the caster.
- Example: you Attack a target, they Nullify you, then you play Deflect. It Nullifies back the target, effectively unlocking your original Attack.
- You cannot block Spells or Combos that don't target you.
- Example: if someone plays Red Pocket to draw a card, there's nothing to deflect.
- If a hand combo affects everyone (like Vortex or Gravity), you cannot deflect it — there's no one to deflect to.
Devour
2 cardsDiscard 1 card, then choose a player. They must give you 2 cards of their choice.
- If the player has no cards in hand, they must give their Qi card/s.
Freeze
2 cardsDiscard 1 card, then choose a player. Their turn is skipped entirely. This card can be played out of turn.
- Frozen player cannot do anything for one turn, including drawing a card.
- Can be countered by another Spell like Nullify or Deflect, or through a hand Combo like Petrify.
Special Cards
But wait, there's more! Some creatures have special effects that make them unique from the others.
Double
1 per element · 5 cardsDoubles count as 2 instead of 1, making it easier to unleash powerful hand combos. Double elemental creatures cannot be used for Qi Mastery — to use Qi Mastery, elements must be balanced (1 each).
Blocker
2 per element · 10 cardsBlockers are only weak to 1 element instead of 2. They're perfect for attacking, as they're hard to counter.
Fireproof
Cannot be countered by Fire when attacking.
Rotproof
Cannot be countered by Wood when attacking.
Quakeproof
Cannot be countered by Earth when attacking.
Bulletproof
Cannot be countered by Metal when attacking.
Waterproof
Cannot be countered by Water when attacking.
Striker
2 per element · 10 cardsStrikers make successful attacks more rewarding, with a special effect unique to their element. If the attack is successful:
Ember
Target discards an additional 1 card.
Absorb
Draw an additional 1 card.
Quicksand
The next attack on you is cancelled.
Salvage
Take 1 card of your choice from the discard pile.
Swirl
Target gives you 1 additional card of their choice.
Cyclémental © 2026 by James Rotanson