Rules v0.8
Rules
A two-player card game about putting on a show. This explains everything from zero: you don’t need to have played a card game before.
Be the first to score 3 points by sending your opponent’s Stars offstage.
How to play
What’s in the game
Every card is one of two things: a Star you put on the table to fight, or a support card you play for an effect.
Stars
The performers. Only Stars have HP, attacks and Energy costs. Kid, Debut, Meme, VSTAR, BT21 and VMAX are all Stars.
Items
Play as many as you like each turn. Use it, then it goes Offstage.
Songs
Stronger than Items, so you may only play one Song per turn.
Gear
Attach to one of your Stars. It stays there until that Star is Sent Offstage, or a card removes it.
The six kinds of Star, and the numbers printed on them:
Star types
| Type | Stage | HP | Damage | Energy | Retreat | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kid | Basic | 70 | 20 | 1 | 1 | Starting form |
| Debut | Stage 1 | 100 | 50 | 2 | 2 | Grows from a Kid |
| Meme | Stage 2 | 120 | 60 | 3 | 3 | Grows from a Debut. Has an extra effect |
| VSTAR | Stage 2 | 180 | 100 | 4 | 4 | Grows from a Debut. The strongest card |
| BT21 | Basic | 80 | 40 | 2 | 1 | Has an Ability you use once a turn |
| VMAX | Basic | 100–170 | 50–100 | 4 | 1–4 | Duos, groups and pets. One per deck |
Every Star’s stage is printed at its top left. Basic cards (Kid, BT21 and VMAX) can be played straight from your hand. Stage 1 and Stage 2 cards (Debut, Meme and VSTAR) cannot: they have to grow from a Star already on the table. That’s called evolving, and it’s covered in section 08.
The table
Each player has their own side of the table, laid out like this. Your Stars stand in two areas, the Center and the Backstage; the rest holds your cards and your Energy.
Center
The Star at the front. Only your Center can attack, and it’s the only one your opponent can attack. You always have exactly one, unless it’s just been Sent Offstage.
Backstage
Up to 3 more Stars, waiting. They can’t attack and can’t be attacked, but they can hold Energy, grow, and use Abilities. It starts empty: you fill it during your turns.
Energy Zone
Where your Energy comes from. It isn’t a card and it isn’t in your deck: you simply get one Energy every turn, and it has no colour, so any Energy pays for any attack. Whatever you don’t attach that turn is lost.
Deck
Your 20 cards, face down. You draw from the top at the start of every turn. Running out isn’t a loss: you just stop drawing.
Offstage
Your discard pile. Used support cards and Stars Sent Offstage go here.
Hand
The cards you’ve drawn. Don’t show them to your opponent; play them on your turn.
Setting up
Coin: Flip a coin to see who goes first. You need to know this before you draw, because the two players draw different amounts.
Shuffle: Shuffle your 20-card deck.
Draw: The player going first draws 5 cards. The player going second draws 7: two extra cards, to make up for not moving first. Your opening hand should always contain at least one Basic card (Kid, BT21 or VMAX). If it doesn’t, shuffle it back and draw again. There’s no penalty for this.
Center: Choose a Basic card (Kid, BT21 or VMAX) from your hand and put it face-down as your Center. That’s the only Star you place now: the Backstage stays empty until your turn.
Reveal: Both players turn their Center face-up together, and the first player begins.
Who goes first
This is the coin flip from step 1 of setup, before anybody draws. The winner decides whether to go first or second.
Going first means acting before your opponent every round, which is an advantage. Two rules even it out:
Going first: you can’t attack on your first turn.
Going second: you start with 7 cards instead of 5.
That’s all. Apart from the attack, the first player’s first turn is a normal turn: they draw, take Energy and play cards as usual.
Why these rules? Going first gives you a head start, so these two rules are there to keep the game fair.
Your turn
A turn has a fixed start, a fixed end, and everything else in between happens in whatever order you like.
Start: Draw a card, then 1 Energy appears in your Energy Zone. That happens automatically: you don’t choose it.
Main: Now do any of the following, in any order, as much as each one allows. You can also skip all of it.
- Attach Energy from your Energy Zone to any of your Stars, Center or Backstage.
- Play Stars: put Basic cards (Kid, BT21 or VMAX) from your hand into your Backstage, up to the limit of 3.
- Evolve Stars already on the table.
- Play support: any number of Items, any number of Gear, and up to one Song.
- Use Abilities: each BT21 once, whether it’s your Center or Backstage.
- Retreat: swap your Center with a Backstage Star. Once per turn.
End: Attack with your Center, and your turn is over. You may always choose not to attack, and simply end your turn.
Order really is free. You can play a Basic card and then attach this turn’s Energy straight onto it. You can evolve and then attack with the Star that just evolved. The only fixed points are that you draw at the start and that attacking ends your turn.
Energy must be attached the turn you get it. The Energy Zone never carries anything over: if you don’t attach, it’s gone. You can’t skip a turn to attach two later. A few cards give you extra Energy, and that attaches straight away too.
Attacking
Your Center attacks your opponent’s Center. To attack, the Star must have at least as much Energy attached as its Energy cost.
Attacking never uses up Energy. Once a Star has enough, it can attack every turn forever.
Put damage counters on the Star that was hit. Damage stays until healed. When a Star’s damage reaches its HP, it is Sent Offstage.
Worked example
Your Debut Namjoon has 2 Energy attached and an attack that costs 2, so it can attack. It deals 50. Your opponent’s Center has 100 HP, so it now has 50 damage on it and survives. Next turn you attack again: 50 more damage reaches 100, and it’s Sent Offstage.
Strength
Every Star has a type (Fire, Water, Psychic…) and a printed Strength: the type it hits hardest. When you attack, check the Strength on your own card against the type badge on the Star you’re hitting. If they match, the attack does +10 damage.
That’s the whole rule. You never need to memorise a chart: the Strength is printed on the attacker, right where you’re reading the damage. It adds +10 once, even if a card somehow matches twice. A Star wearing a Bicycle is the one exception: attacks against it get no Strength bonus.
Which type beats which
- FireStrong againstGrass
- GrassStrong againstWater
- WaterStrong againstFire
- LightningStrong againstColorless
- FightingStrong againstLightning
- PsychicStrong againstFighting
- DarknessStrong againstPsychic
- MetalStrong againstDarkness
- DragonStrong againstMetal
- ColorlessStrong againstDragon
Evolving
Stars grow up, one stage at a time: a Stage 1 card goes on a Basic, and a Stage 2 card on a Stage 1. Place the new card directly on top of the old one: it keeps any damage and all the Energy already attached.
The path
BasicKidStage 1DebutStage 2MemeorStage 2VSTAR
A Debut can become either a Meme or a VSTAR: your choice, and you only get one. You can never skip a step, and a Meme can never become a VSTAR. BT21 and VMAX are Basic too, but they never evolve.
Two restrictions:
- It must be the same member: Debut Namjoon only goes on Kid Namjoon.
- You cannot evolve a Star the turn you played it, and nobody can evolve on their own first turn.
You can evolve Backstage Stars as well as your Center, and a Star that evolves can still attack the same turn.
Retreating
Once per turn you may swap your Center with a Backstage Star. To do it, discard Energy from the retreating Star equal to its Retreat cost: a VSTAR costs 4 Energy to retreat, a Kid only 1.
The Star you bring in keeps its own damage and Energy. Some cards let you switch without paying: those are free and don’t use up your one retreat.
Winning
When a Star’s damage reaches its HP it is Sent Offstage: it goes to its owner’s Offstage, along with everything under it and any Gear attached. The opponent scores points.
Points
| Star Sent Offstage | Opponent scores |
|---|---|
| VSTAR | 2 points |
| Anything else | 1 point |
If your Center is Sent Offstage, immediately move a Backstage Star into the Center. You win if either of these happens:
- You reach 3 points.
- Your opponent has no Stars left on the table.
Running out of cards is not a loss. If your deck is empty you simply don’t draw, and play continues.
Support cards
- Itemsany number per turn
- Play it, do what it says, then it goes Offstage.
- Songsone per turn
- Same as an Item, but you may only play one in a turn. They’re the stronger effects, so this is the limit that keeps them fair.
- Gearone per Star
- Attach to any one of your Stars, Center or Backstage. A Star can only carry one Gear at a time, and once attached it keeps working every turn. It comes off in only two ways: the Star is Sent Offstage, in which case the Gear goes Offstage along with it, or a card removes it. The Item BTS Meal discards a Gear from one of your opponent’s Stars. Nothing else can move or remove Gear.
- BT21 Abilitiesonce per turn each
- Not a card you play: it’s printed on the BT21 Star itself. Use it once on your turn, whether that BT21 is your Center or Backstage. Every BT21 Ability starts with a coin flip: heads is good for you, tails isn’t.
Quick reference
Everything on one page
| Win by | 3 points: 2 for a VSTAR, 1 for anything else |
|---|---|
| Deck | 20 cards · max 2 of a name · 1+ BT21 · exactly 1 VMAX |
| Opening hand | 5 cards going first, 7 going second, always with a Basic card |
| Table | 1 Center + up to 3 Backstage · setup places the Center only |
| Each turn | Draw 1 · gain 1 Energy · everything else in any order · attacking ends your turn |
| Going first | Turn 1 only: no attack |
| Per turn | Items unlimited · 1 Song · 1 retreat · each Ability once |
| Strength | +10 damage, once, read off the attacker |
| Evolving | Basic → Stage 1 → Stage 2 · not the turn it arrived · not on your first turn · 1 VSTAR per game |
| Energy | 1 per turn, attach it that turn or lose it · never used up by attacking · discarded to retreat |
| Empty deck | Not a loss: you just don’t draw |
Deck building
Building a deck
The four rules
| Deck size | Exactly 20 cards |
|---|---|
| Copies | At most 2 cards with the same name |
| BT21 | At least 1 |
| VMAX | Exactly 1 |
Beyond that, anything goes. Two pieces of advice for a first deck:
- Pick two members and stick to them. You only get 3 Backstage slots, so spreading across four or five members means half your cards never grow up.
- Bring enough Basic cards. Around six Kids, BT21 and VMAX you can play straight from hand is comfortable. Too few and you’ll start slowly.
Draft: the quick way to play
Deckbuilding takes a while. If you just want to sit down and play, draft instead: each player picks two members, then takes these cards. No other decisions.
Draft deck: 20 cards
| Cards | How many | Which |
|---|---|---|
| Kid | 4 | 2 of each of your members |
| Debut | 4 | 2 of each of your members |
| VSTAR | 2 | 1 of each of your members |
| Meme | 2 | 1 of each of your members |
| BT21 | 2 | Any |
| VMAX | 1 | Any |
| Item | 2 | Any |
| Gear | 2 | Any |
| Song | 1 | Any |
Because you take both a Meme and a VSTAR for each member, every Debut you play is a real decision: the durable VSTAR, or the Meme with an effect.