KOMANDO
OFFICIAL RULEBOOK
KOMANDO is a card game for 2 to 10 players with a unique deck of 54 cards.
To win, a player must eliminate all other players by reducing their life to 0 or less; or have more life than all other players when the group reaches 0 or less.
In case of a tie when the group reaches 0, one or more sudden death rounds are played until only one player remains.
Attack (Sword): chosen to attack another player on your turn.
Defense (Shield): chosen to defend when you receive an attack from another player.
Group: the shared life of all players. It is added and subtracted each turn. All cards played count towards the group total. If the group counter reaches 0, the game ends. The player with the most life wins. If 2 or more players tie, TIEBREAK applies.
Each player starts with 10 life points and the group starts at 20. The group cannot exceed 20 points.
A player is chosen to shuffle and deal the cards.
3 cards are dealt to each player and the game begins. Cards are single-use. Play passes clockwise. The player to the left of the dealer goes first.
Throughout the game, each player must always have 3 cards in hand, except during TIEBREAK, which varies based on the number of players participating.
The active player chooses one of their 3 cards and selects a player to attack, revealing that card as an Attack (Sword). The targeted player chooses one of their 3 cards as Defense (Shield). The result is resolved: if the attack equals or is less than the defense, no damage is dealt, and the total of both players' group icons is counted. Once resolved, both players draw 1 card and the turn passes to the next player.
In this mode, the "Group" icon no longer participates. A tiebreak occurs when the group reaches 0 and 2 or more players share the highest life score. Only Attack and Defense icons are used.
A full round is played, dealing the same number of cards as tied players. Each player will draw, discard or keep the same number of cards as players remaining in the tiebreak round. The new round starts with the player who would have gone after the group reached 0.
When 8 or 9 players reach the tiebreak in a game, they will draw 6 cards.
Players play 1 or more sudden death rounds. A full round goes from the first player who started the tiebreak to the last still in play. Players with the least life at the end of the round are eliminated, until only one remains.
Once you are familiar with the game, you can apply this alternative mode: the active player (attacker) places their card face down without revealing it, and the defending player must evaluate which card they think was played against them.
The game follows the same rules as normal mode.
– If I defend with more points than the attack, do I regain life?
– NO, a player can never regain life.