RIFT HOUSE BEGINNER'S GUIDE: Learn How to Play Riftbound TCG

I. The Battlefield and the Objective

Riftbound is a tactical card game where players take on the role of a Legend to control the flow of battle.

  • The Objective: The main objective of the game is to be the first player to achieve a total Victory Score of 8 Points .
  • Components: Each player uses a Main Deck (40 cards), a Rune Deck (12 resource cards), and chooses 1 of their 3 Battlefields where the units clash.

II. The Resource System (Runes, Energy, and Power)

In Riftbound, the costs of your cards are paid for using two types of resources, generated by your Runes :

Action in the Rune Resource Generated Where it is used
Exhaust (Turn the Rune to the side) Energy (💧) Used to cover the Energy Cost of any card.
Recycle (Place the Rune at the bottom of the Rune Deck) Power (⚡) Used to cover the specific Power Cost of a card's Domain (Color).
  • Resource Pool: All Energy and Power generated in a turn do not carry over to the next turn. You must spend them in that same turn or they are lost!

III. Types of Cards in Your Main Deck

Your 40-card Main Deck consists of three types of cards that influence the game board:

  1. Units: They remain on the field, attack, defend, and move between their Base and the Battlefields.
  2. Spells : They have immediate effects and do not remain on the board after resolution.
  3. Equipment ( Gear ): These are items placed in your Base and provide passive or activatable abilities, remaining in the game.


IV. Shift Structure (The A-B-C-D Cycle)

A turn is divided into several phases. For beginners, the initial cycle is the easiest to remember:

  1. Awaken : Refreshes all your depleted units and Runes.
  2. Beginning Phase ( Begin Step ): Resolves effects that occur at the start of the turn (e.g., effects of "Maintain Battlefield").
  3. Channel : Place 2 new Runes from your Rune Deck into your Base.
  4. Draw : Draw 1 card from your Main Deck.

After these phases, you enter the Action Phase (where you play cards, move units, and attack) and the Resolution/End of Turn Phase (where you score points and your resource pool is cleared).


V. How to Score Points and Win

The objective is simple: score 8 Victory Points before your opponent.

There are two main ways to score points regularly:

Action Condition Points Scored
Conquer Winning a battle in a Battlefield that has no enemy units. +1 Point (Max. 1 per field per turn)
Hold Begin your turn with a Battleground that you conquered in a previous turn. +1 Point (For each field you keep)

🚨 Special Victory Condition – Point-to-Win Rules!

If you reach the 8th point (the Final Point) by achieving:

  • I should have scored points in both Battlegrounds that round.
  • Otherwise, you draw a card instead of scoring points.

If you reach the End Point by maintaining:

  • You win — even if you only control one Battleground .

🃏 Card Effect Exception

  • If a card or ability grants you a point directly, it can count as your Final Point , regardless of how many battlefields you control.
  • This rule overrides/overrides the default Endpoint restriction when Conquering or Holding.