Around the Primordial Fire, the Original Beings Battle for control of existence. Out of the surrounding Essences of Water, Fire, and Earth, the Beings fashion lesser Creatures, which they send out to fight on their behalf. And, as the Creatures fall, their bodies become part of existence, so that every new Battle begets a new world. But which of the Beings can conquer the others? Which can look over the countless worlds of the Universe, and stand atop everything else?
Peuali is an original card game that deals with the Creation of the Universe. It is free, and you can download a copy to print here, or by scrolling to the bottom of this page.
Contents of the Game
Peuali contains the following cards:
One Primordial Fire Card.
Four Original Being Cards, each with six chips. Each Card includes a diagram showing the relative strength and weakness of each Essence for easy reference.
Seven Creature Cards of each Essence, with varying Power:
Wind
Water
Earth
Masks have a Power of 1
Scepters have a Power of 2
Fountains have a Power of 3
Elementals have a Power of 4
Soldiers have a Power of 5
Mages have a Power of 6
Dragons have a Power of 7
And three Dual Essence Cards.
Every Card includes an original illustration in full color.
Playing the Game
The Setup
Peuali can be played by three or four players. While most of the rules are the same, there are slight variations to preserve balance, which will be explained in this manual.
At the beginning of the game, the Primordial Fire Card is placed in the center of the table. Each player chooses an Original Being Card, and takes the chips associated with it. The Card should be displayed in front of the player at all times, to allow other players to remember what Being each player is.
The Cards are then shuffled and dealt face-down by one player. For three players, each one should receive six Cards. For four players, each one will receive five Cards. The remaining Cards are put aside, since they will not participate in this Battle.
The Game
The players take turns playing cards in lanes coming out of the Primordial Fire. Each one of these lanes called a Front. For four players, there will be four Fronts. For three players, only three Fronts will be used. In any given turn, a player can play their card on any of the Fronts.
As they are played, the cards will interact with those next to them. When a card is first played, the player will place one of their chips on it, signifying it is Undefeated. If, by the end of the Battle, the Card still has the chip, then its Power is counted as Points in favor of the Card‘s owner (whosever chip is on the card). For the most part, the Cards will interact with each other in the following way: A Card of a particular Essence will Defeat any Card of the same or lower Power of one other Essence. Wind Cards beat Water Cards, which beat Earth Cards, which beat Wind Cards. When a Card is Defeated, its chip is taken off, and its Power will no longer count toward the final Point tally.
In addition, there are two special interactions:
Mask Cards, those with a Power of one, are able to Take Over any other card of the same Essence. In this case, when a Mask is played the chip on the Taken Over card is removed, and if Undefeated the Mask card will award Points equal to the Power of the Taken Over Card plus that of itself. However, the Power of the Mask itself is not increased, so it is still vulnerable to being Defeated by any card that would normally do so. When this happens, both the Taken Over and the Mask Cards are considered Defeated.
Dual Essence Cards, those with two different Essences, are able to Copy any card of one of their Essences. When this happens, the Dual Essence Card will become the same as Copied Card, and acquire its Power and vulnerabilities. When this happens, the Copied Card is NOT Defeated.
Note that, because Cards can only be played at the end of any given Front, Undefeated Cards can be shielded by other Cards, thus rendered untouchable. For example, when a Dual Essence Card copies another, the Copy itself is at the end of the Front, thus protecting the Copied Card and ensuring it will remain Undefeated until the end of the Battle. This can also be exploited to protect one’s own cards, for example by protecting one’s own Mask Card by playing another card in front of it that will not Defeat it.
Note also that players can Defeat their own cards by playing another that interacts with the original one in the ways described above.
The players thus take turns playing cards in counter-clockwise order, starting with the one to the right of the player who dealt. The Battle ends when all players have played all their cards. At this moment, the players tally their Points by adding the Power of their Undefeated Cards. The player with the most points in any given Battle receives an extra three or four Points (equal to the number of players).
The Cards are then shuffled and dealt again by the player that started the last Battle. At the end of three or four Battles (again, equal to the number of players), the player with the most Points wins, and their Original Being becomes Master of this Universe.
If you like the game, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Download Peuali
The file you’re downloading comes ready to print. Make sure to select two-sided printing for the back of the cards to print correctly. Once printed, simply cut the cards and play.
For best results, try printing on a thicker paper. Most home printers can handle thinner cardstock, which will greatly improve the quality of your deck and the experience of playing the game.