COMBAT CLUB: A Standard Playing Card Fighting Game

NOTE: The text rules here is not a transcript but instead a full text version. Best viewed in fixed width font.

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COMBAT CLUB V7
Rules by HEAVY SYSTEMS, inc. (c)2026

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2
GAME TIME:
approx 3-10 minutes per 'round', play as many rounds as
you wish (best 3 of 5 for instance).

GAMEPLAY:
Play valid cards scoring points and counter your opponent
from scoring points on a 3 x 3 grid attempting to win
either

TIME OUT JUDGE: by running out of cards,
KNOCK OUT: winning by scoring 30 pts.,
RING OUT: winning by playing a 'safe' 10 in opponent's front row,
SUBMISSION: winning by playing two 10's in the middle neutral row.

SETUP:
Divide the deck into 2 equal smaller decks consisting of
all reds plus joker and all blacks plus joker.

STARTING THE GAME:
Both players shuffle their decks thoroughly then draw the top
four cards. Any 10's should be returned somewhere into the
middle of the deck.

Decide on which cards should be placed in the 3x3 grid with
your coards filling the row closest to you and on card in the
middle neutral zone to one side.

The final card in the center is decided by one more draw by
both players. If both players draw faces or both players draw
numbers, the highest value wins. If both players draw numbers
or faces and also same value, return the cards to their decks
and redraw. If one player draws a face and other player draws
a number, the face card wins.

The winning card goes into the center space and that player
starts the round as DEFENDER.

PLAYING THE GAME:
The ATTACKER leads the game by attempting to score points from
their hand. After the ATTACKER makes each play, the DEFENDER,
if able, may counter, ending the ATTACKER's turn early. Else,
the ATTACKER may continue playing their cards to score points
until their hand is empty or they can no longer make a valid
play, at which point they become the DEFENDER and their opponent
becomes the ATTACKER.

AS ATTACKER:

Draw up to FOUR CARDS from your deck to your hand.

You may have no more than 4 OF YOUR OWN cards in hand...
ADVANTAGE cards do not count as your hand.

You may make a valid play by placing a card from your hand
of the same or one higher/lower in a spot in the 3x3 grid.
For instance, for a 2 showing on the table, your valid
cards are A, 2 or 3.

Face cards are special in that they act as sort of a 'wild'
card. Jacks can be placed on an A, 2 or 3 and likewise,
an A, 2 or 3 can be placed onto a Jack. The same applies
with a Queen being playable with 4, 5 or 6 and King with
7, 8 or 9.

When playing a card, you can play it as SAFE or UNSAFE.
SAFE plays cannot be countered by your opponent. To make
a SAFE play, your card must be played on your own color/
your own card. For instance, if you are RED and make a play
onto a RED 9, you cannot be countered. If you made the same
play onto a BLACK 9 and your opponent has the correct card
to counter, they can and your turn will end.

Playing any card is called a "NORMAL ATTACK" and is worth 1pt.

Depending on the cards under it or around it, it may also score
additional COMBO and RUSH points. Playing the the same value onto
itself is called a RUSH. The number of the same value cards after
you make your play is the total of the RUSH. (i.e. play a 3 onto
a pile of two more 3's, that's a total of three 3's and so that
ATTACK is a RUSH of 3pts. COMBOs work similarly, but horizontally,
extending to the cards adjacent rows and columns of the same value.

Keep in mind, RUSH and COMBO scores don't need any specific color
to be valid. They may NOT substitute a face card at any time. (i.e.
you cannot score a COMBO or RUSH with a 2 and Jack even though the Jack
*can* be played with on a 2 and vice versa, for instance, but
you can score with ONLY 2's or ONLY Jacks)

You can also score a BLOCK by playing a 10. When a 10 is played,
that position can only be played on by you, at which time it becomes
a normal play position your opponent can use again. Furthermore,
you can only 'wrap' an Ace to a 10 and vice versa on YOUR OWN COLOR.
For instance, if you are RED and try to wrap a BLACK ACE to a 10 for
a BLOCK, that is not a valid play. This also applies to your own
face cards, wrapping a Jack to a King and vice versa is only on
your own color as well.

If you play a 10 on your own color in the opponent's front row, that
is a RING OUT and you win the round immediately (It's a SAFE ATTACK
as a REQUIREMENT to be a WIN!)

If you play two 10's in the neutral (center) row in any position (they
don't have to touch), you win the round immediately, unless your opponent
can COUNTER. Neither of these are required to be SAFE for valid WIN.

You may also score an additional point by playing your FIRST ATTACK
on the exact same position as your OPPONENT'S FINAL ATTACK when you
were last on DEFENSE. This is called a PUNISH.

Finally, you can also score points by playing what is called a THROW.
A THROW is played by playing TWO OR MORE cards simultaneously in
sequence and not 'wrapping' and of the same type (i.e. numbers only,
faces only). The order matters when play on the position; the sequence
must begin with the a valid NORMAL ATTACK and go in a single direction,
meaning only up/greater or only down/lesser. An example would be playing
a 5,6 and 7 on a 4 because the 5 can normally play alone off on the 4.
An invalid example would be playing a 7, 6 and 5 on a 4 because the 7
as the validation card would not be normally playable on it's own onto
the 4. The cards go onto the position in the order that is valid with the
card on top being the card your opponent can COUNTER.

Scores for a throw increase for each card by one point. Card 1 is worth
1pt, card 2 is worth 2pts, card 3 is worth 3 points, etc. The minimum
points a THROW scores is 3, so they're fairly valuable, especially if
you can play them SAFELY.

THROWS can also be counted in a COMBO or be the RING OUT play itself.
(top card of throw combos to card to left and right of it, for example)

THROWS can also be a PUNISH. (i.e. throw score + extra point for punish)

If you cannot start your ATTACK by drawing to FOUR cards in hand, you
also WIN by TIME OUT JUDGEMENT.

You become DEFENDER if you cannot use any cards in your hand to make
a play, you are COUNTERED or you run out of cards in hand.

Any cards in hand at the end of your turn become your opponent's
ADVANTAGE and you must place them on the table for them to use in
their next ATTACKER turn.

AS DEFENDER:

Your options are limited, but they immediately come with a great reward
called ADVANTAGE which expands your point scoring opportunities if
successful.

When your opponent begins their ATTACKER turn, you may draw ONE CARD to
your hand to use as a potential COUNTER.

A COUNTER is ANY VALID NORMAL ATTACK IF THE OPPONENT PLAYED AN UNSAFE
PLAY. In other words, if they put down any card or cards onto one of
your cards and the card showing is something your card can do a NORMAL
ATTACK on, then this is a valid COUNTER.

At this time, you play your card and your opponent will show you their
hand, called ADVANTAGE, and may not draw any cards to use as a counter
you during your next ATTACK turn.

You also score 2pts for the counter.

If your card is the EXACT SAME VALUE as your opponent's card, that is
4pts and is called a PERFECT COUNTER. (insert action lines here)

During your next turn ADVANTAGE cards are cards you can use for any
play in addition to your 4 in hand on draw, potentially gifting you
up to three additional cards you can use for COMBOs, RUSHs, THROWS,
etc. Remember, though, that while they cannot counter you during
this turn, if you use one of their cards, it becomes a position that
is SAFE for them during their attack. Therefore, try not to end your
turn without covering up any cards used from ADVANTAGE.

If you are entering DEFENDER after having been just countered, all you
can do is wait for them to finish their hand.

If your opponent completes their turn without using all of their
ADVANTAGE, place those cards back to the bottom of your draw deck.

JOKER CARDS:

JOKERS count as any value A-9.

JOKERS are ALWAYS SAFE no matter what color they are played on.

When a JOKER is used to COUNTER, it awards 0pts.

JOKERS do not count for RUSH or COMBO but can be used for THROWS
ONLY IF IT IS NOT USED AS THE TOP CARD.

RECAP FOR SCORING:

NORMAL ATTACK:
Score one point for playing a card on a space of the same, 1 lesser
or one higher in value.

COMBO:
Score 1pt for any card of the same value that is touching your card or
forms an unbroken 'touch chain' between cards.

RUSH:
Score 1pt for each card of the same value on a stack at the top.

THROW:
Score increasing amount of points for each card in sequence played
at the same time on a single card. Cards scored are worth
1pt, 2pts, 3pts etc.

BLOCK:
Play a 10 alone or as part of any other valid attack or counter to score
an additional point for the play.

COUNTER:
On defense, play a normal attack immediately after the opponent
on the same position before their turn ends. Using a valid normal
attack is 2pts. If the attack is the same value as opponent, this
is a FRAME PERFECT COUNTER and scores 4 points.

PUNISH:
On your first attack of your turn, playing on the opponent's very
last attack of their previous turn scores an additional point.

WINNING: Play continues until the game is won by:

- ATTACKER plays a 10 card on a SAFE position in the
opponent's front row.

- ATTACKER or DEFENDER plays a SECOND 10 in the neutral row

- ATTACKER or DEFENDER scores 30 or more points

- ATTACKER attempts to draw and cannot draw to 4 cards

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EXAMPLE GAME:

PLAYER 1 separates the deck into two decks, one red and one black and ensures 1 joker is in each deck.
PLAYER 1 gives PLAYER 2 the choice of color to play as just to be nice. PLAYER 1 is now RED and
PLAYER 2 is now BLACK. We will refer to them as RED and BLACK now for brevity.
Both players shufle their deck several times until they're sure it's pretty mixed up.
Both players draw the top 4 cards off the deck and arrange them in a row of 3 in front of
them with just enough space for a 3rd row between them for their 4th card. All
Cards are placed face up and in a 3x3 grid arrangement and specifically chosen
to give that player the most advantage they think they'll want. RED had to replace
two 10's since they are not allowed to be in play at the start of the game. RED
reshuffles their deck quickly before the next step.

--- --- ---
| 5 || A || Q |
| || || |
--- --- ---
--- ---
| 9 | | K |
| | | x |
--- ---
--- --- ---
| 6 || 6 || 7 |
| x || x || x |
--- --- ---

(Cards with 'R' indicate REDs cards and 'B' indicates BLACK's Cards)

Both players draw the card from the top of their deck and compare them. RED drew a KING
and BLACK drew a 9, so because in this situation the face card wins, RED places the KING
into the center of the square, completing the grid and begrudgingly acknowledges it's
BLACK who will be the first ATTACKER.
BLACK draws 4 cards from the top of their deck and RED draws one.
BLACK sees they can perform a SAFE THROW on the ACE so they place, in order on the ACE from
their hand, ACE, 2 and 3. This scores them 6pts. RED is already annoyed because they
cannot counter any SAFE plays like this one.
BLACK has a 7 in hand and can play it on their QUEEN or any of REDs closest ROW. BLACK considers
the option because while it can score 2pts by way of COMBO with the existing 7, they
know it's UNSAFE. BLACK decides to go for it and plays the 7 on the middle column 6
hoping for a 2 point combo, but instead RED has a QUEEN and uses it as a COUNTER,
scoring the 2pts instead. BLACK is annoyed their risk didn't pay off.
RED is now the ATTACKER, but because BLACK played all 4 of their cards from their hand,
there's no ADVANTAGE. However, BLACK cannot draw a card to use for their COUNTER,
so it still came with a reward: 4 potentially unanswered plays.
RED draws 4 cards to their hand from their deck and examines the grid as it exists now.

--- --- ---
| 5 || A || Q |
| B || B || B |
--- --- ---
--- --- ---
| 9 || K || K |
| B || R || R |
--- --- ---
--- --- ---
| 6 || Q || 7 |
| R || R || R |
--- --- ---

(R indicates RED's cards and B indicates BLACK's cards)

RED decides to use a 9 on the center King to create a 2pt COMBO from BLACK's 9 on the outer
column.
RED Then places another 9 the other King to create a 3pt COMBO.
RED then plays a THROW on BLACK's Ace in the center column with a 2 and a 3. This ends their
ATTACK turn.
BLACK draws 4 cards and RED draws 1 card as RED hopes for another counter and BLACK is now
looking at the SAFE moves being diminished to just 3 and two of them are essentially
the same, making it effectively closer to just 2 SAFE options...

--- --- ---
| 5 || 3 || Q |
| B || R || B |
--- --- ---
--- --- ---
| 9 || 9 || 9 |
| B || R || R |
--- --- ---
--- --- ---
| 6 || Q || 7 |
| R || R || R |
--- --- ---

(R indicates RED's cards and B indicates BLACK's cards)

BLACK is noticing the score is at the moment RED with 10pts over their 6 and thus is considering
leveraging those 9s in a combo and can do so, but only from the UNSAFE 7, with the
8 and 9 in hand right now. It's a really tempting play. Instead, BLACK opts for playing
their King on their own Queen, then convert that King with a SAFE THROW using the 8 and 9
on the same position, now taking advantage of the 9's for a whopping max 4pts for the COMBO
in addition to the 3pts for the THROW. Unfortunately, they cannot play their last card,
a 2 and thus turn it up for their opponent to see as ADVANTAGE.
RED draws 4 cards and BLACK draws 1 card...

--- --- ---
| 5 || 3 || 9 |
| B || R || B |
--- --- ---
--- --- ---
| 9 || 9 || 9 |
| B || R || R |
--- --- ---
--- --- ---
| 6 || Q || 7 |
| R || R || R |
--- --- ---

The game continues on...until RED converted two of the middle 9s into 10s before BLACK could
score 30pts. Everyone had a blast except their parents who were trying to sleep.

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ADDITIONNAL/ADVANCED RULES:

The following section is for players who wish to add complexity to the game or introduce
differing styles of play.

CHARACTER SELECT RULE:

Both players choose a fighting style from the list below and while the next game plays out,
those rules are in play individually for each player, either adding to or changing
existing rules.

FIGHTING STYLES apply only to the player utilizing it.

KARATE: Cannot be Perfect Countered. Combos score additional point.
KRAV MA GA: Normal Attacks score 2 points if unsafe.
MMA: Draw an additional card to hand after scoring
from a THROW.
JEET KUN DO: RUSH scores like a THROW scores per card.
WUSHU: May choose to draw 2 cards during DEFENSE. If
a COUNTER is played while two cards are in hand
it scores 1 point and PERFECT COUNTER scores 2pts.
The unused card in this situation is kept in hand
for next turn as if they hadn't countered.
KUNG FU: Draw an additional card to hand after scoring from
a COMBO or RUSH.
NINJITSU: When drawing a card for DEFENSE, they may
peek through the deck for any card of their choice.
WRESTLING: THROW points for first card starts at 2pts.
SUMO: Can win with a RING OUT without a SAFE 10, can win
by with TWO 10's ON ANY ROW OR COLUMN.

JUGGLE COMBO RULES:

During the game, both players may score combos from not only same
value, but may, indeed, substitute face cards, extending potential
points from 4 to 8 as well as providing more opportunities to score
them. Players may opt to use RUSH for this rule instead of or in
addition as well.

SURVIVAL MODE:

Instead of both players beginning every round with 0 points on their
journey to try and earn 30, if you lost the last round, you don't reset
your score to 0, only the winner does, effectively making each round
after the first a 'knock down only'. First player to knock down the
opponent the designated number of times is declared winner of the match.