Learn the Rules

Getting Started

In The Theatre, you'll be competing against other Directors to put on the best performance. Cards will be played in 5 card "Acts", pitting cards against each other to appeal to the crowd. If your card has a higher appeal, your opponent's card gets dismissed from the game. Dismiss enough cards from the other Director's decks to put on the best performance and win the game!

"Acts" - 5 Rounds of Cards

Each player draws 5 cards to start an Act.

• Players will play one card each round from their hand, for 5 rounds total.

• When all cards are played, the Act is over and a new one begins

Layout

The game takes almost no time to setup.

• Place your deck nearby

• Designate a Breakroom spot for winning cards

• Designate a Dismissed spot for losing cards

• Keep a shared space for the Play Area

Rounds

Every player plays a single card in a round, starting with a Leader and going clockwise.

• At the start, choose a Leader at random.

• Whichever card has the highest value wins the round and goes to the Breakroom.

• All tied cards and losing cards are moved to Dismissed (out of the game).

• Whoever wins the round becomes the new Leader.

If you can't draw 5 cards at the start of the Act:

• Shuffle your Breakroom into your Deck, then draw 5 cards.

• If you still can't draw 5 cards, you're eliminated from the game.

• If everyone's eliminated together, whoever has more cards left in their deck wins!

Winning and Losing

To play you'll need:

• A deck for each player

  • 4 Starter Decks are provided in each Set

  • A custom made deck following the deckbuilding guidelines listed down below

• 5 Suit Cards (or some differentiating tokens)

• Tokens (recommended) or pencil and paper to track current bonuses in the Act

- or -

Basic Play

Bonuses and Abilities

At the start of each Act, after players draw 5 cards, shuffle the 5 Suit Cards and then deal them in a line.

The first card dealt will be the Desired Suit for the first round (first card played), the second card dealt will be the Desired Suit for the second round, and so on.

If the Desired Suit matches the suit of any card played that round (printed in the top left), that card gets a +3 bonus to its total value!

At the beginning of each round, move the current Suit Card to the center of the play area for everyone to see what the Desired Suit is. After determining a winner for the round, move the current Suit Card to a discard pile.

If for any reason Suit Cards are removed or there are no more Suit Cards to move to the center (due to abilities), no cards will get any bonus.

Desired Suit

Boost and Sap

If a card is played with the Boost or Sap ability, take a token with the matching Print and place it in the Play Area. For that round and all future rounds in the Act, all cards that have a matching Print with that token get +1 (Boost) or -1 (Sap) from their value.

Boost and Sap Tokens affect ALL cards played by ALL players (even the one that played it!).

Alternatively, if a player plays a Sap card they can optionally remove any Boost Token in the Play Area, regardless if it matches the Print or not. This can only be chosen if there is already a Boost Token in the Play Area.

The Print of each card is shown in the top right.

Instead of Tokens, you can simply mark +1 or -1 for each Print on paper. There are 9 total Prints in the first 6 sets of The Theatre:

• Paw

• Hoof

• Claw

Combo

If a card is played with the Combo ability, the next card that player plays this Act will get a +1 bonus added to its value.

This only applies to the next card played by the player who played the Combo card in the first place.

Certain cards will show a +2 instead of a +1. They function the same but the next card will get a +2 bonus instead. Official Combo tokens can be flipped to track this.

If a card is played with the Finisher ability, the Finisher card gets +1 bonus value for every other card that player has played this Act.

This bonus will be between +0 (for the first card) and +4 (for the last card). The bonus only applies to the Finisher card played.

Finisher

Gamble

If a card is played with the Gamble ability, the player who played it can choose to Gamble at the end of the round. Once all cards are played, the player decides if they want a new card.

If they Gamble, the player draws a card from the top of their deck and plays it next to the Gamble card. The new card is treated as if it was played instead, activating abilities and modifying values.

If the new card wins, both it and the original Gamble card get moved to the Breakroom together. Otherwise they are both dismissed.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Chaos

• Talon

• Slither

• Webbed

• Fin

• Float

• Skitter

Set 2 - Abilities

Deckbuilding

Deckbuilding Rules

When building a deck, the following limitations must be followed:

• Every deck must contain at least 5 cards

• Every deck must contain the matching amount of cards from each Rank

  • The rank of every card is printed in the bottom right

  • 2 Players - 4 cards of each Rank 1-4 (16 cards in total)

  • 3-4 Players - 5 cards of each Rank 1-4 (20 cards in total)

• A deck can contain no more than two copies of any specific card.

  • A "specific card" is any Card Name + Suit combination. For example "Vixie + Charm" is not the same as "Vixie + Luck".

If all players agree to a different total, a deck can contain up to that many cards from each rank (for casual play).

When building a deck, a player can choose to swap 2 cards of any Rank for a single card of a Rank higher. They can also swap any card of a single Rank for 2 cards of a Rank lower. For example, 2 Rank 2 cards can be removed for adding an additional Rank 3 card, or a Rank 2 card can be removed for adding 2 additional Rank 1 cards.

Draft Format is a way to include deckbuilding as part of the game. It allows more diversity in deck and lets players build decks in an organic way - all with only using the cards in a single set!

To start, give each player a draft card. For 2 players, this will include 16 solid circles, and for 3+ players it will include 20 solid circles. Then:

1. Separate all cards by Rank and shuffle all cards of a single Rank together. Set each Rank deck aside.

2. Place X + 2 cards face up from the Rank 1 deck in a line, where X is the number of players.

3. Starting with the Leader, players take turns picking a card from the face up cards and adding it to their deck. When they do so, they mark a solid circle from their draft card corresponding to the card's Rank.

   3a. Players can instead mark a solid circle to choose two cards from one Rank lower. This can be done twice per Rank.

   3b. Players can instead mark two solid circles of the same rank to choose a card from one Rank higher. This can be done twice per Rank, and only be done if the player has 2 unmarked solid circles from that Rank.

   3c. Players can instead Skip their turn. This can only be done once. If a player chooses to Skip their turn, they take the Leader token and will pick first next round.

   3d. If a player has no remaining solid circles to mark, they automatically pass their turn and the Leader token to the next player.

4. Replace any chosen cards with new cards from respective Rank decks.

5. Once all players have chosen a card for a round, the Leader token passes to the next player in turn order (unless a player Skipped).

6. Repeat steps 2-5, with every new round drawing X+2 cards from the next Rank deck (Rank 2 on round 2, Rank 3 on round 3, etc). There will always be only X+2 cards from any Rank face up on the play area at any time.

Rounds continue until all players have marked all solid circles on their draft card. Then the decks are moved to the play area and the game can begin as normal. The last player with the Leader token can decide to keep or pass it to any player.

Draft Format

FAQs

When do you place Suit Cards? When does the Desired Suit change?

The Suit Cards are 5 separate cards (or tokens) that represent one of the five suits in the game:

• 1 - Charm (Pink Heart)

• 2 - Luck (Green Clover)

• 3 - Agility (Yellow Lightning)

• 4 - Will (Blue Scroll)

• 5 - Strength (Red Fist)

This is sometimes referred to as the CLAWS system.

The Suit Cards are shuffled and dealt in a line at the beginning of every Act. The order in which they're dealt determines the order in which they will be used during the Act, with the first card dealt being used in the first round, the second card dealt being used in the second round, and so on.

The Desired Suit refers to the card on the Suit Card that is for the current round. At the end of every round, after the winner is determined, the current round's Suit Card will be discarded and the next round's Suit Card will take its place. This means the Desired Suit will change every round, and will cycle through all five suits across the five rounds.

The Desired Suit can be changed by specific abilities, such as Chaos (Set 2 and beyond). Playing a card with the Chaos ability will - UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

General Play

When do card values get finalized/modified?

Card values are considered unchanged during a round, meaning they don't get bonuses/penalties from Boost, Sap, Combos, Finishers, or any other modifiers while cards are being played. After all cards have been played for the round*, then all applicable modifications are made simultaneously. Additive/subtractive modifications are made first, then any multiplicative/divisive modifications are made afterwards.

• "all cards have been played for the round" includes players choosing to Gamble. Only after final cards have been chosen for all players will modifications be taken into account.

Can a card value be negative?

Yes, values can be modified below 0. There is no minimum or maximum to what a card value can be at the end of a round.

Do Boosts and Saps cancel each other out?

Mathematically, yes (+1 added to -1 equals 0). However, a Boost token and a Sap token should still be added to the play area in case later cards interact with tokens in the play area.

Abilities

When do Boost/Sap tokens get removed?

All Boost/Sap tokens are removed at the end of an Act. Additionally, if a card with the Sap ability is played, the owner of the Sap card can choose to remove any single Boost token from the play area instead of adding a Sap token. This removed Boost token does not have to match the Print related to the Sap ability.

When do Boost/Sap tokens actually get added to the play area and take effect?

Boost and Sap tokens are added immediately as the card is played (even before the next player plays a card this round). The +1 and -1 bonuses are applied at the end of the round when determining the final value of a card. All Boost and Sap tokens currently in the play area will be counted at this time.

Can I remove a Boost token from the player area if it was added by a card played later in the same round?

No, you can only remove a Boost token that is in the play area when you play your Sap card. Otherwise your only option is to add a Sap token of the matching Print on the card.

Can multiple Boost/Sap tokens be added at a time?

A single Boost or Sap token can be added via the Boost or Sap abilities on cards, so if multiple cards are played in a round with the Boost ability then multiple tokens will be added to the play area in that round. Multiple tokens for the same Print can be added in the same round if multiple cards with the same Print and Boost/Sap ability are played.

When does Combo take effect?

If you play a card with the Combo ability, the next card you play this Act will gain a +1 bonus (+2 for certain cards). This will only apply to the next card you play, not the original card with the Combo ability. If using a Combo token, you can place it next to your deck to remember. After the +1 (or +2) is applied to the next card, you can remove the token.

What if I play a Combo card at the end of an Act?

At the end of the Act all tokens and bonuses are cleared, so the Combo is lost if played as the last card in an Act.

How many bonuses can I get with Finisher?

Playing a card with the Finisher ability applies a bonus directly to the card (at the end of the round). This bonus can range between +0 (if it's the first card played this Act) and +4 (if it's the last card played this Act). These bonuses are applied to the Finisher card directly at the end of the round with all other bonuses.

Does Gambling add more bonuses to Finisher?

No, when a player chooses to Gamble they essentially replace one card with another, thus only playing 1 card for that round. Even though multiple cards can be sent to the Breakroom or Dismissed, only one card is considered to be "played" when Gambling.

How do I Gamble?

If you choose to Gamble, you first set aside the original Gamble card you played. Then you draw a new card from your Deck and immediately play that card, as if you had played it for the round instead of the Gamble card. For play order purposes, the new card is considered to be played after all other cards played in the round.

What if my new "gambled" card has an ability?

Abilities activate the same way as if you had played them for the round. The only exception is if the new card has the Gamble ability, which is ignored.

What if I don't have a card in my deck when I Gamble?

If there are no cards in your Deck when you choose to Gamble, you can shuffle your Breakroom into your Deck first, then draw a card from your Deck to gamble with. If you have no cards in your Deck and your Breakroom, then the Gamble option is ignored and your original card (with the Gamble ability) is considered as your played card.

What if multiple people play a Gamble card?

If there are multiple Gamble cards played in a round, the choice to Gamble is made individually by each player in the order the cards were played. If a player chooses to Gamble, they take a card from their deck and place it face down in the play area. Then the next player that chose to Gamble repeats the process until all players that chose to Gamble have a new face down card. Once all cards are played, all new cards are revealed and played in the order they were placed into the play area. Players are not given a second chance to Gamble after these cards are revealed, even if they chose not to Gamble originally (the opportunity is lost).

Deckbuilding

What limitations are there on Decks?

As the rules state, every Deck must contain at least five cards and it can contain no more than two of any specific card.

A card is considered "specific" by matching its Name printed at the top of the card and the related Suit printed in the top left. For example, "Vixie" with the Charm suit is a specific card and is not the same as "Vixie" with the Luck suit.

What about the maximum number of cards in a deck?

There is no maximum number of cards in a Deck, but all cards in a Deck must contain no more than the maximum number of cards for each Rank based on your format. Card Ranks are printed in the bottom right of every card, usually indicated by number of tickets (1-4 for most cards). For 2 player games decks must have 4 or less cards of each Rank 1 through 4. For 3+ player games, decks must have 5 or less cards of each Rank 1 through 4.

Players can choose to substitute any 2 cards of a single Rank for a higher Rank, or any single card for 2 cards of a lower Rank. For example, a 3 player Deck can have 6 Rank 4 cards if it has removed 2 Rank 3 cards. This option can carry through different Ranks, so a player could choose to swap 4 Rank 1 cards for 2 Rank 2 cards and then swap those 2 Rank 2 cards for a single Rank 1 card, as an example.

What do the "Staff" or "Performer" text pieces mean?

The "Staff" or "Performer on the left-hand side of every card explains that character's Role at The Theatre. It has no effect on gameplay (within the base set) and is just for additional context and lore.

The same goes for the text on the right hand side, such as "Music", "Acrobatics/Dance", "Security", etc. This lists the character's Job at The Theatre, which also no bearing on gameplay (within the base set). Both Job and Role can be ignored from a gameplay perspective.