Eternal Decks rules: how to play and how to win

Eternal Decks quick rules

The goal

The game is split into Stages, from A to F. In Stage A, Nature Star, the team wins by gaining four Stars. But if a player can’t take an action on their turn, the cycle of life fails: everyone loses.

Your turn

Take just one action: play a card to the Field or the River, generate a Jewel, or spend a Heart to give a card to a teammate. Then refill your hand to three cards. Your small starting deck runs out fast.

The Field

Play your card to the leftmost empty space of one of the three rows. Two cards of the same color or the same number can never be next to each other. Each row has its Field Card: on the Mountain numbers go up, in the Cave they go down, at the Camp there’s nothing extra.

Reviving an Eternal

Three Eternals sleep at the end of each row. The card played directly to their left revives one, chosen by that player: its eight cards go under their Player Deck, and the row is cleared. On the fourth lap, a row gives a bonus and then closes.

Curses and Jewels

Each revived Eternal casts a Curse, like the Phoenix, which forbids 1s on the Field. A Jewel lifts it: you generate one with cards from your hand following one of eight recipes, each only once, and those cards go to the River.

The River

Any card can go there, even a cursed one. On the fifth card, its player gains a Rare Card, which counts as any color and any number. If there are no Rare Cards left, they take the Game Over Card: everyone loses.

Talking without telling

You can talk, but never about the number or color of the Number Cards in your hand. The two Communication Discs can be placed at any time where you think you can play. Decide together who will revive the next Eternal.

Beginner traps

Leaving a player without cards: share the revivals. Forgetting that a Jewel recipe works only once. Filling the River too fast, because Rare Cards run out.

How to win Eternal Decks

No points

Eternal Decks has no points: the whole team wins or loses together.

Winning Stage A

The fourth Star. Six are available: Jewels on the first three revived Eternals, then on the next three, reviving all nine Eternals, the 1-5-9 recipe, the bottom row’s fourth lap, and the three A Eternal Ability Cards.

Defeat

A player can’t take any action on their turn, or a player takes the Game Over Card. If a win and a loss happen on the same turn, the win takes priority.

Later Stages

From Stage B to F, you win with four Keys, earned through each Stage’s goal. The Ludingo sheet records the Stage, the difficulty mode and what ended the game.

Example ending

The team already has three Stars and the River holds two cards. Leo generates a Jewel with the 1-5-9 recipe: his three cards bring the River to 2 + 3 = 5, but no Rare Cards are left. The recipe also earns the fourth Star: the win and the loss happen together, and the win takes priority.

Common mistakes

• Thinking you need all six Stars: four are enough.
• Forgetting that a single stuck player makes the whole team lose.
• Counting the revival Star before the ninth Eternal.

How to set up Eternal Decks

Setup for Stage A, in Beginner Mode, takes about five minutes. With 2 or 3 players and in solo, the Eternals are picked with the die.