Too Many Bones
At a glance
Rules overview
English version of our rules overview, translated from the Chinese original (cunlema). The Chinese page is the source of record.
1. Game Components
| Component | Quantity/Description |
|---|---|
| Adventure Map | Optional; heroes start in Obendar |
| Day Counter Chip | Tracks the current day (set to 1 at setup) |
| Battle Mat | Main combat board |
| Round Counter Die | Set to R1 at setup |
| Lane Chips & Dice | One chip and die per Lane, placed off the Battle Mat initially |
| Tyrant Chip & Die | One selected Tyrant; others returned to box |
| Baddie Chips | Grouped by points (1, 5, 20PT stacks), shuffled face down |
| Health Chips | Used for Baddies and Gearlocs |
| Encounter Deck | Tyrant (blue) + General/Solo cards; Special Encounters 001–003 on top |
| Trove Loot Deck | Shuffled, placed by Battle Mat |
| Loot Deck | Shuffled, placed by Battle Mat |
| Gearloc Mat | One per player |
| Dice Tray | One per Gearloc |
| Character Reference Sheet | One per Gearloc |
| Initiative Die | One per Gearloc (placed above character mat) |
| Stat Dice | Per Gearloc (placed above character mat) |
| Skill Dice | Corresponding to circled Skills on the character sheet |
| Gearloc Chip | Placed on starting health chips, star side face down |
| Ini Meter | Tracks round and turn order (Round Counter Die + Initiative Dice) |
2. Game Setup
- Set up the optional Adventure Map with heroes starting in Obendar.
- Set the day counter chip to 1.
- Set up the Battle Mat with the Round Counter die set to R1.
- Put the chip and die for each Lane off the Battle Mat.
- Choose a Tyrant and return the others to the box. Place the selected Tyrant's chip on the Adventure Map (spaces from Obendar = Progress Points for the Tyrant) and put the Tyrant's die on its chip.
- Select the Baddie Types listed on the Tyrant chip: group Baddie chips by points, shuffle each group, and put them face down in 1, 5, and 20PT stacks.
- (Optional) Put a stack of health chips near the Baddie chip stacks.
- Set up the Encounter deck:
- Get all the Tyrant's Encounter cards (blue).
- Shuffle the General (or Solo if playing 1 Gearloc) Encounter cards and draw cards equal to the deadline number on the Tyrant Card minus 3.
- Shuffle General/Solo and Tyrant Encounter cards together.
- Place Special Encounters 001–003 on top of the shuffled deck. - Shuffle the Trove Loot cards and the Loot cards; put each deck by the Battle Mat.
- Select a Gearloc for each player:
- Place the Gearloc mat, dice tray, and character reference sheet.
- Put the Initiative die and Stat Dice above the character mat.
- For Skills with a circle on the character sheet, place the corresponding Skill die in the same number slot on the character mat.
- Give the Gearloc its starting health chips; place the Gearloc chip on top (star side face down). - Decide on Adventurer difficulty level:
| Difficulty | HP | Training Points | KO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenhorn | +2 on Day 1 | +1 on Day 1 | Locked dice are not removed |
| Casual | +1 on Day 1 | +1 on Day 1 | Play as normal |
| Seasoned | No bonus | No bonus | Play as normal |
3. Game Flow
An Adventure has 1 Tyrant and lasts multiple days. Each day has several Phases:
1. New Day: Rotate (increase) the Day Counter 1 day (skip for Day 1).
2. Encounter Phase:
a. Draw an Encounter and read it to the party.
b. Pick a choice and attempt to successfully complete it.
c. If successful, go to the Reward Phase.
d. If unsuccessful, skip Reward Phase and go to Recovery Phase.
3. Reward Phase:
a. Gain Choice rewards and any general Encounter rewards.
b. If rewards include Loot or Trove Loot, draw them now.
c. If rewards include Training Point(s), use them now.
d. If rewards include Progress Point(s), record progress now.
4. Recovery Phase:
a. At any time, trade any number of Loot & Trove Loot among the party.
b. Make a Lockpicking Attempt (on your Trove Loot or someone else's).
c. Each Gearloc may choose 1 of:
- Rest and Recover: Heal to full HP.
- Search for Better Loot: Discard 1 Loot, roll 6 Atk Dice, reveal a Loot card for each Bone rolled (if no Bones, you lose the discarded Loot), keep 1 revealed Loot card, discard the rest.
- Scout the Area: Roll a D6 — 1-3: reveal a 1Pt Baddie; 4-5: reveal a 1PT or 5Pt Baddie; 6: reveal a 1PT, 5PT, or 20Pt Baddie. You may leave it face up on top of the stack or put it on the bottom. Each Gearloc can scout the same stack.
Battle Setup (when a Battle is chosen):
1. Trigger "before battle" effects and Skills.
2. Use the Encounter Card to build your Battle Queue (BQ).
3. Place top Baddie from BQ in its appropriate Lane and Battle Mat position (with HP, Lane Marker, and Initiative Die) until 4 are on the mat or the BQ is empty.
4. Roll Gearloc Initiative Dice and add them to the Ini Meter.
5. Place Gearlocs from Prep Area onto Battle Mat.
6. Set Round Counter Die to R1.
7. Trigger "start of battle" effects and Skills.
Combat Round:
1. Increase Round Counter Die by 1 (skip for Round 1).
2. Trigger start-of-round Skills or Effects (such as Fatigue).
3. Each Gearloc & Baddie take its turn.
4. Add Revived Gearlocs & Baddies from the BQ to the Ini Meter and Battle Mat.
After R5, Fatigue rounds continue until the battle is completed: at the start of each round, all units on the Battle Mat lose 1 HP (cannot be blocked or defended).
4. Player Actions
Gearloc Turn:
1. Loot: Unless otherwise specified, use Loot anytime during your turn.
2. Effects Trigger: Resolve applicable Effect Dice on the Gearloc chip.
3. Move: Spend Dex to move that many adjacent spaces (1 Dex per position).
4. Determine Target if Attacking: Select target before rolling if dice require a target.
5. Select and Roll Dice: Dex not used for movement = number of dice you may roll from your pool (current Atk, Def minus Active-slot Def Dice, and available Skill dice).
6. Resolve the Roll (in any order):
- Resolve Target Dmg & Effects.
- Resolve Non-Target Dmg & Effects.
- Allocate Active, Locked, and Backup Plan dice.
- Use Backup Plan.
7. Baddies React: Applicable Baddie skills trigger.
Key Costs and Effects:
- Attack: Atk Stat = number of Atk Dice you can roll each turn; each Atk Die costs 1 Dex. Select 1 valid target before rolling. Melee units don't roll Atk dice if not adjacent to a target.
- Defense: Def Stat = number of Def Dice you can roll each turn; each Def Die costs 1 Dex. Rolled Shields may be placed in the Active slot (your choice). Total Shields in Active slots = damage you may prevent.
- Movement: 1 Dex per position; must move before attacking; cannot move after attacking.
- Skill Dice: Rolled within your Dex limit; when used, they must be Exhausted (unless otherwise noted); each Skill is used only once per battle unless noted.
- Backup Plan: Spend 6 Bones to upgrade to Innate +1 Skill. Use only 1 Backup Plan Skill per turn (cost 1–6 Bones as shown on Gearloc Mat).
Baddie Turn:
1. Effects Trigger (Bleed, Poison, Disable, etc.).
2. Determine Target(s).
3. Move (Melee not adjacent: up to 2 adjacent positions toward closest Target).
4. Resolve Skills without specific timing.
5. Roll all inactive Def Dice and Atk Dice (if target in range).
6. Resolve the Roll.
7. Gearlocs React.
5. Scoring and Game End
- Winning an Adventure: Players must defeat the Tyrant before the end of the day indicated on the Tyrant card.
- Losing: Players lose if they don't defeat the Tyrant in time.
- Winning a Battle: At least 1 Gearloc remains on the Battle Mat after all Baddies are defeated.
- Successful Encounter: Move to Reward Phase; gain Choice rewards, general Encounter rewards, Loot/Trove Loot, Training Points, and Progress Points as indicated.
- Unsuccessful Encounter: Skip Reward Phase; move to Recovery Phase. Gearlocs are not healed and start the next Encounter wounded. Undefeated Baddies are placed face down on the bottom of their stacks.
- KO: When a Gearloc's last HP is lost, remove chip, health chips, Initiative Die to Prep Area; remove Active, Locked, and BP dice; remove Effect Dice; Skill dice are Exhausted; Loot stays but is unusable while KO'd.
Key Rules and Common Questions
Easy-to-miss Rules:
- Bones cap: A maximum of 5 total Bones (not dice) may be stored in the BP from turn to turn. Line them up left to right in the order earned.
- Def Dice in Active slots reduce the number of Def Dice you can roll but do NOT count against your Dex.
- Atk/Def Dice in your BP don't count against Dex and don't reduce dice you can roll.
- Fatigue: After R5, all units lose 1 HP at the start of each round — this cannot be blocked or defended.
- Bleed does not stack and lasts for the entire battle (1 True Dmg at start of turn).
- Hardy vs. Thick Skin: Hardy reduces damage TO 1 per turn; Thick Skin reduces damage BY 1.
- Damage order: Damage must first remove Def Dice with Shields, then remaining Damage reduces HP. True Damage bypasses Buff HP, active Def Dice, and Skills.
- Movement: Gearlocs must move before attacking and cannot move after attacking. Movement is optional.
- Loot limit: 4 slots of Loot & Trove Loot per Gearloc. Unopened Trove Loot uses 1 slot. Heavy Loot counts as 3 Loot.
- Trove Loot remains chest side up until unlocked via successful Lockpicking; you cannot look at it before picking all its locks.
- Skill Dice are Exhausted when used (unless otherwise noted) and each Skill is used only once per battle unless stated otherwise.
- Locked Dice remain from battle to battle until used, but are removed when a Gearloc is KO'd (except on Greenhorn difficulty).
- Baddie Initiative ties are decided by Lane numbers (Lane 1 before Lane 2). Gearloc ties are decided by the party.
- After R1, units entering battle go to the top (Gearlocs, Tyrants, 20Pt Baddies) or bottom (1Pt & 5Pt Baddies) of the Ini Meter.
- Innate Talent upgrade: Fill your BP with Bones; on the 6th rolled Bone, upgrade to Innate +1 for the entire adventure.
FAQ:
Q: How many dice can I roll on my turn?
A: Your Dex is the total number of dice you can roll each turn — any combination of Atk, Def, and Skill Dice. Dex not used for movement can be used for dice.
Q: Do I have to use the results of my dice rolls?
A: No. You do not need to use the result of any dice roll unless the Profession or icon rules state otherwise. Unused Skill Dice are returned to their slot.
Q: What happens if I fail an Encounter?
A: You skip the Reward Phase and go to the Recovery Phase. Gearlocs are not healed and start the next Encounter wounded. Undefeated Baddies go face down on the bottom of their stacks.
Q: Can I use Loot during someone else's turn?
A: During battle, if not specified otherwise, Loot & Trove Loot must be used on your turn.
Q: What happens when the Def Dice pool runs out?
A: If the Def Dice pool runs out (from dice on Baddies, Gearlocs, or in Backup Plans), players should exchange Def Dice in their Backup Plans for Atk Dice.
Q: How do I train a Stat?
A: For Atk: roll current Atk Dice; if no Bones are rolled, increase Atk Die by 1; if a Bone is rolled, the Training Point must be spent elsewhere. For Def: roll current Def Dice, reroll any Bones 1 more time; if no Bones, increase Def Die by 1. Dex and Health Training Attempts always succeed. Skill Training Attempts always succeed.
Rules Q&A
Questions below are real questions players asked cunlema about this game; answers are ours, translated into English.
白脸德雷伦是个近战, 为何他的目标可以有两个人?
Conclusion: "Melee" only restricts attack method and movement requirements (you must be adjacent to attack), and does not limit how many targets you can hit. So a melee enemy having two targets is not contradictory in itself—the key lies in the description on its skill/chip, not in the word "melee."
What the General Rules Say
- The steps of an enemy's turn are themselves "Determine Target(s)"—the plural indicates that an enemy can have one or more targets.
- The rules explicitly acknowledge "enemies that can attack multiple targets": when such an enemy attacks multiple targets, it rolls attack dice separately for each target, but its defense dice or skill dice are rolled only once per round.
- Regarding movement: a multi-target enemy will not move specifically to hit one more target (e.g., if it is already adjacent to 1 Gearling, it will not move over to make 2 targets). In other words, whether it can hit 2 people depends on who it is adjacent to at the start of its turn, not on the "melee" attribute.
- The hard restriction for melee is only one: a melee unit cannot roll attack dice if it is not adjacent to its target. That is, for it to have two targets, both of those targets must satisfy the distance/position conditions required by its skill.
- There is also a type of skill that creates an effect of "seemingly one target, but actually multiple units take damage," such as Engulf: all damage rolled hits the target and all units adjacent to the target simultaneously (including friendly units, and possibly even itself). This type of skill is the most common source of players wondering "how can melee hit two people."
Regarding "Whiteface Drellen"
The entry "Whiteface Drellen" was not found in the rulebook (within the scope of the current core rules), so we cannot quote his specific skill text to explain it.
It should be noted that a Tyrant's specific skills are printed on the back of the Tyrant card—the back of the Tyrant card lists all of that Tyrant's skills one by one and explains its Tyrant dice; the core rulebook only covers the general framework and does not include the skill details of each Tyrant.
… (condensed here; full text on the cunleme Chinese page)
Can defense dice in active slots be used to negate damage?
Can defense dice in the Active slot be used to negate damage?
Conclusion: Yes. The shields on defense dice in the Active slot are exactly what they're for — blocking (negating) incoming damage.
How It Works
- Placement: For each defense die rolled with a shield, you may choose to place it in the Active slot (whether to place it or not is your choice — for example, you may want to keep a skull).
- Negating Damage: The total number of shields on defense dice (and some skill dice) in the Active slot is the amount of damage you can block. When you take damage, use this value to reduce the incoming damage.
- Order of Use: Damage must first remove defense dice with shields (whether they are in the Gearling's Active slot or on an enemy); only the remaining damage is deducted from HP.
- After Resolution: Regular defense dice that have been used are returned to the dice pool and are not exhausted, unless otherwise specified.
Conditions & Exceptions
- Does Not Block True Damage: True damage bypasses defense dice in the Active slot (the rulebook explicitly states that True Damage bypasses Buff HP, Active defense dice, and skills) and goes straight to HP.
- Does Not Consume Dex: Defense dice in the Active slot do not count against your Dex cost.
- Reduces Rollable Defense Dice: The current total of defense dice in the Active slot reduces the number of defense dice you can roll each turn.
- Recyclable Reroll: During your turn, you may remove defense dice from the Active slot at any time to free up space and reroll them.
- When Cleared: Dice in the Active slot are cleared at the end of combat and when the Gearling is KO'd.
- Corrosive: When an enemy has this ability, you first use the defense dice in the Active slot to negate that enemy's damage, then exhaust the remaining defense dice in the Active slot; defense dice exhausted this way reduce the number of defense dice you can roll for the rest of this combat.
- Shield Bash: Removes defense dice with shields from the Active and Locked slots (returned to the dice pool, not exhausted) and deals damage equal to the total number of shield
… (condensed here; full text on the cunleme Chinese page)
Can bone tokens thrown this round be used to activate Backup Plan?
Can bones rolled this turn be used to activate Backup Plan?
Conclusion: Yes. During your own Gearling's turn, bones rolled this turn can first be placed into the Backup Plan (BP) slot, and then used to activate a Backup Plan skill within the same turn.
Specific procedure (resolution order of a Gearling's turn)
During the "resolve dice" step of the turn, two things happen in sequence:
- Assign dice: You may place rolled bones into BP slots as you wish (you may also place shield-bearing defense dice into empty active slots, and place applicable skills into active or locked slots).
- Use Backup Plan: Immediately afterward, you may use the BP skill.
Because "placing bones into BP" and "using BP" belong to the same dice resolution and the same turn, bones newly rolled this turn can be committed to a BP skill on the spot. Furthermore, bones themselves remain in BP until used, so even if not used this turn, they can be saved for later turns.
Conditions & Exceptions
- Only 1 Backup Plan skill can be used per turn.
- BP skill costs are 1–6 bones (the exact amount is indicated on your character mat/reference card for that skill); upon use, remove the corresponding number of bones as required.
- BP can hold a maximum of 5 bones (note: total bones, not number of dice). When placing, arrange them left to right in the order they were gained; multi-bone dice occupy multiple slots.
- Partial use of multi-bone dice: If a BP skill only uses part of a multi-bone die, the entire die must still be consumed, and the unused bones are forfeited.
- Order of use: Bones are used left to right; unused bones shift to the left.
- Ownership of dice used for BP: Attack dice and defense dice used for BP are returned to the dice pool; skill dice used for BP must be exhausted.
- Red bones: Red bones on certain skill dice must be placed into BP (they cannot be saved for other use).
- Clearance timing: Bones must be cleared at the end of combat, or when knocked out (KO).
- One special contrast (Dart minigame): The bone rules in this mode are the opposite — they **must be used in the same turn they are
… (condensed here; full text on the cunleme Chinese page)
Does a player's Taunt effect work against ranged enemies?
Does Taunt affect ranged units?
Conclusion: In the rulebook, Taunt is defined as an enemy skill, and its determination is based on "adjacent," not melee/ranged. Therefore, whether a unit is ranged does not affect whether Taunt applies — any unit that is adjacent to the taunter and wants to attack must attack it, regardless of whether it is ranged.
Trigger and Effect of Taunt
- Trigger: Triggers when an enemy with the Taunt skill rolls bones; place a Taunt effect die on that enemy (indicating it has triggered).
- Forced Attack: Until the start of that enemy's next turn, any opposing unit that is adjacent to it and wants to attack must attack it.
- Can Dodge: An adjacent Gearling may choose to move away, thereby not attacking it.
- Removal: Remove the Taunt effect die at the start of that enemy's next turn.
Relationship with "Ranged"
- The Rulebook Text does not limit Taunt to "melee only" or "ranged only"; the determination is based on adjacency. Therefore, a ranged unit that is adjacent to the taunter and wants to attack is likewise forced to attack the taunter.
- Conversely, if it is not adjacent, it is not within Taunt's forced range (Taunt will not pull in distant ranged units).
Exceptions and Conditions
- Taunt only triggers when the taunter rolls bones.
- The prerequisite for a forced attack is being adjacent and wanting to attack; an adjacent unit may choose to move away without attacking.
- The effect lasts until the start of that enemy's next turn, at which point the effect die is removed.
Regarding "Player Taunt"
The rulebook does not define a Taunt ability for Gearlings (the player side) — this rule is not found in the rulebook. If you are referring to a Taunt provided by a character skill or loot, whether it can affect ranged units and how far its range extends should be determined by the description of that skill/card itself (character skills are written on the Gearling reference cards, not in the general rulebook).
… (condensed here; full text on the cunleme Chinese page)
## Key Rules & FAQ ### Frequently Asked Questions **When the Backup Plan slots are full with a total of 5 bone tokens, and you roll a new bone token this turn, can you use this bone token together with the 5 tokens in the slots to activate Prodigy?** No. Prodigy can only be activated using bone tokens you rolled this turn; you cannot use bone tokens already in the Backup Plan slots. The tokens in the Backup Plan slots are reserved for future turns and do not count as part of this turn's roll results.
This is exactly the standard way to upgrade "Innate Talent."
Conclusion: Yes. When the Backup Plan (BP) slot is full with 5 bones, the bone newly rolled this turn is the "6th bone rolled" as described by the rules. At that point, you may use it together with the 5 bones already in the slot to upgrade "Innate Talent" to Innate +1.
How to do it
- The BP capacity limit is a maximum of 5 bones stored (note: this is the total number of bones, not the number of dice), so when saving across turns, BP is full at 5.
- The Innate Talent upgrade rule states: spend 6 bones to upgrade; the method is to first fill your own BP with bones, and then when you roll the 6th bone, upgrade to Innate +1.
- Therefore, the bone newly rolled this turn does not need to be stored in the slot first (the slot is already full); it is itself that "6th bone," and directly combines with the 5 bones in the slot to make 6 and complete the upgrade.
Conditions & Exceptions
- Must be filled first: The prerequisite for the upgrade is that there are already bones in the BP, and the upgrade is completed in one go when the 6th bone is rolled, not by casually gathering 6 at some other time.
- Flip after upgrading: After the upgrade is complete, flip the Gearhead chip to the side with the star on the edge.
- Upgrade lasts the entire adventure: The upgraded Innate Talent remains in effect for the rest of this adventure.
- Bones are cleared: Bones must be cleared at the end of combat or when knocked out (KO); so these 5 stored bones must last until the moment the 6th bone is rolled — if combat ends or you are knocked out before that, you lose them.
- Usable the turn rolled: A rolled bone can be put into BP for use this turn, with no need to wait until the next turn.
Not found in the rulebook any clause explicitly listing the "Innate Talent upgrade" under the "only 1 Backup Plan Skill per turn" restriction; the original wording of that restriction is "Use only 1 Backup Plan Skill per turn."
This content is for reference only; in case of conflict, defer to the rulebook and the experts around you.
**What are the conditions for losing the game?** The game is lost immediately if any of the following conditions are met: - All players' health points drop to 0. - The deck is emptied and turns can no longer continue. - The maximum number of failure rounds specified in the rules is reached.
Conditions for Failing the Adventure
Clear Conclusion: In Too Many Bones, there is only one condition for failing an entire adventure — failing to defeat the Tyrant before the deadline specified on the Tyrant card. As soon as the days exceed the time limit on the Tyrant card and the Tyrant has not yet been defeated, the players lose that adventure.
Explanation of the Condition:
- To win an adventure, players must defeat the Tyrant before the end of the day indicated on the Tyrant card.
- If you fail to defeat the Tyrant in time (within the deadline), the players lose.
Exceptions and Distinctions to Note (these are NOT failure conditions):
- Losing a single battle does not mean losing the adventure. When an encounter (whether peaceful or combat) is unsuccessful, the party receives no reward and immediately proceeds to the recovery phase; when a battle is lost, the battle mat is cleared, undefeated enemies are placed face down on the bottom of their respective enemy piles, and the Gearlings enter the next encounter with the health they had at the end of the encounter (unhealed). None of these represent a failure of the adventure.
- Losing a Tyrant battle is handled normally. A lost Tyrant battle is treated the same as a lost regular encounter battle — as long as the days have not yet exceeded the Tyrant's time limit, you may challenge again.
- A Gearling being knocked out (KO) does not cause the adventure to fail. Being knocked out only affects that Gearling's status for that battle; the rules do not list being knocked out as a failure condition.
No other conditions for failing an entire adventure were found in the rulebook other than "failing to defeat the Tyrant within the time limit."
This content is for reference only; in case of any conflict, the rulebook and experienced players take precedence.
Frequently Asked Questions **Can you look at the front of Rare Loot before it is unlocked?** No. Rare Loot cards remain face down until they are unlocked. You may not look at the front of a Rare Loot card before it has been unlocked.
Rare Loot (Trove Loot): Can you see the front before unlocking it?
Conclusion: No. You cannot view the contents of Trove Loot until all of its locks have been opened.
How It Works
- Keep the chest side up: Trove Loot should always remain chest side up until it has been successfully unlocked via Lockpicking.
- No viewing before unlocking: The rules explicitly state that you may not view that Trove Loot until all locks have been opened.
- View only after all locks are opened: Once you have successfully picked the locks (opened all three locks) and gained the Trove Loot, you may then flip it over to view its contents.
Conditions & Exceptions
- Occupies a slot: Unopened Trove Loot occupies 1 loot slot; each Gearling may have at most 4 loot/Trove Loot slots at any time.
- Counts as "Loot" but is not identical: Trove Loot and regular loot both count as "Loot," but if a card or ability affects only "Loot," it does not affect Trove Loot.
- Must be used on your own turn in combat: During combat, unless otherwise specified, loot and Trove Loot must be used on your own turn (though you cannot use them while unopened anyway).
- Search for Better Loot (Recovery Phase): This option allows you to discard a loot card (including Trove Loot), but the card flipped over is regular loot, not Trove Loot.
No clause stating "you may view the front of Trove Loot before unlocking it" was found in the rulebook text.
This content is for reference only; in case of any conflict, the rulebook and experienced players take precedence.
## Key Rules & FAQ ### Frequently Asked Questions **When resolving skill effects, do diagonally adjacent positions on the combat panel count as adjacent?** Rulebook Text: Adjacent refers only to orthogonally adjacent (up, down, left, right); diagonal positions do not count as adjacent.
When resolving skill effects, do diagonal positions on the combat board count as adjacent?
Conclusion: No. In Too Many Bones, the default meaning of "adjacent" is orthogonally adjacent (up, down, left, right); diagonal positions do not count as adjacent.
Conditions and Exceptions
Default Rule:
- Both Gearlocs and enemies can only move to adjacent positions when moving, and the rules explicitly state "not diagonal," meaning diagonal positions are excluded from the definition of adjacent by default.
Exceptions (diagonal is only included when explicitly stated):
- Flying units: Enemies/Tyrants with the Flying ability can move diagonally—this is precisely because default movement cannot be diagonal that the ability must be specifically granted.
- Robots (Tink exclusive): When deploying a robot, the wording specifically notes "adjacent (orthogonal or diagonal)," indicating that only in cases explicitly marked like this are diagonal positions also considered adjacent.
Impact on skill resolution:
- For any skill that only states "adjacent" (for example, Devour targeting "the target and all adjacent units," Counter triggered after being attacked by an "adjacent unit," Taunt constraining "adjacent enemy units," and certain skills that "affect any adjacent unit," etc.), units in diagonal positions are not within their scope of effect.
- Only when a rule or skill explicitly states "orthogonal or diagonal" or similar wording do diagonal positions count as adjacent.
No general clause was found in the rulebook that defines "adjacent" by default to include diagonal positions.
This content is for reference only; in case of any conflict, the rulebook and experienced players nearby take precedence.
Rules, cards and Q&A (Chinese)
The rules, card data and player questions for this game are written in Chinese. Open the Chinese page to read them.
Where to find full rules
Full rules and card lookup are available in the cunlema app at cunlema.cn — pick this game and ask about any rule, card or turn you are unsure about.