​Esotera is an incredibly diverse and versatile game that can be played in any method in which your imagination can determine! Below are some of the most popular, and defined Play Formats, which have the added benefit of being able to mixed and matched to your preferred play style! All Play Formats are compatible with any and all Esoterix Anomalies as well.

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Capture Call

• Standard ( S ) - High numbers capture lower numbers

• Inverse ( I )- Lower numbers capture higher numbers

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Match Format

• Speed - ​3 rounds for a best 2 our of 3 play style. Additional rounds called Tie Breakers can be used to determine a definitive winner. Recommended Capture Call as follows: (S, I, S), (S, S, S), (I, I, I), or (I, S, I). Each round should have 0 - 2 Anomalies to maximize the playing experience!
   

• Esotera - 5 rounds for a best 3 out of 5 play style. The 1st 2 rounds will have 2 Esoterix Anomalies, the 3rd and 4th rounds will have 4 Esoterix Anomalies, and the 5th Round will have: Cascade, Balance, and Stasis as the Esoterix Anomalies. Rounds 1 and 3 shall be Standard, 2 and 4 shall be Inverse, 5 shall be determined fairly between the players. Tie Breaker Rounds may be utilized with the following conditions: 4 Anomalies, Inverse, and Dead Zone in the center square, or center left most square depending on grid size. This Format is intended to test your deck building skills!
   

• Sudden Death - This is a single round that can be played with 2 or more players, in a winner takes all scenario! Sudden Death is most commonly played with Destruction Play Format, and a specific number of "points" designated before gameplay begins. In this sense, this format is often referred to as "Race to #", whereby each captured card is considered a point, and the first player to reach those point totals, or has a dominant board state, whichever happens first, is the winner!

 

Play Format​

• Vanilla - No additional format or mechanics rules! Just play the game using the Match Format and Capture Call!

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• Destruction - Intended for multiple players, but can be 2 player variant. In lieu of capturing a card utilizing Standard or Inverse formats, the card is removed from play. Additionally all players continuously draw cards until a dominant board state is achieved, or the decks run out of cards. Winner shall be the one with the most board control!

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• Dead Zone - Players determine a fair method for determining which square(s) are dead zones, which prevent cards from being played on those spaces.

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• King of the Hill - The center square is the Hill on a 3 x 3 grid, and for all other configurations, the center left most square shall be considered the hill. Players vie for control over the Hill per round! Number of cards in player control shall not be considered for winning or losing.

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• Constructed - Players play using Standard or Inverse Rules, with the additional caveat that a hand may not contain more than 1 card with the value "A", and must have minimum of 4 different archetypes which may include Kalaban.

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• 10 Card Special - Players shall still build 40 card decks, but may use up to 4x of the same card in the deck build. 

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• Evolution - Intended for multiple players, but can be 2 player variant. In addition to capturing a card utilizing Standard or Inverse formats, the player may play a card on top of an existing card, following the same orientation to "Evolve" it so long as they share an Archetype. The Evolved card is the top most card of the stack, and gains +1 to all values of the card for each subordinate card in the stack!

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• Tic Tac Toe - When playing on a 3 x 3 grid, if all numbers on a given side are the same, and the player is in control of all 3 cards, then that player wins outright regardless of any other board state! In lieu of a Tic Tac Toe, normal win condition rules apply.

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• Sudoku - When Playing on any grid, if a player at any point in time of the round has cards in their control which have at least 1 of every number and the letter A, they win the round!