How to be the Best!!!
The Basics
The goal of WHICH WITCH IS BEST!? is simple: be the last player with any Life Hearts remaining.
To win, players will need to use elemental Spell Cards pulled from a shared Draw Pile and use them to try and reduce the Life Hearts of their opponents to zero. When a player attacks another using Spell Cards, both must roll six-sided dice to determine if the attacking player is successful.
If the attacking player has the higher roll total, the defending player loses Life Hearts.
If the defending player has the higher roll total, they are safe from harm, but nothing happens to the attacker.
If there is a tie, both players re-roll under the same conditions until one emerges with the higher roll total.
During the game, players can draw cards of all types to improve their odds of success. For example, Wand Cards allow players to roll with more powerful dice, such as eight, ten, twelve or twenty-sided dice. Heart Potion Cards allow players to regain Life Hearts lost during the game. Some cards even allow players to block attacks without risking a roll of the dice.
To survive and emerge victorious, players will need to manage their hands carefully, balance risk versus reward and use their cards at the right time to maximize their chances of success.
Let’s review the instructions in detail…
WHICH WITCH IS BEST!? contains:
72 CARDS: These cards are used for various purposes depending upon the type. Here’s the breakdown!
6 Witch Cards / Life Heart Trackers: These cards are used to represent players during the game. Before starting, each player must choose from one of six Witch Cards to serve as their avatar during play. They are: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Ice and Poison. On the back of each Witch Card is a grid used to represent the amount of “life” a player has during the game. Use a Life Heart Tracker Token (see below) to track the number of Life Hearts you have during play. Run out of Life Hearts and you’re out of the game!
65 Game Cards: These cards have “Game Card” labels written on their backs and are used for various purposes during gameplay such as attacking opponents, blocking attacks, regaining Life Hearts, taking extra turns, using better dice and other actions. The instructions for how to use each Game Card are written on their faces. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with each of them before playing if you are new to WHICH WITCH IS BEST!?
1 Fast Reference Card: This is used to summarize the game instructions and quickly explain to a player what they can do with their turn. It also contains the steps for attacking with or defending against Spell Cards. The more you play, the less you will need it!
6 LIFE HEART TRACKER TOKENS: These small tokens are used with the Life Heart Tracker grid (see above) to keep track of how many Life Hearts you have during the game. Shift the token on the number tiles of the Life Heart Tracker grid as you gain or lose Life Hearts.
10 DICE (6 six-sided, 1 eight-sided, 1 ten-sided, 1 twelve-sided and 1 twenty-sided): Dice are used when attacking with or defending against Spell Cards to determine which player is successful in the duel. At the start of the game, each player receives one six-sided die as their default die. During the game, players can use Wand Cards to upgrade their default six-sided die to an eight, ten, twelve or twenty-sided die. Lose the Wand Card and you’re back to the default six-sided die until you put another Wand Card in play..
I. Game Contents
II. Game Objective
Defeat your opponents using Spell Cards to be the last player with any Life Hearts remaining.
III. Game Setup
PICK A WITCH CARD AND ITS DIE:
Each player must pick 1 Witch Card from the deck to represent them in the game and the six-sided die that matches the color of their Witch Card’s border.
Unused Witch Cards/dice go back in the box.
SET UP YOUR LIFE HEART TRACKER:
Each player must flip their Witch Card to show the Life Heart Tracker grid on the back.
Each player must place a Life Heart Tracker Token on the number “5” tile in a two-player game or on the number “4” tile in a game of three-players or more. You may never have more than 5 Life Hearts at any point in the game.
The Life Heart Tracker token is to be moved on the number tiles as players lose or gain Life Hearts during the game.
DISTRIBUTE CARDS AND CREATE THE DRAW AND DISCARD PILES:
Take the 65 Game Cards, shuffle them well and distribute 5 Game Cards face-down to each player to form their hands.
Place the remaining Game Cards in the center of all players face-down to create the Draw Pile.
Take the top card of the Draw Pile and place it face-up next to it to create the Discard Pile.
SET THE ORDER OF TURNS (ROTATION):
WHICH WITCH IS BEST!? is a turn-based game, meaning each player gets 1 turn by default before the next player may start their turn.
The order of turns, also known as the “rotation,” goes from the youngest player to the oldest player.
IMPORTANT NOTE! During the game, a player might choose to attack another player using Spell, Wand Hex or Thief Hex Cards. Actions taken by a defending player in response to these attacks DO NOT count as their turn in the rotation.
IV. PLAYING THE GAME
When it’s a player’s turn in the rotation, they must choose to take only 1 of the 7 actions listed below depending upon the cards they have available in their hand.
USE 1 HEART POTION CARD:
These are used to gain 1 Life Heart. See the instructions on the card for use.
USE 1 ZOOM BROOM CARD:
These are used to take two extra turns. See the instructions on the card for use.
ATTACK ONE PLAYER USING SPELL CARDS:
These are used to drain or reduce the Life Hearts of an opponent with a dice roll. See section V for steps, including the options for any player defending an attack.
ATTACK ONE PLAYER USING 1 THIEF HEX CARD:
These are used to view one opponent’s full hand and a steal a card of your choice for your own hand. See the instructions on the card for use.
ATTACK ONE PLAYER USING 1 WAND HEX CARD:
These are used to steal the Wand Card of another player that they already have “in play” and either move it to the Discard Pile or immediately put it “in play” for yourself. See the instructions on the card for use.
PUT 1 WAND CARD “IN PLAY”:
Wand Cards allow a player to roll with better dice than the default six-sided die they started the game with when attacking with or defending against Spell Cards.
To put a Wand Card in play, the player must place it face-up next to their Life Heart Tracker for all other players to see.
Once it is in play, the player must use the die noted on the card for all dice rolls until that Wand Card is either stolen by another player using a Wand Hex Card or replaced by a better Wand Card (the replaced Wand Card must go to the Discard Pile). Players go back to using their six-sided die when their “In Play” Wand Card is lost.
You may only have 1 Wand Card “in play” at any given time.
DISCARD IDENTICAL GAME CARDS FROM YOUR HAND:
Discard as many cards as you want from your hand so long as they are identical and move them to the Discard Pile. For example, you may discard 2 Ice Spell Cards from your hand, but you cannot discard 1 Ice Spell Card and 1 Fire Spell Card at the same time.
Aside from any Wand Cards put in play, any cards used during a player’s turn must be placed in the Discard Pile face-up.
All players must then check to see if they have full hands. If they don’t, they must replace the lost cards by pulling from the top of the Draw Pile until full.
The player’s turn then ends and the next player in the rotation may start their turn.
IMPORTANT NOTE!: If the Draw Pile has been fully used, shuffle the Discard Pile and place it face-down to create a new Draw Pile. Take the top card of the new Draw Pile and place it next to it face-up to create the new Discard Pile. Repeat this process as needed during the game.
V. Attacking with Spell Cards
The winner of a Spell Card attack is decided by a simple roll of the die. Here are the steps!
ATTACK:
On your turn - if you choose to attack another player with a Spell Card - announce the single opponent you are attacking and then play up to a total of 3 Spell Cards of the same type. For example, you might choose to attack with 3 Fire Spell Cards, but you cannot attack with 1 Ice Spell Card and 2 Fire Spell Cards.
The attacking player cannot use Spell Cards that match the Witch Card of the player they are attacking. For example, Ice Spell Cards cannot be used to attack an opponent represented by the Ice Witch Card.
The attacking player may also choose to play Familiar Cards to boost their roll total. They may mix and combine as many Familiar Cards as they would like from their hand and play them face-up.
DEFEND: The defending player must then take 1 of 2 actions in response to the attack. REMEMBER! The action taken by a defending player in response to an attack does not count as their turn in the rotation. They must:
Play 1 Shield Crystal Card from their hand and block the attacking player’s full attack without having to roll dice (skip to the “End” step); OR
Confirm that they will try to defend against the effects of the attack by rolling dice. At this point the defending player may choose to mix and combine as many Familiar Cards as they would like from their hand and play them face-up.
ROLL:
The attacking player rolls first using their default six-sided die. If they have a Wand Card already in play, they are to use the die noted on that card instead of their default six-sided die. The attacking player must also add on any points from Familiar Cards they played earlier before rolling.
The defending player then follows the same sequence as the attacking player.
RESOLVE:
If there is a tie in roll totals, repeat the roll step above.
If the defending player has the higher roll total, they are safe from harm and nothing happens to the attacking player.
If the attacking player has the higher roll total, then the defending player loses 1 Life Heart for every Spell Card used by the attacking player. IMPORTANT NOTE!: The defending player loses double the amount of Life Hearts if the attacking player used a Spell Card Type that matched their own Witch Card. For example, if the attacking player is the Wind Witch and won the dice roll using 2 Wind Spell Cards, the defending player would lose 4 Life Hearts instead of 2. This is a good way to quickly turn the tides of the game and make best use of your dice rolls!
END:
If the defending player lost any Life Hearts, they must shift their Life Heart Tracker Token to the correct number tile on their Life Heart Tracker.
Cards used during the duel must be moved to the Discard Pile, excluding Wand Cards in play.
Players must refill their hands to the maximum by pulling cards from the top of the Draw Pile.
The attacker’s turn then ends, moving on to the next player in the rotation.
VI. ELIMINATING PLAYERS
Players are eliminated from the game when they have zero Life Hearts remaining, at which point their cards move to the Discard Pile.
Elimination can only be avoided if a player uses the Infinity Cauldron Card immediately after losing their final Life Heart (see the card for instructions).
If an attacking player eliminates another player, they may choose one of the following as a reward:
Regain 1 Life Heart; OR
Permanently increase their hand size size by 1 card (i.e. hold six cards instead of five). The more players you defeat, the more cards you can hold and options you have!
VII. ENDING THE GAME
The game ends when there is only one player or team that has any Life Hearts remaining.