Guide

Reading the board before you act

How to read the board in the card game in TCG Card Shop Simulator before committing to a play, so a turn is decided from what is on the table rather than from memory.

Applies to

no version stated by this build (see the sources page)

Before you start

• A play table with a game in progress
• A deck you are playing with
• Some idea of what your cards do

Steps

1. Read attack as three totals rather than one number.
   the board keeps a base attack list and two separate boost lists, one for the elements involved and one for cards
2. Put a card where the elements can add to it.
   the board holds positions and card lists for the element areas, and tracks which area you are hovering by index
3. Check the guardian row before you commit an attacker.
   guardians have their own positions and their own list of cards
4. Watch both ends of the deck, not only the top.
   the deck is kept as a top list and a bottom list
5. Read the discard pile before you decide what is gone.
   the pile has its own position and card lists, and the board remembers the cards discarded most recently
6. Wait for a resolution to finish rather than starting another.
   the board keeps the cards selected for a resolution, the cards valid for it and a flag for a turn waiting to resolve
7. Know that a resolution can refuse to repeat a kind of monster.
   there is a list to check against and a list of the kinds already chosen
8. Know which areas are occupied before you plan around them.
   the board remembers the monsters standing in the element areas

Common mistakes

• Adding up one attack number and forgetting the element and card boosts.
• Attacking past a guardian because you did not look at the row.
• Planning around the top of the deck and forgetting that cards can go under it.
• Acting again while a resolution is still waiting.

Related entries

Cards and rarityThe state of a game of cardsThe board holds a position list for the deck, the discard pile, the element areas, the guardian row and the hand.Interface and screensThe board's interfaceThe board has a screen group and a user interface group of its own.Cards and rarityWhat a card shows while you play itThe game ships an icon-only card front for presenting a card.

Sources

A local copy of the game, read only. Grounding for each step is on the technical reference pages; no number is estimated.