What is RYFT?  It is a game created by James Olley that originates from Norwich, UK. The game  takes elements from other games, blends them together, and produces a unique result, making it stand out from other games. Let´s start commenting on some basic rules. The deck is built with 40 cards containing beings and code cards (up to 3 of each card). The game is played in a battle zone where beings are summoned and matrices are activated. There is also a code zone where active and delayed code cards are played. If all zones are being used, a player cannot activate any more code cards in these zones.

The game starts with both players drawing five cards. If they do not like their starting hand, they may return it to the deck and draw five new cards. This is called a reset. There is only one reset per player per game. Both players start the game with 300 life force. The turn structure is quite simple. In the draw stage, you draw two cards, and your hand size limit is nine cards. Then you have your summon stage. The resource system uses synergy, which is used to summon beings to your board and activate their code cards. Players start their turn with five synergy. If a card would force you to go over 0 synergy, the excess number past 0 is given to your rival for their turn on top. This gives some space for strategy when deciding when to summon or activate something without giving resources to your rival. Additionally, a player must consider that once over-synergizing occurs, that player cannot play any more cards for the rest of the turn.

There is one more aspect to the resource system. Depending on the being’s class, you can summon them using the materials listed in their material box. This is kind of a tribute. For example, an advance can be summoned using a specific being as material. Matrix are unique code cards that are placed in the battle zone. If a being is summoned into the same zone as a matrix card, or a matrix card is activated in the same zone as a being, the two become connected and can unlock their secret abilities.

Next is the battle stage, where all beings a player controls can attack if able to. Beings can attack their rival directly if their rival controls no beings of their own. If the rival has beings, the player must declare them as an attack target first. If a rival controls any unconnected matrix cards, a player can also choose to attack them, destroying them instantly with no damage being dealt. Last, is the end stage, that is where some cards activate their effects.