Spoiler
The game is about building and fighting in customizable giant robots. You build a robot out of one "Chassis" card, one "Pilot" card, and any number of "Weapon" cards that will fit.
Each Chassis card has the following stats:
RU Cost - the number of Resource Units that the chassis costs to construct.
Size - one of {Light, Medium, or Heavy} - the weight and size of the robot. Light robots generally have more Maneuverability but less Armor and fewer Mount Spaces; Heavy robots generally have more Mount Spaces and Armor, but less Maneuverability.
Torso Mount Spaces - how many slots worth of weapons will fit on its torso (bigger weapons take up more slots)
Torso Armor - how many points of damage the torso can take before the robot is destroyed.
Left Arm Mount Spaces - how many slots worth of weapons will fit on its left arm (bigger weapons take up more slots). This will be blank if the robot has no arms.
Left Arm Armor - how many points of damage the left arm can take before all weapons on it are blown off. This will be blank if the robot has no arms.
Right Arm Mount Spaces - how many slots worth of weapons will fit on its right arm (bigger weapons take up more slots). This will be blank if the robot has no arms.
Right Arm Armor - how many points of damage the right arm can take before all weapons on it are blown off. This will be blank if the robot has no arms.
Maneuverability - how many Maneuver cards the robot can play per round.
Leg Armor - how many points of damage the legs can take before the robot's Maneuverability is reduced to 1.
Special Abilities - specific special powers that this chassis card has.
Each Weapon card has the following stats:
RU Cost - the number of Resource Units that the weapon costs to construct.
Type - one of {Energy, Ballistic, Missile, or Physical} - what type of weapon it is. The Pilot's skill, and certain Maneuvers and special abilities, care about the weapon's type.
Range - one of {Bombardment, Long, Short, or Contact} - what ranges the weapon is effective at. Bombardment weapons are only effective at long range (but can also attack units outside of engagement range); Long range weapons are effective at Long and Short range; Short range weapons are effective at Short and Contact range, and Contact range weapons are only effective at Contact range.
Damage - how much damage the weapon deals.
Torso Mount Space - how many slots this weapon takes up when mounted on a robot's torso. This will be blank if the weapon cannot be mounted on the torso (such as many melee weapons)
Left Arm Mount Space - how many slots this weapon takes up when mounted on a robot's torso. This will be blank if the weapon cannot be mounted on an arm (such as many 'equipment'-style weapons, such as Jet Packs)
Right Arm Mount Space - how many slots this weapon takes up when mounted on a robot's torso. This will be blank if the weapon cannot be mounted on an arm (such as many 'equipment'-style weapons, such as Jet Packs)
Special Abilities - any special powers that the weapon has.
Each Pilot card has the following stats:
RU Cost - the number of Resource Units that the pilot costs to train.
Experience - one of {Green, Veteran, Elite} - how experienced the pilot is. Green pilots are generally cheaper, but have less skill.
Energy Weapon Skill - how accurate the pilot is with Energy weapons.
Ballistic Weapon Skill - how accurate the pilot is with Ballistic weapons.
Missile Weapon Skill - how accurate the pilot is with Missile weapons.
Melee Weapon Skill - how accurate the pilot is with Melee weapons.
Piloting Skill - how good the pilot is at dodging or performing complex maneuvers.
Maneuver Skill - how many Maneuver cards the pilot can have in its hand at one time.
In addition to the chassis, pilot, and weapons, each player can create a Maneuver deck, containing a minimum of 18 Maneuver cards, with no more than 3 copies of any one Maneuver card. Maneuver cards come in three types - Movement, Strike, or Response. After each player assembles their robot, they draw a number of Maneuver cards equal to their pilot's Maneuver skill, and the fight begins at Long range.
Each Pilot takes turns initiation a Maneuver action. A Maneuver action can be one of two things: a Movement, or a Strike.
Move - A pilot may play a Movement Maneuver to adjust range by one factor (Long to Short, Short to Contact, Contact to Flanking, or Flanking to Contact, Contact to Short, Short to Long), in addition to the effects listed on the Movement card. If the player has no Movement Maneuvers in their hand that they want to play face-up, they may play any Maneuver (regardless of its type) face down as a "basic Movement" - this allows them to adjust range by one factor, but doesn't provide any additional abilities. Unless their opponent Responds, they adjust range immediately and their opponent begins their action.
Strike - A pilot may play a Strike Maneuver to use ("tap", for MtG players) any of their weapon cards to deal their damage to the opponent's robot, in addition to the effects listed on the Strike card. If the player has no Strike Maneuvers in their hand that they want to play face-up, they may play any Maneuver (regardless of its type) face down as a "basic Strike" - this allows them to fire their weapons and deal damage, but doesn't provide any additional abilities. Unless their opponent Responds, they deal damage as the Strike resolves, and their opponent begins their action. Unless a Maneuver or special ability says otherwise, the defending player assigns the attacker's damage as they choose, and may split damage from a single weapon across any number of sections on their robot.
Respond - Whenever a pilot plays a Maneuver card, their opponent has a chance to play a Response card. Each Response card specifies the situations it can be used in - some Responses only work against Movements, some only work against Strikes, and some only work against other Responses. If you have an appropriate Response card, you play it, and it modifies your opponent's last-played Maneuver in the way that the card specifies.
As Maneuvers are played, they are placed under the robot's Legs to indicate that the Robot has performed that maneuver. Some Maneuvers provide continuous benefits after they are played, until the end of the current round of combat. Other Maneuvers provide benefits during the current action and are done. Once a Robot has at least a number of Maneuvers played as its Maneuverability rating, it cannot play any further Maneuvers during the turn. This means that lower-Maneuverability robots will tend to need to dispatch their opponent quickly and ration their use of Response cards carefully, or find themselves unable to respond to their faster opponents' final Maneuvers.
At the end of each action, both players draw new Maneuvers from their Maneuver decks until their hand size is returned to their Pilots' Maneuver Skills. Once both Robots are out of Maneuverability, the turn ends; each player "readies" their robot's pilot and weapons ("untapping" them, in MtG terms) and then "readies" the robot itself by discarding all the played Maneuver cards from last turn, then shuffling all the discarded Maneuver cards back into their Maneuver deck.
There is a larger "strategic game" that can be played, which wraps around this smaller "tactical game". The "strategic game" includes a fifth card type, Locations, which control the production of RU, determine which weapons, chassis, and pilots can be built, and turns the whole thing into a sort of "Tower Defense" / "RTS" style thing.
Each Chassis card has the following stats:
RU Cost - the number of Resource Units that the chassis costs to construct.
Size - one of {Light, Medium, or Heavy} - the weight and size of the robot. Light robots generally have more Maneuverability but less Armor and fewer Mount Spaces; Heavy robots generally have more Mount Spaces and Armor, but less Maneuverability.
Torso Mount Spaces - how many slots worth of weapons will fit on its torso (bigger weapons take up more slots)
Torso Armor - how many points of damage the torso can take before the robot is destroyed.
Left Arm Mount Spaces - how many slots worth of weapons will fit on its left arm (bigger weapons take up more slots). This will be blank if the robot has no arms.
Left Arm Armor - how many points of damage the left arm can take before all weapons on it are blown off. This will be blank if the robot has no arms.
Right Arm Mount Spaces - how many slots worth of weapons will fit on its right arm (bigger weapons take up more slots). This will be blank if the robot has no arms.
Right Arm Armor - how many points of damage the right arm can take before all weapons on it are blown off. This will be blank if the robot has no arms.
Maneuverability - how many Maneuver cards the robot can play per round.
Leg Armor - how many points of damage the legs can take before the robot's Maneuverability is reduced to 1.
Special Abilities - specific special powers that this chassis card has.
Each Weapon card has the following stats:
RU Cost - the number of Resource Units that the weapon costs to construct.
Type - one of {Energy, Ballistic, Missile, or Physical} - what type of weapon it is. The Pilot's skill, and certain Maneuvers and special abilities, care about the weapon's type.
Range - one of {Bombardment, Long, Short, or Contact} - what ranges the weapon is effective at. Bombardment weapons are only effective at long range (but can also attack units outside of engagement range); Long range weapons are effective at Long and Short range; Short range weapons are effective at Short and Contact range, and Contact range weapons are only effective at Contact range.
Damage - how much damage the weapon deals.
Torso Mount Space - how many slots this weapon takes up when mounted on a robot's torso. This will be blank if the weapon cannot be mounted on the torso (such as many melee weapons)
Left Arm Mount Space - how many slots this weapon takes up when mounted on a robot's torso. This will be blank if the weapon cannot be mounted on an arm (such as many 'equipment'-style weapons, such as Jet Packs)
Right Arm Mount Space - how many slots this weapon takes up when mounted on a robot's torso. This will be blank if the weapon cannot be mounted on an arm (such as many 'equipment'-style weapons, such as Jet Packs)
Special Abilities - any special powers that the weapon has.
Each Pilot card has the following stats:
RU Cost - the number of Resource Units that the pilot costs to train.
Experience - one of {Green, Veteran, Elite} - how experienced the pilot is. Green pilots are generally cheaper, but have less skill.
Energy Weapon Skill - how accurate the pilot is with Energy weapons.
Ballistic Weapon Skill - how accurate the pilot is with Ballistic weapons.
Missile Weapon Skill - how accurate the pilot is with Missile weapons.
Melee Weapon Skill - how accurate the pilot is with Melee weapons.
Piloting Skill - how good the pilot is at dodging or performing complex maneuvers.
Maneuver Skill - how many Maneuver cards the pilot can have in its hand at one time.
In addition to the chassis, pilot, and weapons, each player can create a Maneuver deck, containing a minimum of 18 Maneuver cards, with no more than 3 copies of any one Maneuver card. Maneuver cards come in three types - Movement, Strike, or Response. After each player assembles their robot, they draw a number of Maneuver cards equal to their pilot's Maneuver skill, and the fight begins at Long range.
Each Pilot takes turns initiation a Maneuver action. A Maneuver action can be one of two things: a Movement, or a Strike.
Move - A pilot may play a Movement Maneuver to adjust range by one factor (Long to Short, Short to Contact, Contact to Flanking, or Flanking to Contact, Contact to Short, Short to Long), in addition to the effects listed on the Movement card. If the player has no Movement Maneuvers in their hand that they want to play face-up, they may play any Maneuver (regardless of its type) face down as a "basic Movement" - this allows them to adjust range by one factor, but doesn't provide any additional abilities. Unless their opponent Responds, they adjust range immediately and their opponent begins their action.
Strike - A pilot may play a Strike Maneuver to use ("tap", for MtG players) any of their weapon cards to deal their damage to the opponent's robot, in addition to the effects listed on the Strike card. If the player has no Strike Maneuvers in their hand that they want to play face-up, they may play any Maneuver (regardless of its type) face down as a "basic Strike" - this allows them to fire their weapons and deal damage, but doesn't provide any additional abilities. Unless their opponent Responds, they deal damage as the Strike resolves, and their opponent begins their action. Unless a Maneuver or special ability says otherwise, the defending player assigns the attacker's damage as they choose, and may split damage from a single weapon across any number of sections on their robot.
Respond - Whenever a pilot plays a Maneuver card, their opponent has a chance to play a Response card. Each Response card specifies the situations it can be used in - some Responses only work against Movements, some only work against Strikes, and some only work against other Responses. If you have an appropriate Response card, you play it, and it modifies your opponent's last-played Maneuver in the way that the card specifies.
As Maneuvers are played, they are placed under the robot's Legs to indicate that the Robot has performed that maneuver. Some Maneuvers provide continuous benefits after they are played, until the end of the current round of combat. Other Maneuvers provide benefits during the current action and are done. Once a Robot has at least a number of Maneuvers played as its Maneuverability rating, it cannot play any further Maneuvers during the turn. This means that lower-Maneuverability robots will tend to need to dispatch their opponent quickly and ration their use of Response cards carefully, or find themselves unable to respond to their faster opponents' final Maneuvers.
At the end of each action, both players draw new Maneuvers from their Maneuver decks until their hand size is returned to their Pilots' Maneuver Skills. Once both Robots are out of Maneuverability, the turn ends; each player "readies" their robot's pilot and weapons ("untapping" them, in MtG terms) and then "readies" the robot itself by discarding all the played Maneuver cards from last turn, then shuffling all the discarded Maneuver cards back into their Maneuver deck.
There is a larger "strategic game" that can be played, which wraps around this smaller "tactical game". The "strategic game" includes a fifth card type, Locations, which control the production of RU, determine which weapons, chassis, and pilots can be built, and turns the whole thing into a sort of "Tower Defense" / "RTS" style thing.