 How to Play Are you ready to rock? You will be soon, if you're reading this. We'll get you ready for the big time in no time. Rock Block is a virtual card game where the greatest rock bands in music history are collected in the form of little virtual cards. When you begin a virtual label, you receive ten cards to start playing. Each concert in the game is a face-off between you and a rival, with larger stakes the longer you've both been playing the game. The objective is to keep building a larger collection and to enjoy the heck out of those concerts along the way. Cards 
First, let's understand the layout of each card. The boys from Bad Religion are posing at right in a sample card.Band: Of course, each performer is a renowned rock star, with occasional crossover guests from the worlds of pop, R&B, country, and hip hop. Any number of duplicate cards may exist of the same band, sometimes even in the same collection. The greater the performer, the rarer the card. Rank: There are ten ranks of cards, with R10 being the rarest and strongest, down to the common and relatively weak R1. In the upper-right corner, you can see that Bad Religion is an R2 card; not very strong but useful for a beginning player. Decade: Every band has a heyday, even the lifelong stars. The decade in the upper-left corner (1980s for Bad Religion) is the decade of their greatest success, influence, or stature. Sides: Each card has four numbers representing the four sides. These are referenced clockwise from the top. Bad Religion's numbers are 1-3-2-4. The higher the rank, the greater these numbers are, and the stronger the card will be in concert. Color: Your label's color is unique, and will distinguish your cards from your opponents' cards. Choose a unique color, or just go with your favorite. In the sample card at right, Bad Religion is framed in white. Sometimes, at irregular intervals, existing cards are promoted to higher ranks. This is done to maintain a balance as new bands are continuously added to the game. All players who own a promoted card will see its effects right away. Over time, this makes it possible for cards to rise to greater levels than their initial introduction, allowing yesterday's weak R1 to become today's beefed-up R5 and tomorrow's supreme R10. Concerts 
Every concert is a "battle of the bands" between two players, who each bring five cards out of the collection to form their hand. Concerts are played out on the nine-part stage shown at right.The player who initiates a concert is called the challenger, and the person they ask to play against is the defender. When a challenge is issued and accepted, each player chooses five of their cards and the match begins. Once a concert has started, it can only end in a win, loss, or draw for each player. The defender goes first, playing one of the five cards in their hand to one of the nine sections of the stage. The challenger goes second, and the concert is a series of alternating turns between them. When you play a card next to one of your opponent's cards, you have an opportunity to capture that card and convert it to your color. On the sides that touch, if the number on your card is greater than the number on the other card, it will switch to your color. A well-played card can capture up to four adjacent cards around it.
The winner of the concert is the player with more cards in their color when the stage is full. The remaining unplayed card counts towards the totals. Matches that end 5-5 are called draws and have no winner or loser. Depending on the trade rule used (see below), the winner might take some of the loser's cards. Time limit: Each player has one week to make their next play. Failure to play within the time limit results in a forfeit, which is an automatic win for the opposing player. The winner also has one week to claim the loser's cards after the match before the opportunity passes. Trade Rules A concert's trade rule determines how many cards the winner will take from the loser's hand as a trophy. Beginning players must win a match before they can risk cards in battle this way, so if you're still new, don't worry about the stakes just yet. Matches that end in a draw do not exchange cards, except with the Each rule. As you defeat more opponents, you'll gradually unlock more complex trade rules that let you claim even more cards in concert. Visit the Achievements page to find out how to unlock each rule. Play Rules The spice of the game are the play rules, optional terms of battle that can turn ordinary concerts on their head. Use these rules to pull off combination attacks, capture cards on the other side of the board, make your cards invincible, and more. Like trade rules, you learn more play rules the longer you keep playing and winning. Unlike trade rules, you can set as many different play rules per concert as you want, creating a different experience every time. Visit the Achievements page to find out how to unlock each rule. Card Exchange If players are always taking each others' cards in concert, how do new cards enter the game? At the Card Exchange, your other avenue for expanding your label. In a daily contest, three random bands will be available to three random players. All they have to do to claim their new card is visit the page. Keep checking daily for your shot at a free card. When you tire of a certain card in your collection (or you want to weed out a duplicate), you can swap them with other players in the Card Exchange. You won't be able to choose which card you get in trade, but it will be the same rank and won't be a duplicate. To swap a card, go to your label and click "swap this card" beneath it. If you lose some cards and wind up with less than 10, visit the Card Exchange for free "comeback cards," so that you can get back into competition. Rock Blocks The single highest achievement in the game is a rock block, which is to capture all nine spaces on the concert stage in your color. Because of play order, this can only be achieved when you're the defender. Besides the victory, your reward for pulling off a rock block is that one of the bands in your collection will sign an exclusive contract with you. You'll suddenly have the only card of that band in the whole game; any other existing copies (including your own duplicates) will vanish from existence. Other players can't take the card from you unless you risk it in concert, and it won't be available in the Exchange. The exclusive deals that come with rock blocks are a great way to treasure your most favorite bands and tick off your rivals at the same time, but they don't last forever. In order to keep your exclusive card, you have to risk it in battle every six months, or it reverts to normal (non-exclusive) status. If another player does take it from you in battle, it stays exclusive to them, so you'll have to schedule a rematch if you want it back. Other Game Elements Want to practice the game? Visit the themed area Heaven & Hell. Angel is easy to defeat, allowing you to learn basic game mechanics. Devil is much harder, letting you test advanced strategies. Once you've played in a regular concert, you're able to play Themed Concerts, a sometimes-silly variation on the game that unites certain bands around a particular theme, such as bands from one subgenre or rock or from one geographic point of origin. The play rules suit the theme, and even the stage reflects it. Themed concerts are not played with your own cards and you stand nothing to lose by playing them, so have fun with them and see how many themes you can win. Gameplay Tips Don't be discouraged by the seeming complexity of the game when you begin. As long as you understand the basics of the cards and the concerts, you'll do just fine. The game is designed to expose its advanced elements to you only gradually, so that you only need to learn the basics when you begin. In concert, different strategies work better for different combinations of play rules, but the safe bet is to diversify your hand: Choose cards so that you'll have at least one high number on each of the four sides, so that you can potentially capture any card on the stage. Playing defensively isn't glamorous, but it wins some matches and can keep you out of trouble. For instance, one trade rule grants the winner more cards depending on how many captures she or he achieved during the match; if your match with this player is heading towards a loss, stop trying to capture more cards and focus on defensive positions that will reduce the number of cards she or he captures from you. If you're challenging a player because you want a shot at one of the fancy rare cards you've seen in their collection, don't be shy about saying so in your comment. If you receive such a request yourself and you don't want to risk that special card in battle, it would be unfair to turn down the challenge rather than play only with other cards. If you do fall behind in cards, don't get discouraged. You can always reacquire more in the Card Exchange, rebuild your collection, and come back for more. Play courteously, play wisely, and have a lot of fun doing it. For those about to rock, we salute you. To begin playing Rock Block, please login or register. |
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