Vibes Official Comprehensive Rules
Vibes Official Rules
This document contains the official tournament rules which describe how the rules work in greater nuance and detail. This document is not the right place for new players looking to learn the basic rules. The right place to learn for new players is: https://www.vibes.game/tutorial
This document is most easily viewed and downloaded currently as a google doc, all internal links here link to the google doc https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ocW5Nac057LGf10D_Yaj3TBzEGQli-enCOVr5rcD0A/edit?usp=sharing
Starting the Game
In order to start a game of Vibes, all participating Players must provide a legal deck and one Baron. Currently, the only legal Baron in Vibes is the Baron Fishpockets.
At the start of a game, Players determine who goes first through a random method agreed upon by both Players (e.g. coin flip or Rock Paper Scissors). The Player who goes first begins with the Baron under their control. The Player who goes first picks which Baron is used for the game, and the other is not used. Players shuffle their decks so that their cards are in a random order, and after, Players may choose to cut and/or shuffle their opponents deck. Each Player then draws 5 cards.
Once both Players draw 5 cards, starting with the Player going first, each player takes 0-5 cards from their hand, puts them on the bottom of their deck in any order and then draws that many cards. Once Players have done this, the first Cycle begins.
Game Concepts
Owner
The owner of a card is the Player who originally had the card in their deck at the start of the game.
The owner of a zone is the Player who is allocated that zone by these rules (see Zones)
Players can only play cards they own (some cards allow a Player to play a card they do not own e.g. Questionable Methods)
If a card would go into a Player’s hand, deck, or ice, and that Player does not have ownership of that card, that card instead goes to its owner’s hand, deck, or ice instead.
Control
The controller of a card is a concept that only applies if a card is in play. A Player controls a card if they own the zone that the card is in. An exception is if a card is on the Stack and not in another zone, in which case the controller of that card is the Player who played it.
Card
A card refers to any Vibes Trading Card that originated from either Player’s deck.
Fishsicle, Baron, and digital pack codes are not Vibes Trading Cards.
In Play
A card is in play if it is in a Rod zone, a Relic zone, a Huddle zone, or on the Stack.
Playing cards
Cards can only be played from a Player’s hand. (Some cards can be played from other zones e.g. Overwhelm with Knowledge, Got ‘Em)
Whenever you play a card, you must pay its cost immediately before playing it.
When a Penguin card is played, it goes into the Huddle zone of the Player who played it.
When a Relic card is played, it goes into the Relic zone of the Player who played it.
When a Rod card is played, it goes into the Rod zone of the Player who played it.
When an Action card is played, it goes into the Stack zone and leaves the Zone it was played from.
Any card in a Player’s hand can be played face-down as a Rod card into the Rod Zone. If they do, they can play it, and only play it, at a time that would be legal to play Rod cards (see Turn).
Cards can only be played during the correct phase or subphase in which it is legal to play that type of card (see the Cycle).
If a card asks the Player to make a choice without specifying a trigger for when that choice should be made, that choice must be made as a condition for the card to be played. Similarly, if a card asks the Player to make a choice when you play the card or as part of additional cost to play the card, that choice must be made as a condition for the card to be played.
If an ability is active as it is being played and the ability of a card refers to “you” or “your” it refers to the Player playing the card. “Opponent” or “opponents” in that active ability refers to the opponent of the Player playing the card.
Resolve
[ACT] abilities are activated, they go to the Stack zone and do not immediately occur. During the Resolution subphase[ACT][ACT] abilities happening in this way is called resolving.
When resolving, abilities that reference “you” refer to the card’s controller at the time of resolution.
After an Action resolves, it goes to its owner’s ice.
[ACT] ability resolves, if the Penguin card with the ability is still in the Stack zone, it leaves the Stack zone. (Some ACT abilities cause the acting Penguin to be iced as a result of their game text but, unlike Actions, it is not by default true that Penguin cards go to the ice after their [ACT] resolves.)
Fizzle
As stated in the Stack Zone,[ACT][ACT][ACT] ability resolves.
[ACT] ability states must be met in for choice (e.g. Sunburn a Penguin chooses a Penguin that now has vibe 6, Miss Chief chooses a Player who is no longer an Opponent because of Luca Saves the Penguins or similar
)[ACT][ACT] ability resolves (e.g. Bridge with LayerZero when there is no Penguin cards in the opponent’s ice)
[ACT][ACT][ACT] abilities which fizzle leave the Stack zone at the time it would have resolved.
Flopping
Cards in play can either be in two states - flopped or unflopped.
Cards are turned sideways to represent being flopped.
Cards enter play unflopped.
If a card is flopped, it cannot be flopped again to pay a cost or produce a resource until after it is unflopped. (See Resource Production for rulings on how to produce resources by flopping)
If an already flopped card would be flopped by a card’s effect, that card remains flopped. Triggers that would occur when that card becomes flopped do not occur.
If an unflopped card would be unflopped by a rule or card’s effect, that card remains unflopped. Triggers that would occur when that card becomes unflopped do not occur.
Cards cannot be flopped again to pay costs if they are already flopped.
Players cannot flop cards without reason. (For example, if you have Rod of Cheesy Slices in play, you cannot flop it unless you are using it for Resource Production to pay a cost.
You can flop cards inefficiently on purpose when playing costs, for example if you have red wizard and contemplation penguin in play when playing trust fall you can pay for the trust fall with contemplation penguin and 1 of red wizard’s pudge leaving 1 red pudge floating.
Flopping is frequently a cost as in most act abilities, see cost section for flopping as it applies to paying costs
Resource
In Vibes, there exist six different types of resources - Red Pudge, Blue Pudge, Green Pudge, Purple Pudge, Yellow Pudge, and Fish.
As stated in Resource Production, any card can be flopped to produce the resource(s) indicated in the Resource Production corner of the card when paying costs. If a Player ends up with resources that are not spent, those resources can be spent until the end of the phase where they were created, after which point they go away. (Fishsicles are a sub-category of Fish resource for which this rule does not apply. See Fishsicle)
[ACT][ACT] ability before the Player can produce additional resources. (Fishsicles are a sub-category of Fish resource for which this rule does not apply. See Fishsicle)
Baron
The Baron is an everpresent game piece that determines rules applicable to the Vibes game it is present in. The Baron provides information including but not limited to the Vibe Check and the Win/Loss Conditions. In a game of Vibes, the game piece Baron Fishpockets must be used as The Baron.
The Baron is not a card, and abilities and rules governing cards do not apply to the Baron. The Baron cannot be chosen by card effects.
Players can gain control, lose control, and have control of the Baron although it is not a card. The Baron provides rules for how Players can gain control of the Baron.
The Player who goes first starts the game with control of the Baron.
When the Baron is under a Player's control, it is in their Baron zone. If another Player would gain control of the Baron, it is moved to the new controlling Player’s Baron zone.
See Starting the Game for choosing whose Baron to use.
Legal Deck
A Legal Deck contains exactly 52 unmarked Vibes Trading Cards. Each deck cannot include more than 4 cards of the same name.
An unmarked card cannot be differentiated from any other Vibes Trading Card when face-down.
Win/Loss Conditions
A Player wins the game when the condition on the Baron is met.
A Player loses the game when they attempt to draw a card with no cards left in their deck.
If a Player loses, the other Player wins. If a Player wins, the other Player loses.
A Player wins the games if the conditions on a card that says “you win the game” are met.
Parts of a Card
Name
The name of a card is printed in the oval in the top center of the card.
Type
The card’s type is printed in the black oval under a card’s name. If there exists a hyphen in this space, the card’s type is the word or phrase preceding the hyphen.
Subtype
If there exists a hyphen in the black oval under a card’s name, the card possesses one or more subtypes. If there are no commas in the text after the hyphen, the text after the hyphen names the card’s subtype. If there are commas in the text after the hyphen, the card possesses multiple subtypes, each subtype being separated by commas.
Color
Cards can come in one of 5 colors, Red Green Blue Purple and Yellow. If a card is not one of these 5 colors, it is considered colorless. If a card has color, it is identified by the card’s color of the background of the Name of the card, and by the color in the pills of the card on the edges.
Cost
A card's cost is printed in the upper left corner of the card. Cost typically consists of a number and a resource, where the number on the upper left corner indicates the amount of resource in the upper left corner that must be paid in order to play the card.
A card with a cost of 0, or no cost in the upper left hand corner can be played without the expenditure of any resource. This does not exempt it from any additional costs.
Some cards have “additional costs”. An additional cost is a cost listed in a card’s text. Additional costs must be paid in order to play the card.
[ACT] ability is activated.
Alternate cost is a cost that can be paid to play a card if the requirements of the card's text are met.
Abilities
The text in the semi-opaque white cloud in the bottom half of a card indicates that card’s given ability/abilities.
A card’s abilities are additional functionalities of how the card works in game.
Abilities can negate or amend game rules described in this document.
Cards can give other cards abilities that are not originally designated in the semi-opaque white cloud on a card.
If a card would cause another card to lose an ability, that takes precedence over any ability the card may have.
Abilities of cards are only “active” (affect the functionality of the card) when it’s in play unless the ability says otherwise.
If a card’s ability has a trigger that occurs when it enters a zone or if a card’s ability says it is playable when it is in a certain zone, that ability is active even if the card is not in play.
Static Abilities create continuous effects which are active while the object with the ability is in the huddle, or while the object with the ability is in the appropriate zone.
[ACT] abilities
[ACT][ACT] in front of it.
[ACT][ACT] and before the proceeding colon. Players must pay the cost immediately before attempting to activate the ability.
[ACT] ability asks a Player to make a choice, that choice must be made as a condition for the ability to be activated.
[ACT] ability, the ability does not immediately happen. Instead, the card with the ability enters the Stack Zone and remains in the Huddle zone it is currently in.
Vibe
If a card is a Penguin card, the bottom right corner shows that Penguin’s Vibe.
If a Penguin would have “?” vibe or an indeterminate vibe, that Penguin has a vibe of 0.
If a Penguin would have 0 vibe, that Penguin is iced.
Resource Production
The bottom left corner of a card indicates the resource production of the card.
Any card can be flopped to produce the resource(s) indicated in the Resource Production corner of the card.
Cards can only be flopped to produce the resource in the Resource Production corner of the card if the Player is using that resource to pay a cost.
If the bottom left corner does not contain any of the Resources, it does not produce any resources, baring an ability. The exception is if the bottom left corner contains a Rainbow Pudge icon, in which case the card can produce any of Red Pudge, Blue Pudge, Green Pudge, Purple Pudge, or Yellow Pudge.
Zones
Each Player has a Huddle Zone, a Relic Zone, a Rod Zone, a Deck Zone, an Ice Zone, and a Baron Zone. Both Players share a Stack Zone.
Zones can be referred to as their name without the word “Zone” appended to them in both game rules and card abilities.
If a card would enter a Zone other than the Stack Zone, it leaves the Zone it was previously in.
Effects referring to your Huddle refer to your Huddle zone. Effects referring to the Huddle refer to the joint Huddle zones of both Players.
Huddle Zone
The Huddle Zone can only contain Penguin cards.
Deck Zone
Each player’s Deck is always in their Deck zone. Cards in the deck zone are face-down and cannot be seen by either player. The order of cards in the Deck Zone matters.
Hand Zone
The Hand Zone is the only Zone from which cards can be played (see Playing Cards)
Relic Zone…?
The Relic Zone can only contain Relic cards.
Ice Zone
Each player has an Ice Zone. Cards in the Ice Zone are face-up and can be seen by either player
The order of cards in the Ice Zone does not matter.
Baron Zone
Each player has a Baron zone. The Baron Zone is the only zone that cannot contain cards. The Baron Zone can contain, and only contain the Baron gamepiece.
Rod Zone
Each player has a Rod zone. Players can look at face-down cards in their Rod Zone at any time.
A face-down card in the Rod Zone has the name Basic Rod, Type Rod, Subtype Basic, and one Fish in its Resource Production.
The order of cards in the Rod Zone matters
Players can re-order the cards in the Rod Zone during their turn if the opposing player grants them permission.
Stack Zone
Cards in the Stack are ordered. If cards would Resolve in the stack, they resolve in first-in last-out order.
[ACT] ability that was used to put it on the Stack is what resolves.
[ACT] ability
[ACT] ability fizzles[ACT][ACT] ability resolves.
Phases of play
Cycle
In a Cycle, the following phases occur in this order: Turn (Player controlling the Baron), Turn (Player not controlling the Baron), Action Time, Vibe Check, Unfloppening
After a cycle is completed, the next cycle immediately begins.
If a trigger would occur at the start of a phase, the trigger occurs before any subphases occur.
Turn
During a Player’s turn, the following subphases occur in this order: Draw Phase, Play Phase.
Draw phase: During this phase, the Player whose turn it is draws a card.
Play phase: During this phase, the Player may play as many Penguin and Relic cards from their hand as they’d like, and up to one Rod card from their hand.
A turn ends when the Player whose turn it is signals they are done with their turn.
Action Time
During Action Time, the Stack phase occurs. When the condition to start the Resolution phase is met, the Resolution phase occurs.
[ACT] ability of a Penguin. As soon as a Player exercises either option, their opponent gets the opportunity to use priority or pass priority, and so on ad infinitum. Stack Phase loops until the condition to start Resolution Phase is met.
The Stack phase is the only time a Player can have priority and the only time Players can ‘respond’ to cards played or abilities activated by another Player.
Resolution Phase. As soon as two Players in a row pass priority, Stack Phase ends and Resolution Phase begins. If there are cards in the Stack zone, cards resolve in the reverse order they were played, and we return to the Stack Phase. However, if instead there exists no cards in the Stack Zone at the moment both Players in a row pass priority, Action Time ends.
Vibe Check
During Vibe Check, the Baron determines a winner based on the conditions written on the Baron.
After the Baron determines the winner, prizes are awarded based on the conditions written on the Baron.
First, prizes are awarded to the winner of the Vibe Check, and then any other prizes are awarded to other Player.
If, as part of the prizes, the Baron would become controlled by another Player, that Player gains control of the Baron after all other prizes have been awarded.
If there is a tie or the Baron does not determine a winner, prizes are awarded based on the conditions written on the Baron for ties.
If an ability would cause a Penguin to not participate in Vibe Check, that Penguin does not count toward the conditions written on the Baron to win the Vibe Check.
Unfloppening
All cards in play unflop
Additional Rules and keywords
Drawing
If a Player would draw a card, this means they put the top card of their deck into their hand.
Cannot participate in Vibe Check
If a Penguin has an ability that states it cannot participate in Vibe Check, that Penguin is not considered when the Baron determines the winner of Vibe Check.
Vibe Counter
Penguins in play can have Vibe Counters placed on them. Vibe Counters stay on Penguins for as long as those Penguins remain in play. Vibe counters do not count as cards.
The number of Vibe counters on a Penguin increase the Penguin’s vibe by that amount
If a Penguin would leave play, all Vibe Counters on that Penguin go away
Fishsicle
[ACT][ACT] ability.
To Ice/ Iced
If a card would be iced by a game rule or card effect, it is moved from its existing zone and put into its owners’ ice.
“Iced” triggers occur when a game rule or ability ices a Penguin in your Huddle. This trigger occurs before the Penguin leaves the Huddle and enters its owners’ ice. Then, after all triggers have happened, the card goes into its owner’s ice.
Trigger
Certain abilities occur at predetermined times or when conditions are met. These are called triggers.
Whenever a game meets the conditions to trigger an ability, that ability is automatically triggered and placed in the “Non Active Trigger Queue”
A Non Active Trigger Queue consists of all the triggers that have occurred before the queue has begun to resolve
Once a Trigger Queue begins to resolve, it is known as the “Active Trigger Queue”
Tiggers can not be placed on the “Stack”
If the “Stack” is resolving, and a trigger happens. The trigger is placed in the “Non Active Trigger Queue”
The “Non Active Trigger Queue” will begin to resolve, once the “Stack” is finished resolving
If multiple triggers would occur at the same time, they can be ordered. The Player with the Baron orders their triggers first. Then, the Player without Baron orders their triggers
Triggers resolve in a First in First Out order, or FIFO
The player who controls the Baron will have all of their triggers resolve, then the non Baron player will resolve all of their triggers
If a triggered ability allows a player the option of doing something, the ability still triggers even if the player opts not to use the effect of the trigger. In this case, the effect does not occur.
Triggers do not fizzle if the trigger’s source has been removed from play/iced
Cancel
If an Action or ability would cancel an Action, the Action functions as if it immediately fizzled (it is iced).
[ACT][ACT] ability functions as if it immediately fizzled (it leaves the Stack).
Copies
If an ability would create a copy of an Action, that Action goes on the stack
A copy going on the stack does not cause triggers that would be caused by the playing of an Action. Copies are not played. Similarly, the cost of a copy does not need to be paid as paying of costs is a condition for playing Actions.
If a copy asks the Player to make a choice without specifying a trigger for that choice, that choice must be made as a condition for the card to be played. Similarly, if the copy asks the Player to make a choice when you play the card or as part of additional cost to play the card, that choice must be made as a condition for the card to be played.
Card under another card
If a card is put on top of another card i.e. Jealous Penguin, they count as one card regarding win conditions, choices, numbers of cards in play etc. If the combined card would be removed from a Huddle, the combination separates into two cards after leaving play but before being placed in another zone. The top card goes to the zone dictated by the event that caused the card to leave play, and the bottom card goes to the mirrored zone of the top card, but of its owner.
FAQ:
Is there a maximum hand size?
No
Can I flop a Penguin the turn I play it?
Yes
Can my Penguin win vibe check the turn its played?
Yes
If a Penguin loses its abilities, can it still flop for pudge?
Yes, resource production is not a card’s ability.
[ACT] or Action is invalid by the time of resolution. What happens?
[ACT] ability and it becomes invalid at resolution, the ability fizzles.
When is the mill trigger for loss?
If a player tries to draw a card when they have no cards in their deck, they lose the game
Both me and my opponent have triggers that occur at the same time. How are they ordered?
First, the player with the Baron determines the order of their triggers and their abilities happen. Then, the player without the Baron determines the order of their triggers and their abilities happen.
[ACT] happen?
No. When a card is on the stack, if it is removed from the stack before it resolves, the Action or ability fizzles.
I played an Action and my opponent passed priority. Does it resolve?
No. The stack resolves only when two players in a row have passed priority. That means you would have to pass again for the stack to resolve.
When does Action Time end?
Action time ends when both players have passed priority when there is nothing on the stack.
Who starts with priority at the beginning of Action time?
The Player with the Baron starts with priority
I played a card in my hand face-down as a Rod during my turn. Can I also play a face-up rod card?
No, Players can only play one Rod per turn.
I won the vibe check and the Baron gave me a prize for winning. Can I still play a Rod during my next turn?
Yes
Can I respond to something resolving? Can I respond to a trigger?
No
Do triggers go on the stack?
Triggers do not go on the stack and cannot be responded to.
If there’s a tie in vibe check, who gets the baron and prizes?
Baron Fishpockets dictates that nobody wins the Vibe Check, no prizes are awarded, and the Baron stays in the Baron Zone of the player who currently controls him.