2 players · 10 minutes

How to Play

Welcome to Mudwater

Out past the docks, where the yacht club lights give way to fog and lily pads, the Apes play for keeps.

Mudwater is a head-to-head card game for two players. Play your Apes into the swamp, outnumber your rival on the edges that touch, and take their squares out from under them.

Objective: control more of the nine squares than your opponent when the board fills up. Win, and you take one of their cards home.

What you need

  • 14 Mudwater cards per player, from your own collection.
  • The playmat, or any 3×3 grid of card-sized squares. See the mat below.
  • Colour markers, about 9 per player. Black and white work great.

Parts of a card

Mudwater #3 — Base card · 3 / 120
Edge numbers
One for each side, set out like a compass. Each guards the side it points toward. Higher is stronger.
Level
One to five diamonds.
Family
Club, Mutant, Cosmic or Arcana. Only matters in Advanced Mode.
Number & name
Every card has its own number, 1 to 120. No two cards in a hand may share one.

The five Levels

  1. Mudwater #1 — Base card · 1 / 120Level ICommon◆
  2. Mudwater #5 — Base card · 5 / 120Level IIUncommon◆◆
  3. Mudwater #9 — Base card · 9 / 120Level IIIRare◆◆◆
  4. Mudwater #8 — Base card · 8 / 120Level IVPrestige◆◆◆◆
  5. Mudwater #49 — Base card · 49 / 120Level VLegendary◆◆◆◆◆

Climbing the ladder

  • Only Level I cards can be played face up into an empty square.
  • Every other card goes face up on top of a square you control, exactly one Level higher: II on I, III on II, IV on III, V on IV.
  • Any card can also be played face down as a rock.

Building your hand

There’s no starter deck. Before each game, secretly choose 14 different cards from the cards you’ve pulled from packs, and keep them hidden. You play with 13: one is set aside at random as the ante.

A good first hand, by Level

Any card in your hand could be drawn as the ante, so only bring cards you’re willing to play for.

Setting up

  1. Lay out the playmat and sit on the long sides, each facing a Mudwater logo.
  2. Choose colours. One player takes black markers, the other white.
  3. Ante up. Shuffle your 14 cards face down and let your opponent draw one. Set it face down beside the mat, unseen. Your other 13 cards are your hand.
  4. Flip a coin to see who goes first. In a rematch, whoever went second goes first.

Every card faces the skull’s way

No matter who played it, a card’s top points the same way as the skull in the mat’s centre square. From the long sides the cards lie sideways; from the end of the mat they read right side up, and that’s how this page draws the board.

Your turn

Players take turns. On your turn, do exactly one of these four things, then it’s your opponent’s turn.

  1. Place

    Play a Level I card face up into an empty square and put your colour marker on it. Then check for captures.

  2. Rock

    Play any card face down into an empty square, with your marker. A rock captures nothing, can never be captured, and counts as Level I for your upgrades. Only one rock at a time: once it’s covered, you can play another.

  3. Upgrade

    Play a card exactly one Level higher on top of a square you control, even one you captured, or your own rock. Move your marker to the top, then check for captures.

  4. Pass

    Only if you have no legal move, and then you must. If both players pass in a row, the game ends.

Where can I play? (You are Black)

Your Deckhand
Upgrade it: lay a Level II card on top and move your marker up.

Tap any square on the mat.

  • Empty: place a Level I, or a rock
  • Yours: upgrade one Level
  • Theirs: never. Capture it

Capturing

Whenever you play a card face up, by placing it or upgrading, it looks for captures. For each enemy card right next to it (above, below, left or right, not diagonal), compare the two numbers that touch, one neighbour at a time. The gold pair is the one being compared.

Right: Black’s 2 against White’s 2. A tie holds, so Bottle Rocket stays White.

  • Higher wins. The captured card stays put; only the colour marker changes.
  • No chain reactions. A captured card doesn’t go on to capture its neighbours.
  • Rocks are safe. A face-down card can never be captured.
  • Look once. A card only looks for captures on the turn it’s played.

Winning the game

The game ends the moment the ninth square is filled, or when both players pass in a row. You don’t need to empty your hand.

  • Count your squares. Each square with your colour marker on it counts as one.
  • Most squares wins! On a full board someone always holds at least five.

Claim the ante

Both players turn over their ante. The winner takes the loser’s ante card, for keeps, and takes back their own.

Advanced Mode

Optional. In Advanced Mode, families break ties. Both players must agree before the first turn.

  1. Clubbeats Mutant
  2. Mutantbeats Cosmic
  3. Cosmicbeats Arcana
  4. Arcanabeats Club
  • If the touching numbers are equal, your card captures when its family beats theirs.
  • Each family beats the next one around the circle.
  • Opposite families are neutral: ties hold.
  • A lower number never beats a higher one, and rocks still can’t be captured.
2 against 2, Club against Mutant. In the basic game this tie holds. In Advanced Mode Club beats Mutant, so Black takes Serum Molt. Against Bottle Rocket, Club against Club, the same tie would still hold.

Quick reference

Players
2, about 10 minutes.
Hand
14 different cards, kept hidden. One is drawn as the ante; you play 13.
Your turn
Place a Level I, rock any card face down, upgrade one Level, or pass if you can’t move.
Capture
Higher touching number wins. Ties hold. No chains. Rocks are safe.
Game ends
When the ninth square fills, or both players pass in a row.
Winner
Most squares. Takes the loser’s ante for keeps.
Play MudwaterPrintable rules sheet (PDF)The full rules booklet
Buy packs