Phase guide
How to Play
Satirical strategy in five phases. Choose a Champion, stock the Swamp, and cut rival Political Power to zero.
The arena
Six factions. One swamp.
Swamp Monsters TCG humorously parodies contemporary political and cultural ideologies. Players select from six pre-established factions — Est-Left, Est-Right, MIGA (Make Illegals Go Away), Libertarian, Leftist, and Alt-Right — each an exaggerated caricature. Deploy Heroes, Operatives, Traps, and more, manage resources, and diminish opponents' Champion Political Power (PP).
Watch
Watch how to play
A short walkthrough of setup, turns, and taking the swamp.
Turn structure
Five phases every turn.
Draw
Draw 7 cards on your first turn. After that, draw until your hand holds 5 — or draw 1 if you already have more than 5. No maximum hand size.
Resource
Play up to 2 resource cards to the Bank. Optionally convert resources to meet deployment costs. Track CFC, Morale, and Influence on your D10s.
Deployment
Pay CFC to put Heroes, Operatives, Utilities, Traps, Capitol, and Events into your Swamp. A Hero in the front row unlocks full persona deployment that turn.
Action
Attack and use abilities to clear the enemy front row, then strike the Champion. Standard attack power sits bottom-left; abilities cost Influence.
End
If you played nothing earlier, discard 1 card (paying $1B CFC). Filled front rows grant Morale. Then pass — no takesy backsies.
Board
The Swamp layout
Your play area is The Swamp. Front row fights; back row hides traps and reserves; the Champion anchors the bottom.
Economy
Three resources
CFC
Crumbling Fiat Currency — primary deployment currency. Pay the cost printed bottom-left to put cards into the Swamp.
Morale
Amplify healing or swing damage by the amount spent ×100. Spend before attacking; defenders may mitigate after targets are chosen. Once per Persona card per turn.
Influence
Fuels abilities listed bottom-right. Costs scale with strength. Hit 10 of any resource and you may convert into the others — announce first.
Opening turn: every Champion has invincibility — their Swamp is immune until that first turn ends. After that, the gloves are off.