Join Game the Game host Becca Scott as she shows us how to play tabletop games here on Geek & Sundry!

This week, Becca’s diving into the world of Tantos with the Lightseekers TCG. This game’s simple design makes it easy to jump into while leaving plenty of complexity for experienced players.

You will play one of the heroes of Tantos from one of the six orders: Tech, Storm, Dread, Mountain, Astral, and Nature. Each order has three elements within it that have different quirks and uses. Whatever elements are on the hero card are the types you are allowed to play, so build your deck accordingly. Your hero also comes with an ability you can activate during the game.

There are two other cards in the game: Action Cards and Combo Cards. Your deck has thirty Action Cards (with a max of three copies of any one card) and five Combo Cards (all have to be unique).

Action Cards are broken down by Attack, Defend, Buff, and Item cards. Attack and Defend Cards are pretty straightforward; they deal damage to your opponent and prevent you from dying. Buff Cards have some sort of ongoing effect and have a cool mechanic of rotating each round until their effect is done. It allows you to keep better track of how many turns it still has without the need of any other tokens. Buffs expire when there are no more circles in the upper right corner or rotate back to the original position. If you want access to an element not on your hero, you need to equip an Item Card with the symbol on its belt. You are limited to two points of items.

In case you haven’t noticed, there are no mana or resource cards in this game. That’s really the nifty thing: all of your Action Cards are free to play. You are just limited to two actions per turn.

Combo Cards do have a cost. They are paid for with your Action Cards. You play a number of Action Cards with symbols matching the top of the Combo Card. The Action Cards get shuffled back into your deck, so it’s not like you’re losing them for forever.

Each turn is broken up into phases: Buff, Action, and Draw. Buff Phase has you rotating your Buff Cards and discarding any that have expired. Resolve any effects of the remaining buffs in order of play. Action Phase is just that: play any card or activate an ability. As a note, Combo Cards uses up both actions on your turn. Draw Phase allows you to draw a number of cards based on how many you played this turn.

You win if the other player runs out of cards or falls to zero health.

Are you ready to dive into the world of Tantos? Learn more about the Lightseekers Trading Card Game at www.lightseekers.cards and pick up the decks and boosters by asking for it at your friendly local gaming store.

This is a sponsored post.