Inquitch - Inquisitors vs. Witches - online board game

Rules for the game Inquisitors vs. Witches

The main game modes:

• Closed Game - The default game mode is the standard closed game. Players only see the shirt of the opponent's cards in the form of a peasant or peasant woman, depending on whether the witches or inquisitors side has been chosen, which can hide peasants or peasant women, traps in the form of a cauldron or bonfire, and the main characters - witches or inquisitors.
• Closed start - players place pieces and fix their layout without knowing how their opponent will place the pieces. Cards are revealed only after the game starts, which makes it impossible to calculate the probable course of the game before the game starts.
• Open game - a standard fixed layout, first on the playing field are a number of witches and inquisitors, after the start of the game on the free first line you can put any remaining in your set of cards.

The main options for the game:

• The classic variant - with the capture of the throne and immunity cells - "Witches' Circle" and "Holy Spring" - in this variant of the game, game cards can capture the central field and with their next turn perform an action leading to victory. Specifically, a Witch card can reveal a Coven card, or an Inquisitor figure can reveal a Convoke High Inquisitors card
• Capture the throne without immunity fields - as in the classic variant one of the victory conditions is to capture the central field and perform an action on it, namely - opening the card "Hold a Coven" by a witch or the card "Summon the High Inquisitors" by an inquisitor, there are no fields giving immunity to witches and inquisitors in this variant of the game.
• A survival game is a standard variant of the game, which can be won in two ways - eliminating all of the opponent's inquisitors or witches, or also occupying the opponent's first or home line, on which the opponent lays down new cards.

Length of the game, time limit per turn:

• The turn duration is standard as for the Incognik game and is limited to 90 seconds, 1 minute, 30 seconds. An additional option allows you to allocate a limited amount of time for each player: 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes per game.

A description of the highlights of the game:

• Each player at the beginning of the game has 15 cards for one of the sides - witches and inquisitors, three types of cards on each side, among which the witches have: girls, cauldrons with boiling liquid and witches, and the inquisitors have: a peasant, an ambush in the form of a bonfire and inquisitors. Depending on the type of game, the cards can be placed at the beginning of the game either face up for the open variant or face down for the closed variant.
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• Players take turns, with both witches and inquisitors being the first to go, the order of turns in an online game is set by the owner of the room, whereas in a real game the order of turns can be determined by drawing lots or by simultaneously drawing cards from shuffled decks, starting with the top card, until one player draws the stronger card. Witch and Inquisitor are equal in strength, Traps are stronger than Inquisitors and Witches, Peasants and Peasant Women are weaker than Witches and Inquisitors but stronger than Traps.
• The player who first takes all the witches' cards when playing for the Inquisitors or all the Inquisitors' cards when playing for the witches wins the game of Inquitch. Another victory condition is the occupation of all the opponent's home fields - the first line on which the player places his cards at the beginning of the game, which makes it impossible to introduce new cards or return the opponent's peasant or peasant women cards to the game.
• In the case of a closed game, the opponent's real identity is unknown to the player, just as the opponent does not know who is hiding under your face-up cards. A card that has come out of stealth by attacking an opponent's card or being attacked by an opponent's card can hide its identity again by reaching the opponent's home field and returning to the player's deck on its next turn
• One of the additional victory conditions in the additional variant of the game is the occupation of the central field by a witch to hold a coven, or by an inquisitor to summon the heads of the Inquisition, so by getting a key piece to the central field, turning over the activation card of the central field and holding on to it for one turn, you end the game with your victory and your opponent's defeat, regardless of the number of cards he has left.
• Also, the additional variant of the game assumes the presence of sacred places to the right and left of the central field, standing on which the witch can set a "Witch's Circle", which gives the witch immunity from attack. The Inquisitor, on his turn, can set up a holy spring on which he receives immunity from enemy attacks, exactly until he leaves, so this immunity is tied to a specific card and cannot be occupied by an allied card without destroying the immunity. You can use one safe place only once.
• Activating the Witch's Circle and Holy Spring cards after the card moves to the right or left of the centre field requires one turn. Activating Witch's Circle and Holy Spring removes the witch and the inquisitor on that field from incognito status. Leaving the field with an active card, as well as swapping places between player cards, one of which is on the field with an activated card, deactivates it, but leaves the possibility to use it again on your next turn.
• Cards move one square straight, up, left and right and diagonally forwards, and by swapping places with an allied piece can even go backwards. In addition, cards can return to their home line if they reach the opponent's home line. A piece that has reached the opponent's home line may return to the deck on its next turn.
• The figures attack differently, depending on the type: witches and inquisitors - in any direction forward on the playing field or to the right or left; cauldrons and autodafes - attack only on diagonals, and the girl and the townsman - only forward, to the right or left. In this case, the stronger defending piece remains on the cell it occupies, the stronger attacking piece takes the place of the opponent's piece, sending the opponent's piece to the beaten cards. Importantly, defeated girls and townsfolk return to the deck, just like cauldrons and autodafes encountered on the battlefield. If a townsman and a girl meet, they are eliminated from the game.

Witches:	Inquisitors:
W - Witch L - Girl B - Boiler	I - Inquisitor M - Townsman A - Auto-da-fe

	Witch	Boiler	Girl
Inquisitor
Autodafe
Peasant

	Inquisitor	Autodafe	Peasant
Witch
Boiler
Girl

Explanation of the table: flag - surrender, circle - return (return to the player's deck), swords - capture, four arrows - exit (the girl and the townsman find each other and leave the game).