The Vale Arcade
Lantern Clash
A first taste of the Verdant Vale TCG. Free to play, no purchase necessary.
In the Vale, disputes are settled over cards by lantern light. Tonight the Dusk Moth has challenged the grove itself, and the Keeper has taken up the first deck to answer. Build a small field of Vale creatures, spend your Lanterns wisely, and dim the Moth to zero Light before it dims you.
The table is set
The grove stays lit!
The Dusk Moth folds its wings and drifts back into the dark, and the Lantern Grove glows on. Well played, Keeper.
Sparks earned: 0
The Moth takes this round
The last lantern gutters out and the grove goes quiet. The Dusk Moth bows, after its fashion, and waits for a rematch.
Sparks earned: 0
How to play
- The duel: you are the Keeper (bottom of the table) and the Dusk Moth plays the top side. Both Keepers begin at 12 Light. Drop the other Keeper to 0 Light to win.
- Begin: the Begin now button on the intro deals the opening hands at once. There is no mulligan: the hand you are dealt is the hand you play. The Restart button starts a fresh duel from any state.
- Your hand: you start with 3 cards and draw 1 more at the start of each of your turns after the first. Your hand holds at most 5 cards; a card drawn into a full hand returns to the grove.
- Lanterns: Lanterns pay for cards. You gain 1 maximum Lantern each turn, up to 6, and your Lanterns refill at the start of your turn. Cards cost 1 to 4 Lanterns, shown in the gold circle.
- Creatures: click a glowing hand card to play it to your field. Your field holds at most 3 creatures. Each creature has Strength (the harm it deals) and Heart (the harm it can take before it is felled).
- Attacking: a creature can attack once per turn, starting the turn AFTER it is played (it rests on the turn it arrives). Click one of your ready creatures, then click an enemy creature to strike it, or click the Dusk Moth itself when its field is empty. When two creatures clash, both deal their Strength to each other's Heart in the same exchange, so a creature felled by a strike still lands its own blow. A Keeper can only be struck while their field is empty.
- Grove tricks: Grove Mending heals one of your creatures for 2 Heart (click the trick, then the creature). Lantern Lighting gives your Keeper 3 Light, up to 12. The Thorn Door deals 2 damage to an enemy creature (click the trick, then the creature), or 1 damage to the enemy Keeper when its field is empty.
- End Turn: the End Turn button hands the table to the Dusk Moth, which plays its cards and attacks in the open, one step at a time. Pressing Enter ends your turn too, as long as no creature or trick is chosen. Esc cancels a chosen creature or trick.
- Running out of cards: if both decks run out, the duel ends and the higher Light wins. A tie in Light goes to the side with more creatures on the field, and a true tie goes to the Keeper, whose grove it is. A duel that runs 30 rounds is settled the same way.
- Sparks: your score is Sparks, the lantern light you earn. Every enemy creature you fell is worth 10 Sparks. Winning adds 50 Sparks plus your remaining Light. The best a duel can honestly pay is 192 Sparks.
- The cards: Verdi, the Counter Dragon (4 Lanterns, Strength 5, Heart 5). Bramble, Garden Keeper (3, 4, 4). Old Hoot, the Grumpy Owl (3, 4, 3). Sister Alba, Story Keeper (2, 3, 3). Tilda, Far Shore Scout (2, 3, 2). Pell, Grove Runner (1, 3, 1). Firefly Choir (1, 2, 2). Plus the three Grove tricks above. Each deck holds 16 cards built from these ten.
Your best score saves on this device: your best is the most Sparks you have earned in a win, kept in this browser. Posting a finished score to the Vale Arcade leaderboard is possible too, and it is always your choice: nothing is posted unless you post it.
