🚀 Deckspace - Rules & Guide

Version

Beta: Deckspace is under active development. Rules may change and saves may be reset.

📖 Objective

Destroy your opponent's ship before they destroy yours! Use strategic movement, weapons, and power-ups to win.

🎮 Basic Controls

• Ship Movement: Use action buttons on the right panel
• Accelerate/Decelerate: Change your speed (0-3)
• Rotate Left/Right: Change facing direction (6 directions)
• Missile Control: Use W, A, D keys when controlling missiles
  • W: Move forward
  • A: Turn left (uses 1 movement)
  • D: Turn right (uses 1 movement)
  • Note: Nukes can only turn once per turn, regular missiles can turn unlimited times (while movement remains)
• Looking around: A board bigger than the screen follows your ship. Drag the board (or Shift + arrow keys) to look elsewhere; it follows your ship again when it moves

⚡ Turn Structure

• Each turn you play cards to enable actions
• Your ship moves automatically at its current speed at the end of your turn
• After movement, you can perform actions (shoot, rotate, accelerate, etc.)

💥 Weapons & Abilities

• The edge: every board is ringed by asteroid field. Flying out costs damage each turn, and a ship that flies off the board altogether is lost.
• Asteroids: a missile or nuke that flies into a rock is destroyed, and the rock explodes: 1 damage to every ship within 1 hex of it (armor first). A nuke bursts with its own blast instead.
• Missiles: Guided projectiles that can be controlled after launch
  • 6 movement per turn, 1 damage, unlimited turns
  • Each missile gets 1-6 random fuel reserve on launch
  • Must use at least 6 movement before ending missile control
  • Can optionally spend fuel reserve to boost movement for current turn
• Small Nuke: Area damage (1 damage, 1-hex radius = 7 hexes), manual detonation, 1 rotation per turn
• Medium Nuke: Area damage (2 damage, 2-hex radius = 19 hexes), manual detonation, 1 rotation per turn
• Large Nuke: Enhanced area damage (3 damage, 3-hex radius = 37 hexes), manual detonation, 1 rotation per turn
• Rail Gun: Click one of the arrows around your ship to fire in any of 6 directions. The beam is 3 lanes wide and runs toward the edge of the map; each lane stops at the first thing in it: a ship takes 3 damage, a missile or nuke is destroyed (your own included), and an asteroid explodes. The other lanes go on (G to aim, Esc to cancel)
• EMP: Every other ship within 1d4+4 hexes (5-8) loses its next turn and gets a permanent NULL card shuffled into its deck; every missile and nuke in range is destroyed, yours included. No damage.
• NULL card: Does nothing. Only an EMP deals them, and they stay in your deck.
• PDC Attack: Point Defense Cannons - 3-hex range, dice-based damage - requires pickup
  • vs undefended ship: roll 1d6, deal that damage
  • vs PDC-equipped ship: both roll 1d6, lower roll takes (higher − lower) damage
  • Once fitted, the PDC Attack button needs no card: it uses one of your actions, after you have played your card
  • It is never required: you may end your turn without firing
  • When an enemy comes within range at the start of your turn you are asked to fire or skip
• Wormhole: Teleports you to a random free hex within 3 of the hex you click

🎁 Power-Up Markers

Collect markers on the board to upgrade your ship. Markers are never used up: every time a ship moves onto one, it applies again (max health up to 6, max speed up to 5, armor up to 2).

• P (Orange): Point Defense Cannons - Mid-range tactical weapon
• C (Purple): Card Draw - Draw 3 from the shared pool and keep 1
• A (Green): Armor - Adds +2 armor protection
• S (Cyan): Speed Boost - Increases max speed by +1
• H (Pink): Health - Increases max health by +1 and heals 2

📊 Ship Stats

• Health: 4 HP - Game ends when a ship reaches 0
• Armor: up to 2, starting at 0 - absorbs damage before health (from A markers)
• Speed: 0-3 (or higher with boosts)

🗺️ Campaign

• A run: 5 sectors in a row, your ship against each sector's enemies. Destroy them all to clear it; lose your ship and the run is over. Unlocks stay.
• Skills arrive as you go: a run starts knowing only Thrust and Missile. Each sector's enemies bring a new skill (explained the first time it is used), and beating them salvages a copy into your deck. From then on C markers and rewards can offer it too.
• Between sectors: choose one reward - a card (one of 3 cards), an upgrade (armor, speed or health), or removing a card (your deck never below 6 cards) - then your hull is repaired by 2. Damage otherwise carries on.
• Enemies: Drones close in and fire; Hunters keep their distance and lead their shots; the Warden, the last sector's boss, fires a Rail Gun and an EMP.
• Saving: the run is saved between sectors on this device, and Continue run picks it up. Reloading during a sector starts that sector again.
• Big sectors: a board bigger than the screen follows your ship; drag it or use Shift + arrow keys to look around, and markers at the edge point to ships off screen. Some asteroid fields drift a hex every round.
• Unlocks (kept on this device):

💡 Tips

• Watch your action counter: Actions (X of 3)
• All missiles must be moved before ending your turn
• Strategic positioning is key - use speed and rotation wisely!
• Collect power-ups early for tactical advantage

💡 Ideas and bugs

Deckspace is in beta, and you can help shape it. Got an idea, or found a bug? Tell us on GitHub, where everything is public.

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