Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game



Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game is a Bandai-produced card game released in December 2010.

The game was first released in a base set with a total of 250 cards. An expansion set, titled Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game Alliance was released officially on April 22, 2011, despite earlier releases in some areas.

A third set has been released and is based around the Resident Evil Outbreak games. This set contains only 150 cards, removing the Basic Resources components from the games card list and giving the player a small storage box. It was released on September 30th.

Basic Play
The game is mostly unique in that the players' respective decks are built over time and often have to be built according to their skills. Players randomly pick a character card with a set amount of health points and then start with an "inventory" of ten cards. These ten cards are taken from the Basic Resources and are included in all games. They include 1 Handgun, 2 Knives, and 7 Ammo x10 cards. The inventory is shuffled and five cards are drawn. At the end of that players turn they discard their hand and draw a new set. If the inventory is emptied out, the discard pile is shuffled up and converted into the inventory.

Cards are gained by buying. All available cards are placed in what is referred to as the Resource Area; which is 18 unique stacks of cards which include weapons, ammo, herbs, First Aid Sprays, and actions. Six stacks of cards, referred to in-game as "Basic Resources" contain Handguns, Knives, Herbs, and all three amounts of Ammo cards (x10, x20, x30). Ammo cards come with gold used to make purchases. Additional gold can be gained through the use of actions or character skills. Players are allowed only one Buy and one Action per turn unless additional ones are gained. Actions serve many purposes including adding gold, Buys, cards, damage, ammo, etc.

The third action available to the player is Explore. It allows the player to equip weapons and ammo currently held in their hand to explore the Mansion Area. The Mansion Area is a deck filled with "Infected"; zombies and monsters from throughout the Resident Evil series. Infected have set health as well and must be defeated to earn Decorations, which need to be gained not only to win the game but level up the player's current character and use their skills. The game ends when the most powerful infected is defeated. Afterwards, the player with the most Decorations wins. Players are given only one Explore per turn unless additional ones are gained.

Modes of Play
The game began with only three modes of play, with a fourth added in Alliance and a fifth added in Outbreak. All modes are essentially played the same way but add additional rules, conditions, and cards. Each mode has Scenarios (similar to the Outbreak titles) which determine what cards are placed in the Resource Area. The game manual has preset scenarios but it encourages players to make their own to create new styles of play.


 * Story Mode is regular play and features all of the elements detailed above.


 * Mercenary Mode is a more fast-paced variation that involves the players turn count becoming a time limit.


 * Versus Mode removes the Mansion Area from play and characters fight each other to earn Decorations.


 * Partner Mode allows for two characters to be used instead of one. One character is designated the Main Character while the other character is the Partner. Partner Mode mostly changes how the player Explores and attaches cards. Partner's can permanently hold a weapon for the duration of the game by spending one Action. Exploring is done by designating a leading character (though both characters can attack if equipped for it) and this character takes damage if the Infected is not defeated. Decorations that are gained by defeating Infected are shared by both characters, allowing all of their abilities to be used. However, if the Partner Character dies, they are permanently removed from the game.


 * Infection Mode is a new mode for the second expansion, Outbreak. This mode allows players to turn into Infected characters and attack their fellow players as Infected would do. A new deck is added to the setup, called the Infection Deck, which is placed above the Mansion Deck. In this mode, if players did not Explore or Attack an Infected character, their individual "Infection Level" increases by 1. Every character has a maximum Infection Level of 10. Once the characters level maxes out they die, and must reanimate as an Infected character. This involves removing the player's current character from play and randomly selecting an Infected Character card. Infected characters get 0 Buys and 0 Actions, but automatically have +1 Explore. They also have effects and sometimes base damage like normal Infected. The player keeps playing the game as normal but under these new rules and they attack other players instead. If an Infected character is killed, that player is automatically out of the game. In that case, the regular Infected card with the highest Decorations attached to them is given to the player that killed them.

Characters and Infected Characters
The are currently ten characters in the base set, with two promos, and ten additional ones in Alliance for a total of 22. So far, all main series protagonists have been included. Although several are shown in multiple incarnations from throughout the entire series. The second expansion Outbreak introduces Infected Character cards, which are what regular characters turn into if they are Infected. They play like regular characters with a few differences based around the game's new Infection Mode.Each character card has different skills which can be viewed on their respective pages in the "Deck Building Game" section.

In the base set:


 * Chris Redfield


 * Jill Valentine


 * Leon S. Kennedy


 * Claire Redfield


 * Albert Wesker (also in Foil Promo)


 * Jack Krauser


 * Rebecca Chambers


 * Barry Burton


 * Ada Wong (also in Foil Promo)


 * Sheva Alomar

Promotional:


 * Chris Redfield


 * Jill Valentine

Included in Alliance:


 * HUNK (also in Foil Promo)


 * Carlos Oliveira


 * Steve Burnside


 * Josh Stone


 * Billy Coen


 * Leon S. Kennedy (RE2/DC)


 * Jill Valentine (Brainwashed)


 * Jack Krauser (Darkside Chronicles)


 * Chris Redfield (REmake)


 * Claire Redfield (DC)

Introduced in Outbreak:

Promotional: Infected Characters from Outbreak:
 * Albert Wesker
 * Mark Wilkins
 * HUNK (UC)
 * Ada Wong (DC)
 * Chris Redfield (UC)
 * Kevin Ryman
 * David King
 * Jim Chapman
 * George Hamilton
 * Zombie B

Infected, Tokens, and Event Cards
The Mansion Area is filled with various B.O.W.s from the series. Some of them have effects that are used when they are revealed. These effects and some card images can be viewed on their respective pages. When the most powerful one is defeated, the game ends. In the base set Uroboros Aheri is the strongest one. In Alliance, Albert Wesker (in his final form from RE5) is the new "boss" of the Mansion Area. A foil version of the Wesker card has been showcased as a promo. Tokens allowing the player to gain Yellow Herbs, Time Bonuses in Mercenaries Mode, a Rocket Launcher, and a Gatling Gun are also in the Mansion. The new set also introduced new cards called "Events", which replace the Tokens and Yellow Herbs from the first set. Tokens and Events are listed below the Infected.

In the base set:


 * Zombies
 * Majini
 * Cerberus
 * Bui Kichwa
 * Executioner
 * Hunter
 * Licker
 * Dr. Salvador
 * Mimicry Marcus
 * Nemesis T-Type
 * Gatling Gun Majini
 * El Gigante
 * Uroboros Aheri

Introduced in Alliance:

Token Cards from the base set: Event Cards from Alliance:
 * Duvalia (Las Plagas)
 * Guardian of Insanity
 * Albert Wesker (also in Foil Promo)
 * Lurker
 * Infected Bat
 * Garrador
 * Kipepeo (Las Plagas)
 * Cephalo (Las Plagas)
 * Proto Tyrant
 * Iron Maiden
 * Zombie Horde
 * Nosferatu
 * Los illuminados Monk (Zealot)
 * Reaper
 * Rocket Launcher Case
 * Gatling Gun Case
 * Time Bonus +1
 * Time Bonus +2
 * TIme Bonus +3
 * Combo Bonus

Introduced in Outbreak:
 * Explosive Barrel
 * Collapsing Floor Traps
 * Laser Targeting Device
 * Tyrant T-002
 * Nemesis (2nd Form)
 * Yawn

Item and Ammo Cards
Item cards usually represent anything that is not considered a Weapon, Action, or Ammo card in the Resource Area. They are so far mostly healing items, aside from the Yellow Herb. Per the game's rules it is found in the Mansion Area and gives the player +10 max Health. Ammunition Cards come in varying amounts and as stated above represent both ammo and gold.
 * Green Herb
 * Red Herb
 * Yellow Herb
 * First Aid Spray
 * Ammo x10
 * Ammo x20
 * Ammo x30
 * Treasure

Weapons
The game uses many weapons, which are organized into "types". Most of the weapons are from different points in the series, but primarily come from RE4 and RE5. Here, they are not given their model name or nickname in-game; they are simply called "Handgun" or "Machine Gun". Weapons are organized into various decks in the Resource Area, and some include a "special weapon"; a more powerful variation of the weapon type. Naturally weapons require ammo, though there are exceptions.

Pistol Type Weapons Knife Type Weapons Melee Type Weapons Shotgun Type Weapons Machine Gun Type Weapons Rifle Type Weapons Magnum Type Weapons Explosive Type Weapons Bow Type Weapons Weapons without Weapon Types
 * Handgun
 * Burst-Fire Handgun
 * Blowback Pistol
 * Samurai Edge
 * Combat Knife
 * Survival Knife
 * Submission
 * Stun Rod
 * Pump-Action Shotgun
 * Automatic Shotgun
 * Riot Shotgun
 * Triple-Barreled Shotgun
 * Assault Machine Gun
 * Full Bore Machine Gun
 * Russian Assault Rifle
 * Signature Special
 * Bolt-Action Rifle
 * Semi-Automatic Rifle
 * Telescopic Sight Rifle
 * Six Shooter
 * Grenade
 * Flash Grenade
 * Grenade Launcher
 * Rocket Launcher
 * Longbow
 * Flamethrower
 * Gatling Gun

Action Cards
As stated above, players are given three actions per turn (unless stated otherwise), one of which is simply called Action. Spending an Action allows the layer to either play a blue Action Card or attach a weapon card to their partner character in Partner Mode. Action Cards have a variety of different effects and some can even give the player additional Actions to play more Action Cards. There are some that are only used for Versus and Partner Mode.

Introduced in the base set: Introduced in Alliance:
 * Deadly Aim
 * Escape from the Dead City
 * Mansion Foyer
 * Reload
 * The Merchant
 * Umbrella Corporation
 * Ominous Battle
 * Shattered Memories
 * Master of Unlocking
 * Back to Back
 * Struggle for Survival
 * Great Ambition
 * Uroboros Injection
 * Desperate Escape
 * Fierce Battle
 * Gathering Forces
 * Archrival
 * Quirk of Fate
 * Partners
 * Cornered
 * Star-Crossed Duo

Infection Cards
Infection Cards are a new type of card introduced in Outbreak that are placed in a special Infection Deck above the Mansion. These cards are meant to keep track of the Infection Level of characters and have effects of their own for Infected Characters.
 * Devour
 * Virulent Frenzy