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How to Play
Chronicles of the Covenant — a Bible card game for one player.
The Basics
Pick a side. Whichever you choose, your enemy is the POWERS OF DARKNESS drawn from that same Testament — Old Testament players face the Old Testament's own wicked kings and armies; New Testament players face the New Testament's own persecutors and false teachers. Reduce the enemy's life to 0 to win. Each side also has its own instant Ultimate Win condition (see below).
OLD TESTAMENT patriarchs, judges, kings, and prophets — Ultimate Win: Protoevangelium. NEW TESTAMENT apostles, evangelists, and the early Church — Ultimate Win: Final Judgement.
- There are 400 cards in all: 100 Old Testament, 100 New Testament, 100 Powers of Darkness (Old Testament), 100 Powers of Darkness (New Testament). Every one of the 400 is a unique card — nothing is duplicated anywhere. Browse them all in the Codex.
- Each side plays a fixed 40-card deck, and every card in that deck is a single, unique copy — no repeats, even of Lands.
- You start with 35 life and 8 cards. The enemy starts with 20 life and 6 cards. You skip your very first draw.
- Every card shows a Bible reference. No scripture text is quoted.
Card Types
- Land ▲: a place from Scripture. Play one per turn for free. Tap it for 1 Provision, the resource used to play everything else.
- Character ⚔: has a cost, an Attack, and a Defense. Once in play, it can attack and block — the same turn it enters play (see Combat below).
- Weapon †: pay its cost, resolve its effect (damage, removal, or a boost), then it is discarded.
- Fruit ❦: healing, protection, and growth. Same rules as a Weapon.
- Gift of the Spirit ✦: wisdom, knowledge, and prophecy. Draw cards, search your deck, and help your whole line.
- Trap ◆: the Powers of Darkness only. Set face-down (at most 2 at a time), they spring on their own when you attack, play a card, or raise up a character. You will see how many traps the enemy has set, but never which ones.
- Covenant Sign ✧: five special cards in your deck that cannot be played. They are your route to an Ultimate Win — see the dedicated section below.
Tip: tap the small ⌕ button on any card to enlarge it and read its keyword explanations.
Turn Structure
- Untap & Draw: automatic. Your lands and characters untap, and you draw a card.
- Main Phase 1: play a land (one per turn), raise up characters, and play Weapons, Fruits, and Gifts. You may also Seek (below).
- Combat: choose your attackers, then attack.
- Main Phase 2: anything you held back. Then tap End Turn.
Seek (2): once per turn, during a main phase, pay 2 Provision to draw an extra card. It costs you tempo, but it is the reliable way to dig toward your Covenant Sign.
Combat, Step by Step
There is no summoning sickness in this game — any character can attack the very turn it enters play, as long as it is untapped.
When you attack
- Finish your plays in Main Phase 1, then tap Proceed to Combat.
- Tap your untapped characters to mark them as attackers (red outline).
- Tap Attack to commit, or Skip Combat.
- The enemy assigns blockers and damage resolves at once. Beware: hidden traps may spring on your attackers.
When the enemy attacks
- Play pauses for you. Each enemy attacker gets a red outline and a numbered badge (#1, #2, …).
- One attacker is selected (gold glow). The first open attacker is selected by default, and the hint line names it. Tap a different enemy attacker to select it instead.
- Tap one of your untapped characters to make it block the selected attacker. A green badge (
→#2) shows the pairing and the attacker's badge becomes a ✓. Tap that blocker (or the ✓ attacker) again to undo it.
- You do not have to block everything. Unblocked attackers hit your life total.
- Tap Confirm Blocks to resolve combat.
How damage resolves
- Blocked: attacker and blocker deal their Attack to each other. A character falls when its damage equals or exceeds its Defense. No damage reaches the players.
- Unblocked: the attacker's full Attack hits the defending player's life.
- Damage on characters is cleared at the end of every turn.
Example: the enemy attacks with Sisera (#1, a 3/2) and Cain (#2, a 4/3). You have two untapped characters: Gideon (3/3) and Rahab (2/3).
Sisera starts out selected. You would rather stop Cain, so you tap Cain to select him, then tap Gideon. Gideon now shows →#2 and Cain's badge becomes a ✓.
You tap Rahab, who blocks the remaining open attacker, Sisera (#1). Then tap Confirm Blocks. Gideon and Cain trade blows, Rahab and Sisera trade blows, and nothing hits your life total.
Had you left Sisera unblocked, his 3 Attack would have come off your life instead.
Your Covenant Sign — the Ultimate Victory
Your deck contains five cards that can never be played outright. Collect all five in your hand at once, and you win the game on the spot. Which five depends on your Testament:
Old Testament — Protoevangelium:
Immaculate ConceptionHouse of BreadRoyal BranchPatriarchal CovenantThe Fourfold Decree
New Testament — Final Judgement:
RaptureTribulationSecond ComingThe BindingMillennial Kingdom
A tracker at the bottom of the screen shows your progress toward whichever set matches your Testament.
How to dig for them
- Characters and Gifts with Prophecy look through the top of your deck and take one of your five pieces if they find it there.
- Gift of Vision (Old Testament) and Gift of Discernment (New Testament) search your entire deck for one directly.
- Other Gifts of Knowledge, Wisdom, and Insight simply draw more cards, improving your odds of drawing into a piece naturally.
- Seek gives you an extra draw every turn.
The danger: the Powers of Darkness have cards that make you discard from your hand at random. Old Testament opponents use Forbidden Fruit, Bribe of the Judges, and Counterfeit Prophecy; New Testament opponents use Thirty Pieces of Silver, Sifting Like Wheat, and the trap Kiss of Betrayal. A half-built hand of pieces can be torn apart by a random discard. Going all-in is risky.
Stuck with a piece you do not need?
Tap the ⌕ button on one of these cards in your hand and choose Set aside: discard it and draw a card (once per turn, during your main phase). Doing so means you can no longer complete your Covenant Sign that game, so choose carefully.
Keywords
| Keyword | Effect |
|---|
| Watchful | Does not tap when it attacks, so it can still block. |
| Shield Wall | Takes half damage from the first hit each turn (minimum 1). |
| Elusive / Terror | Characters with cost 2 or less cannot block it. |
| Authority | Your other characters get +1 Attack. |
| Shepherd | Your other characters get +1 Defense. |
| Rally | +1 Attack while you control another Warrior. |
| Covenant | +1/+1 while you control 4 or more Lands. |
| Volley | Deals 1 damage to a chosen enemy when it enters play. |
| Comfort | Restores 2 life when it enters play. |
| Counsel / Wisdom | Draw 1 / 2 cards when it enters play. |
| Prophecy | Look at the top 4 cards and take a piece of your Covenant Sign among them. |
| Journey | Fetches a Land from your deck (tapped) when it enters play. |
| Craft | Your next Weapon, Fruit, or Gift costs 1 less. |
| Witness | Creates a 1/1 Follower token when it enters play. |
| Deceit | Your opponent discards a random card when it enters play. |
| Withering | At the start of your turn, discard a card or it gets -1/-1. |
Frequently Asked
Can new characters attack right away?
Yes — there is no summoning sickness. Any untapped character can attack the turn it enters play.
Why did nothing happen when I played a Weapon?
Weapons and other targeted cards ask you to tap a valid target on the field. If no valid target exists (for example, a cost limit no enemy meets), the card cannot be played.
Can I play cards on the enemy's turn?
No. You play cards in your own main phases. During the enemy's turn you only choose blockers.
Why do I face a different enemy depending on which Testament I pick?
Old Testament and New Testament decks each face their own era's villains and traps, so the cards on both sides of the table always belong to the same part of Scripture.
What if my deck runs out?
You do not lose outright. Every time you would draw with an empty deck — including your automatic turn draw, Seek, or any card that draws — you lose 1 life instead of drawing a card. If you still have a strong board and life total, you can keep fighting; running your deck out just starts costing you life every time you'd normally draw.