Start Here · 12 min
How to play the Palworld Card Game
A complete first-game walkthrough: setup, Souls, phases, combat, blocking, damage checks and win conditions.
Both players start with 10 life. Build a 50-card Main Deck and a separate 10-card Soul Deck, use Souls to pay costs, and attack with Pals. Reduce the opposing player to 0 life to win. You also lose if your Main Deck has no cards remaining.
What you need for your first game
- Main Deck: exactly 50 Pal, Gear, Event and Structure cards.
- Soul Deck: exactly 10 Soul cards. Souls are the resource used to pay card and ability costs.
- Counters: track life, Materials and Ingredients when cards create or consume them.
- A playmat: optional for casual play, but very helpful while learning the Base, Soul Area, decks and Graveyard.
Set up the game step by step
- Place and shuffle your Main Deck. Place the separate Soul Deck beside your Soul Area.
- Set both life counters to 10.
- Decide who goes first. The winner of the chosen method may choose first or second.
- The player going second puts one Soul from their Soul Deck into the Soul Area in the stand state.
- Each player draws five Main Deck cards.
- Starting with the first player, each player may mulligan once. A mulligan returns all five cards, shuffles the deck, then draws five new cards; you cannot keep only some cards.
The five phases of a turn
Stand all cards in your Base and Soul Area so they can be used again.
Draw one card. The player going first skips this phase on their first turn.
Move two Souls from the Soul Deck into the Soul Area in the stand state. The Soul Area cannot exceed 10 Souls.
Play cards, activate abilities, assign Pals to Structures, attack, or rest three Souls to draw one extra card once per turn.
Damage on Pals and Structures becomes 0, end-of-turn effects finish, then pass the turn.
What each card type does
- Pals form your team. They can attack, block and work at Structures. A Pal has Power for battle and Strike for player damage.
- Structures stay in your Base and create ongoing value. Many ask you to assign a Pal by resting it.
- Gear supports Pals or provides reusable effects after deployment.
- Events resolve a one-time effect, then normally go to the Graveyard.
- Souls are kept in a separate deck and rested to pay costs.
How attacks, blocking and battle work
Rest one of your standing Pals to attack. The target can be the opposing player, a Structure, or normally a Pal already in the rest state. Assault is the keyword that allows a Pal to attack standing Pals.
If a Pal attacks another Pal
Both combat Pals deal damage equal to their Power to each other. A Pal is put into the Graveyard when its damage is equal to or greater than its current Power.
If a Pal attacks a Structure
The Pal deals its Power as damage to the Structure's Durability. A Structure does not deal damage back.
If a Pal attacks the opposing player
The defending player may rest a Pal to block, changing the attack target to that blocker. The defender may also use legal Quick cards or Interrupt effects at their stated timing.
Damage Check and the Lucky icon
If a player attack is not blocked or interrupted, put cards from the top of the defending player's Main Deck into the Graveyard one at a time, up to the attacker's Strike. If no Lucky icon appears, the defender then loses life equal to the full Strike. If a Lucky icon appears, the check stops and that life loss is cancelled.
A Pal with Strike 4 hits the opposing player. If the second checked card has a Lucky icon, those two cards remain in the Graveyard, the check stops, and the defender loses no life from that damage.
First-game mistakes to avoid
- Do not mix the 10-card Soul Deck into the Main Deck.
- Do not attack a standing opposing Pal unless your card has Assault or another effect allows it.
- Remember that the first player skips their first Draw Phase.
- Damage clears in the End Phase, but a Pal or Structure destroyed before then still goes to the Graveyard.
- Keep a possible Interrupt or Quick response in mind before spending every Soul.
Sources & verification
Where these facts came from
We explain official material in our own words and add examples or editorial analysis. Rule and card facts are checked against the sources below.