How to play

Planeswalk is a virtual tabletop: you move the cards, and it keeps the books. Nothing stops you from making a play, so play the way you would at a real table. The tutorial (Settings → Replay the tutorial) walks through the basics on a practice table in a few minutes.

Getting a game going

• Pick a deck — import one from Archidekt in the lobby (paste the deck's link), or at the table with Change deck in the waiting room. Signed in, your imports are saved to your library.
• Make a table in the lobby (format, players, automation) and share its code or invite link. Friends who open the link land straight in your waiting room and can pick their deck there.
• Ready up when your deck is set. Once everyone's ready, a coin flip or dice roll decides who goes first, and everyone draws an opening hand of seven.
• Mulligan from your library's menu (click your library): you draw a fresh seven, then choose which cards go to the bottom when you keep. In games of three or more, the first mulligan is free.

The table

• Your side is at the bottom: creatures, other permanents and a land shelf, then your seat strip with your life, hand, piles (library, graveyard, exile, command zone) and the turn controls.
• Opponents are across the top, with their life, counters, commander and piles. Click any pile to look through it.
• Rest the pointer on a card to see it full size (Settings → Card zoom). On a phone, tap or press and hold.

Moving cards

• Click a card to pick it up, then click where it goes — every place it can go lights up. Dragging works too.
• On the battlefield, lands go to the land shelf and creatures to the creature row. An instant or sorcery dropped on the battlefield is cast: it goes to your graveyard. A spell with a land on its back can be played as the land from the shelf.
• Click a permanent for its quick actions: Tap, +1/+1, Counters and ⋯ (more: flip, face down, duplicate, exile until this leaves, move to any zone). Double-click taps or untaps it. Right-click any card for everything you can do with it.
• Your library's menu (click it) has draw, search, scry, surveil, mill, shuffle and mulligan.
• Tokens and dice: the ⋯ button by the turn controls has Create tokens…, dice and a coin.

Your turn

• One big button always does the next thing: Draw a card → Pass turn on your turn, and Pass priority when you're asked. Space presses it; D draws and E passes the turn.
• Untap all untaps your permanents (Assisted and Guided tables do it for you at the start of your turn). On a phone it is in the ⋯ menu, with Redo.
• Undo (↶ or Ctrl+Z) takes back your own last action, until the turn passes; it never rewinds anyone else. Redo is Ctrl+Y.

Combat

• Press Combat (the crossed swords on a phone), then click your creatures to attack. With more than one opponent (or a planeswalker or battle to hit), pick a target chip first. Press Attack with N (or Enter).
• Defenders click one of their creatures, then the attacker it blocks, and press Done blocking.
• The attacker presses Deal damage. A preview shows who takes damage, who gains life and which creatures die, and it understands first strike, double strike, deathtouch, trample, lifelink and more. Attacks or blocks the rules wouldn't allow are flagged with ⚠ — never refused.

Life, counters and commander damage

• Use − and + next to any player's life.
• Click a player's name for poison, energy, experience or any other counter, and for commander damage (their life follows).
• Planeswalk asks before anyone loses: at 0 life, 10 poison or 21 commander damage, a Confirm defeat prompt appears. Concede from the ⋯ menu.

How much the table does for you

• Manual is the bare tabletop: you untap, draw and pass by hand, and triggers are only listed.
• Assisted (the default) untaps your permanents at the start of your turn, gives planeswalkers their loyalty, and turns trigger reminders into one-tap buttons.
• Guided also runs the turn: you draw automatically, priority passes by itself, and the game stops only where someone has a decision. During someone else's turn, tap a step on the track to stop there.
• Any player can change it mid-game in Settings → Table automation.

Trigger reminders

• When a permanent's ability triggers ("When this enters, draw a card"), a reminder appears in your tray with buttons for what it does: create tokens, gain or lose life, draw, scry, surveil, mill, search, or a +1/+1 counter. Press ✓ to dismiss one. Nothing ever resolves by itself.

Commander tables

• Your commander starts in the command zone. Casting it from there raises its tax (shown on the command zone and by your name), its combat damage to each player is counted toward 21, and when it goes to the graveyard, exile, your hand or your library you're asked whether to return it to the command zone.

Talking and looking back

• Chronicle (top right) is the table's log, with chat at the bottom. New events also flash briefly by it.
• Reactions: the smiley button sends a quick emoji to the table.
• Replays: after a game, Watch the replay — step through it turn by turn from any seat, and once it's over, show every hand. Your recent tables in the lobby have a Replay button too.

When someone leaves

• A player who drops mid-turn passes priority after a few seconds. After a minute away, the others can Skip turn for them or vote to Remove them.
• Games are saved as they're played: reopen your invite link (or Your tables in the lobby) to sit back down exactly where you were.

Keyboard

• Space — the turn button · D — draw · E — pass the turn · Enter — attack / done blocking / deal damage
• Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y — undo / redo · T — tap the selected permanent · Esc — cancel
• In a replay: Space play/pause · ← → step · Shift+← Shift+→ jump a turn

Settings

• Sound, animations, card zoom, hand size, table automation, trigger reminders and your playmat — the gear button at the top right.