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Some cards create interesting interactions when played against or with one another, not all of which could be addressed on the cards themselves, so we’ve compiled a list of detailed answers for questions players have asked:

• Alfonso
  • The card being taken from another battlefield does not need to be revealed to all players.
• Armored Pig
  • For the Armored Pig to get +5, the Pig-a-Pult needs to be in play and on your battlefield.  By having both, the Pig-a-Pult “launches” the pig for bonus damage. 
• Baby Dragon / Mama Dragon
  • Baby Dragon gets the +1 bonus if anyone controls the Mama Dragon and it has been seen at any point during the game, regardless of zone.  Mama Dragon gets her +1 bonus only if the baby has been slain this game, regardless of who controls it.  For them to both get their +2 bonus, it requires both of them to be alive and on the same battlefield. 
• Double Ballista
  • When attacking two targets at once, both attacks are individual but simultaneous, so each attack is for 6, and both defenders may attack back individually.  Double Ballista also has a few other rulings that make it unique:
  • “May attack two cards at once.” 
    • You do not have to attack two cards, and can instead choose to attack only one.  (Ex: One of the only front row cards remaining is the Land Mine.)
    • It does not specify the two cards you attack must be controlled by the same player, which makes for some fun attacks in a multiplayer game.
  • “Attacks front row only.”
    • If there are no cards remaining in any player’s front row, the next most front row becomes the front.
• Jonas
  • Jonas’s Hero ability allows him to move at the start of battle.  This allows him to move out of the way of cards that attack a specific location. (Ex. Glass Cannon, ShanElaine, Double Ballista)
• Land Mine
  • If the Land Mine is your last card and it is your turn, you must reveal it and pass the turn, it can’t attack.
• Mad Scientist Goat
  • If Mad Scientist Goat is the attacker, you choose the targets before the attack actually occurs; so you select the target to attack, and “another” card to flip over, then both cards flip and the attack is resolved. 
  • If Mad Scientist Goat is the defender, he is chosen and flipped during the attack which doesn’t trigger his effect until after the combat resolution.
• Mama Dragon
  • See Baby Dragon.
• Mime Goat
  • Mime Goat copies the + or – modifiers of the card he is in battle with.  What that means is that he would have the exact printed text of the card he is facing, not the resulting number. 
  • For example, Mime Goat vs. Cowboy Goat –both cards would have the modifier, “+4 for each card directly in front of this card.”  Mime Goat would then be 3 +4 for each card directly in front of him, just as Cowboy Goat would be 1 +4 for each card directly in front of Cowboy Goat.  If there is 1 card in front of Mime Goat, he would be a 7.  Mime Goat’s value does not care how many cards are in front of Cowboy Goat.
• Rail Tank
  • Rail Tank attacks both the card in front and the card behind it for 6 each.  Both cards are able to attack back individually.  All attacks occur simultaneously.
  • “Attacks front row only.”
    • If there are no cards remaining in any player’s front row, the next most front row becomes the front.
• Royal Guard Goat
  • Royal Guard Goat may intercept an attack on any other card, regardless of which player controls it.
• Scaredy Goat
  • “You may add an adjacent card to this battle.” – The card revealed and added enters battle as well, and if defeated, both cards would be discarded.  Scaredy Goat adds the printed number from an adjacent card to his base 2, making his new total the sum of the two cards. 
  • For example, let’s say you add Chef Goat to Scaredy Goat.  Chef Goat is a 6 and does not get any modifiers this way.  Scaredy is 2 + Chef Goat’s printed 6, Scaredy has 8 for that attack/defense.  If the card attacking is less than 8, it is discarded and both Scaredy Goat and Chef Goat flip back over.  If it’s 8 or higher, both Scaredy Goat and Chef Goat are discarded as they both lost the battle. 
• ShanElaine
  • ShanElaine’s Hero power allows her to choose a location (ex. Top left, middle right, bottom center, etc.) and she then attacks all cards from all other players in that location.  It does not need to be the position she is placed in.
• Stinger
  • If stinger is flipped over from a non-combat ability (ex. Mad Scientist Goat, Witch Doctor Goat) it still has the -8 modifier as it is face up.  If Stinger gets flipped back face down at any time, he is again able to use his full 9 during battle.
• Super Goat
  • Super Goat is able to return any fallen goat from any players discard pile.
• Taber
  • Taber’s Hero ability all occurs simultaneously.  Even if he loses battle to his primary target, all cards adjacent to the card he attacked must flip face up.
• Werewolf Goat
  • Werewolf Goat’s abilities all stack, so under the right circumstances, it can indeed have +6, making him a 9. 
  • “After sunset” refers to your local sunset time.  We usually used the sunset time listed in the weather app for our smart phones, but also referenced this website:  https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/
  • You are welcome to use your own moon phase calendar, but the one we most often referenced is: http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_phases_calendar.phtml
• Witch Doctor Goat
  • The two cards Witch Doctor flips over do not have to be controlled by the same player.  One (or both) may even be your own.
• Wizard Goat
  • The adjacent card Wizard Goat attacks is able to attack back, so if it is higher than a 7, Wizard Goat will lose and be discarded.
• Zeppelin
  • The Zeppelin’s bomb drops at the same time on all targets, so it all occurs simultaneously.  Even if Zeppelin’s target is a 6 or higher, it still does 3 to the adjacent target before being discarded.  It’s a great way to take out Land Mine or Glass Cannon!
• Zombie Goat
  • For Zombie to be removed from game, it has to lose battle while face up.  The first time Zombie Goat is defeated in battle whether attacking or defending, it will flip face up instead of being moved to discard.  (Reminder:  For a card to be considered face up, it has to start the turn face up.)  When it’s face up, it’s just a 4.  The second time it loses battle, whether attacking or defending, it gets moved to discard.

Rulebook Variants

We’ve been asked for different methods of play for BattleGoats, so we thought we would detail out some of our favorites and what we do to make them more fun.

Young Kids

BattleGoats is great for younger kids as it allows them to learn the numbers and start building “greater than, less than” skills.  When playing with real young kids, we found that they weren’t able to read the modifiers, but they could definitely tell the numbers on the top of the cards.  So we played the game without modifiers, simply using the base numbers only. 

To play this way, we found it best to remove a few cards:

• 10’s – Land mine can be removed depending on the age – if the children understand that the mine explodes, it works.  If they just look at the number, it is the only 10 in the game and will always win.
  • 9’s, 8’s, and 0’s – There are only a few cards with printed values of 8, 9, and 0, so we recommend removing those as they are unlikely to encounter an opposing pair.

If you choose to reduce the highest number, and you would like to have more even conflict, 6 is the most common ‘high’ number.

Hard Mode – Memory

When players are familiar with the cards, there is a hard mode variant we tried out.  Once each player has their cards in hand, they will lay them out as normal.  The difference with this mode is that once your cards are laid down, you can no longer look at them until either attacking or defending.  You now have to remember your own cards locations and power, as well as your opponent’s cards!

Advanced Play – Drafting

For players looking for a more advanced method of play, we’ve created a draft variant.  To start, each player will still get a random hero, as well as 8 additional cards.  Once you have the 8 non-hero cards in hand, you will choose one of them to keep, then pass the remaining 7 to the player on your right.  You will continue to select one card and pass the rest until you are down to your final card.

Optional: You can pass out more than 8 cards as long as all players have the same number to start with.  If you choose to do this, after being passed the final card, you then have to cut your battlefield to a max of 8 non-hero cards.