Marshmallow War
A card battle game by Will Gunther and Shawn Shadrix . If you enjoy the game, please send us a mail.
Orientation
Don’t let the name fool you. This is the ultimate battle card game you can play with regular playing cards. For a while, we have tried to create a game similar to popular TCGs such as Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh!, but with regular playing cards. The time has come for us to present Marshmallow War. (Alternate title: MugenMugenjigoku, Romanized Japanese meaning: "infinite hell" or "imaginary hell")
All terms in this game (such as Summon, Marshmallow, etc.) and the abilities of each card are optional and may be changed to your liking, as this manual contains guidelines instead of actual rules.
It is highly recommended that YOU NAME CARDS AS YOU PLAY THEM. This greatly increases the level of fun and immersion. Example: The 3 of 
has been called the "One-Eyed Imp with A Rusty Spoon".
Winning Conditions
When you directly attack an opponent that has no remaining Life Deck, you win the game!
Materials
- A deck of playing cards; two decks are highly preferred
- Two players
- Your imagination
The Play Field
Each player designates a:
- Fighter/Wall Area - unlimited
- Trap/Event card area - limit of 3
- Deck (if playing with a single deck, it is used by both players)
- Life Deck
- Dead Pile
Explanation Of Terms
Demons - Masters of arbitrary passion and fire.
Represented by:
Ninja - Masters of meditation and martial arts.
Represented by: 
Samurai - Masters of swordsmanship and unity.
Represented by: 
Marshmallows - Masters of evil gooeyness.
Represented by: 
Fighters' special abilities are explained below in the Fighters' Abilities section.
Fighters - Those who fight for you: Demons, Samurai, Ninja, NOT Marshmallows
Wall - Consists of 2 NON-Marshmallow cards played from your hand sideways. These cards may never attack and their powers remain separate, each essentially acting as a Fighter with no attack.
Summon - The action of playing a Fighter or Wall
Extra Summon - The term describing an additional Summon.
Traps - These are any NON-Marshmallow cards that are placed face-down and separate from your Fighters. These may only be flipped over when an opponent's Fighter attacks. For specific powers based on type, see the Traps section.
Event Cards - These are epic events that happen during the game that enhance cards of their type. They are represented by the Aces of each suit, and the Joker. See the Event Cards section for information on each of these.
Life Deck - This is a stack of cards indicating how healthy a player is. It is traditionally three cards, but the number is decided by the players. You can see where this comes into play in the Attack Phase section.
Dead Pile - Anything that is killed or destroyed goes here.
Setup
- Players decide upon what effect happens when an Event is discarded. Traditionally it is draw two.
- Players decide how big each person’s Life Deck is.
- Players shuffle their decks
- Players lay down the decided amount of cards to form their Life Deck.
- Players draw 5 cards to form their starting hand.
- Players decide who goes first. Traditionally this is determined by each player cutting their deck and comparing the exposed card. The player with the higher card decides who takes the first turn.
Turn Structure
Playing phase 1:
- You may Summon 1 Fighter or Wall
- You may play as many Marshmallows as you want
- You may place your in-play Trap cards into your hand
- You may play as many Trap/Event cards as you want (limit 3 in play)
- You may discard an Event card from your hand (see the Event Cards section)
- You may discard an Event card from the field (no benefit is incurred)
- You may use the Ninja’s Deception ability
Attack phase:
- You may attack with your Fighters
- You may play as many Marshmallows as you want
(See Attack Phase section for details on battle)
Playing phase 2:
- Same as Playing phase 1 (You may not Summon again if you already Summoned during Playing phase 1)
Replenish phase:
- Draw until you have five cards. This ends your turn.
Attack Phase
- Fighters with a power of 2 are the weakest and those with a power of K are the strongest.
- A Fighter you control may attack once during your Attack Phase.
- Choose an opponent’s Fighter or Wall you wish to attack. Then, compare their power with yours.
- If the power of your Fighter is greater than the power of your opponent’s Fighter/Wall, then your opponent’s Fighter/Wall is killed.
- If their powers are equal, then both Fighters are killed (Walls can't kill Fighters).
- If your opponent does not have any in play Fighters or Walls, your Fighters may attack your opponent. Your opponent draws one card from their Life Deck per attack they receive.
Fighters' Abilities
- Demon
- Violent Burn: Instead of attacking a Fighter or Wall, your Demon may instantly destroy one of your opponent’s Trap cards. Traps cannot be used to kill a Demon using this ability.
- Ninja
- Ninja Strike: If one of your Ninja battles with a Fighter that is equally strong, the Ninja wins. There is no benefit for Ninja vs. Ninja.
Deception: Your Ninja can flip face-down and/or switch places with other friendly face-down Ninja during Playing phases - Samurai
- Unity: Any number of your Samurai may combine their power and attack one of your opponent’s Fighters. This combined power is treated as if it were one Fighter for Fighter vs. Fighter purposes. However, Samurai are counted separately for Trap purposes. A successful Unified attack counts as all of the participating Samurai attacking. Example: A 7+6(13) would be able to kill a K, but both Samurai would also be destroyed. The defending player activates a 10 Trap and kills the 7. The 6 is not destroyed and may attack again.
- Marshmallows
- These cards are unique from all the others. You play them directly from your hand while picking an opponent’s card (If it is face down, flip it over). Then, the power of the Marshmallow is compared to that of the opponent’s card (2=weakest, K=strongest). If the Marshmallow is the same strength or stronger than the selected card, then the selected card is killed/destroyed. If the Marshmallow is weaker, the selected card is not killed/destroyed and is returned to its original position. The Marshmallow is destroyed no matter what the result was.
Traps
If you flip over a:
- Trap and its power is greater than or equal to your opponent’s attacking Fighter, then the attacking Fighter is killed and the Trap is sent to the Dead Pile.
- Trap and its power is less than or equal to your opponent’s attacking Fighter, then the attacking Fighter is killed and the Trap is sent to the Dead Pile.
- Trap and its power is equal to the power of your opponent’s attacking Fighter, then the attacking Fighter is added to your Life Deck and the Trap is sent to the Dead Pile
Event Cards
You may voluntarily discard an Event card from your hand to gain the effect decided upon by the players at the beginning of the game. While in play, these cards’ abilities override any rules mentioned above. All of these stay in-play and count towards your 3 Trap/Event card limit, except the Joker.
Golden Armaments-True Potential Release: (A) You may combine the power of 2 or more Marshmallows into one while playing them normally. All Marshmallows played are Extra Summoned as Fighters, after all normal Marshmallow effects occur. Marshmallow Fighters have no special ability.
Lucifer’s Will-Infernal Passion: (A) +1 to the power of all of your Demons. If one of your Demons attacks your opponent, all of their Trap and Event cards are destroyed.
Ninja Strike Back-The Warlord’s Stash: (A) A Ninja attacking a Wall instantly destroys the Wall, regardless of power. Your Ninja are unaffected by Traps.
Bushido Spirit Flame- Ultimate Tactics: (A) You may Extra Summon one Samurai during one of your playing phases. Your Samurai are not harmed by Marshmallows in their regular form.
King of All Cosmos: (Joker) You may take one card from a Dead Pile and play it as if you were playing it from your hand. If it is a Fighter, this is treated as an Extra Summon. Marshmallows may be played either normally, or Extra Summoned.