Wizard of Wisteria: Mix-Up Rules

Game Overview

Side Quest (Mix-Up) is a fantasy-inspired card game that builds on the foundation of War while introducing strategic bonuses, comeback mechanics, and magical flair. It’s easy to learn, quick to play, and designed to create exciting, unpredictable moments every round.

Objective

Outplay your opponent by winning rounds, collecting cards, and using bonuses wisely. Victory goes to the player who controls the most cards - or all of them.

Items Required

  1. Side Quest deck
  2. 2 players

The game can be played with multiple people, though it’s recommended to have 4 players per deck. You can use multiple decks while playing.

Setup

  1. Shuffle the deck thoroughly.
  2. Deal all cards evenly between the players.
  3. Place your cards face down in a draw pile.
  4. Keep a section open for your won pile.
  5. Play begins when both players reveal their top card simultaneously.

How to Play

Each round:

  • All players flip the top card of their deck.
  • The player with the highest strength card wins the round.
  • The winner collects all cards and places them into their won pile.

Continue playing until all players run out of cards in their draw piles.

  • When this happens, shuffle your won pile to create a new draw pile.
  • Play continues until a winning condition is met.

Card Strength

Each card has a strength value from 1 to 6.

  • Higher value wins the round.
  • Equal values trigger a Tie Battle.

Tie Battles

When two or more players reveal cards of equal strength:

  1. Each player places one card face down.
  2. Each player flips the next card face up, stating “Battle” or “Retreat.”
    1. Choices have to be said while flipping and cannot be changed after being flipped.

Option A: Battle

    • Each attacking player reveals one card face up.
    • Higher strength wins all original tied cards and all face-down cards.
    • If the revealed cards tie again, repeat.

Option B: Retreat

    • Each retreating player reveals one card face up.
    • Can only be done on the first card round of a tie.

Outcomes:

    1. If at least one player battles:
      1. All retreated cards are given to the winning battler’s won pile.
      2. Retreating player keeps:
        1. Their original tied card.
        2. Their first face-down war card.
    2. If two or more players battle:
      1. All retreated cards are given to the winning battler’s won pile.
      2. All players who battled continue battling.
        1. Higher strength wins:
          1. All original tied cards.
          2. All face-down war cards.
        2. If the revealed cards tie again, repeat Option A.
      3. Sacrificing players keep:
        1. Their original tied card.
        2. Their first face-down war card.
    3. If all tied players retreat:
      1. Each retreated card is given to the player on the left (clockwise) to place into their won pile.
      2. All players keep:
        1. Their original tied card.
        2. Their first face-down card.
      3. The tie ends with no central winner.

Running Out of Cards

    1. If a player runs out of cards, then they are out of the game.  
    2. If a player doesn’t have enough cards to continue a tie battle.

Reshuffling Won Cards

When a player’s draw pile is empty:

    1. Shuffle their won pile.
    2. Place it face down as their new draw pile.

Winning Conditions

Choose one condition before playing:

    1. Total Control
      1. One player collects all cards.
    2. Time Limit
      1. After 15 minutes, the player with the most cards wins.
      2. After 15 minutes, the player with the highest total strength values of all the cards owned wins.