Game rules
Everything you need to know to collect cards, build your deck, and dominate the arena.
What is Cartoria?
Cartoria is a collecting, deckbuilding and automatic battle game. You collect cards, build an ordered deck, equip your fighters with compatible accessories, then face other players. Every battle is simulated and saved: you can replay it at any time from its battle log.
The game loop
1. Collect
2. Build
3. Equip
4. Battle
The three elements
The two card types
Fighter
Accessory
A fighter's stats
Equipment & compatibility
- Fighters and accessories have an equipment type: Troop, Vehicle or, for some PvE cards, Creature.
- An accessory can only be equipped if it is explicitly compatible with the fighter.
- An incompatible accessory is called neutral: it cannot be placed on that fighter.
- Each fighter has 0, 1 or 2 accessory slots.
- Creature fighters, currently reserved for PvE-unlocked cards, can equip every accessory. The applied effects still depend only on the fighter element.
- Sword is compatible with Air and Earth troops: it grants +6/+8/+11/+14/+19 attack by level.
- Katana is an Epic accessory reserved for Air troops: it strengthens attack and Earth and Air defenses in exchange for a small health penalty.
Card levels
- Cards range from level 1 to level 5 (current maximum level).
- Each level has its own illustration, growing more mythical each time.
Card rarity
Key takeaways
- Each card has a fixed rarity: Common, Rare, Epic or Legendary.
- Rarity is independent of level: a card can be rare at level 1 just as at level 5.
- Level still only comes from fusion, never from boosters or rarity.
- Boosters first roll a rarity, then pick a compatible card within that tier.
- Accessories: Tourelle and Katana are Epic; Regenerator, Armor and Belt are Rare; Ring and Pendant are Common.
Fusion
Rules
- 5 identical copies of the same level produce 1 copy of the next level.
- Fusion is possible from L1→L2, L2→L3, L3→L4 and L4→L5. No fusion from level 5.
- The fusion button becomes available as soon as you own at least 5 copies of the same card.
- Fusion is refused if it would break your active deck.
- If you want to fuse those cards, first deactivate your active deck: it will then be marked as needs repair if consumed cards were used there.
- Full-Art and Foil cosmetic effects never carry over: if an effected card is consumed, the resulting card stays standard.
Example
Owned
7
Active deck
2
Owned
5
Active deck
1
| Card | Owned | Active deck | Fusion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infantryman L1 | 7 | 2 | After deactivation |
| Tank L1 | 5 | 1 | Disable active deck first |
Compare cards
From the private collection, the public collection and the deck builder, you can open a temporary comparison tool for up to 4 cards of the same type. All cards share the selected level, which makes their stats or effects easy to compare.
Full collection
Fighters
Accessories
See every card
The public Collection page shows every card with search, filters, sorting, a temporary comparison tool for up to 4 cards of the same type, and a detailed page for each one.
Explore the full collectionDeck
Composition
- You can build multiple decks of 0 to 10 fighters.
- Only one deck can be active at a time: it must contain 5 to 10 fighters for ranked battles.
- Any valid deck can be duplicated to use as the base for a variant.
- The active deck and inactive decks can all be edited at any time.
- Each deck keeps its own battle order, and the active deck cannot be deleted.
- Without an active deck of at least 5 fighters, you can neither start nor suffer ranked battles.
- Fusion never breaks an active deck automatically: deactivate it first if you want to consume its cards.
- Your changes only apply after saving the deck. You can restore a saved state from the last 10 days of history.
Accessories
An accessory's bonuses and penalties display automatically, and final stats are recalculated instantly.
Some accessories have an affinity with a specific fighter: equipping them together adds an extra bonus to their usual effects.
From the Decks page, you can launch a simulation between two of your valid decks. This duel does not affect Fame, quests, or battle history. On mobile, it uses the same Lines / Duel view switch as ranked battles.
Deck relics
- You can equip one optional relic on each ranked deck.
- The five base relics are free for everyone, with no levels, rarity, boosters, or power purchases.
- Each relic triggers automatically at most once per battle. They do not apply to friendly battles, simulations, PvE, or Sealed Arena.
Seal of weakness
Ancient barrier
Runic spark
Last breath
War cry
PvP battle
Ranked battles affect Fame and the ladder. Friendly battles are only for testing your deck against a found or targeted opponent, with no effect on competitive progression.
Every ranked battle and every PvE attempt is saved with a full log (turns, damage, HP, eliminations, and contribution when relevant). An old battle remains replayable even if you later change your deck or fuse your cards. On mobile, the replay starts on the Lines view and lets you switch to the Duel view. From the replay page, a participant can also enable a public shared link and remove it at any time.
How a battle unfolds
- 1Your opponent is chosen within a Fame range close to yours first, then the search can widen step by step if needed.
- 2Both players' active decks are frozen (snapshot).
- 3Fighters face off in deck order.
- 4Each turn, both fighters attack simultaneously.
- 5The defender only uses the defense matching the attacker's element.
- 6A fighter that drops to 0 HP is removed; the next one enters the fight.
- 7The first player with no fighters left loses the battle.
- 8The battle is shown live in the popup; the Skip button lets you jump straight to the final result. On mobile, you can switch between the Lines and Duel views.
Damage calculation
The attack is fully blocked: no damage is dealt.
Damage dealt = attack − defense.
Draw: if both remaining fighters drop to 0 HP on the same turn, the battle ends in a tie.
PvE battle
Principles
- Only one PvE boss can be active at a time.
- You can try the fight only once per day with one of your valid decks.
- The boss deck resets for every attempt: you always fight the full event again.
- Real damage and shield wear dealt by all players are added together at the community level.
- The boss shield must be emptied first. Once it reaches zero, subsequent real damage is applied directly to its global HP.
- Some special x2 days double the damage and shield wear applied to the boss without doubling your personal contribution.
Your rewards depend on your total contribution. When an event closes, the top 3 contributors also receive 3000 / 2000 / 1000 crystals. If the boss is defeated before the event ends, the linked card is unlocked and can later join boosters and other random card rewards.
Tournaments
Sealed Arena
Sealed Arena is Cartoria’s first tournament format. You pay the crystal entry fee, open temporary boosters, then build a deck using only that pool before the tournament starts automatically.
Entry
Temporary boosters
Arena deck
Resolution
Format rules
- Two Sealed Arenas are available every week. Registration fills Arena I before opening Arena II, and you can only join one at a time.
- A new Arena is created automatically every Wednesday. It starts once all 8 seats and 8 decks are ready; a full Arena starts no later than 24 hours later, and an incomplete Arena no later than 48 hours later.
- Cards opened in the Arena are temporary: they never enter your permanent collection.
- The Arena deck uses the same habits as your usual deck builder, but it can only use that temporary pool.
- If seats are missing at start time, server-controlled Arena challengers fill the tournament.
- V1 runs 3 automatic Swiss rounds, and each match remains viewable afterward.
- A fusion that consumes a card or accessory from your submitted deck cancels its submission: review, save, then submit your deck again.
- An Arena with no real player at the deadline is cancelled, with no battles or rewards.
Rewards
1st: 1 standard booster + 1,500 crystals. 2nd: 1 standard booster. 3rd: 1,500 crystals.
4th: 250 crystals. 5th: 200 crystals. 6th: 150 crystals. 7th: 100 crystals. 8th: 50 crystals.
Tournament rewards are credited automatically at the end. If multiple players tie for first place, each tied player receives the rank 1 reward.
Cartoria may also send an email when the weekly tournament opens or when a Big Boss starts. You can disable those categories separately in your notification center, or unsubscribe directly from each email.
Fame
- Your Fame rises or falls after each battle based on the result and the score gap with your opponent.
- Win: the higher your opponent's rank, the bigger the gain.
- Loss: the lower your opponent's rank, the bigger the loss.
- Draw: no change.
Player levels
| Level | Minimum fame |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | 0 |
| Level 2 | 300 |
| Level 3(start) | 500 |
| Level 4 | 750 |
| Level 5 | 1,050 |
| Level 6 | 1,400 |
| Level 7 | 1,800 |
| Level 8 | 2,250 |
| Level 9 | 2,750 |
| Level 10 | 3,300 |
| Level 11 | 3,900 |
Matchmaking
Finding an opponent
- Ranked matchmaking uses Fame only. The search widens in 50-point steps up to a maximum 350-point gap, and Fame changes are stronger during your first 30 ranked battles before stabilizing.
- Only players with a valid active deck can be ranked, attack and be attacked. Without one, a player becomes unranked.
- You can attack the same opponent once per day (calendar day, Europe/Paris timezone).
- The rule is one-directional: if you attack a player today, they can still attack you the same day.
- Friendly battles do not affect Fame, quests, or history: they are only used to test your deck against a found or targeted opponent.
Boosters
- Standard: at least 1 fighter from each element (Earth, Air, Water), then 2 random elements.
- Fighters: at least 3 from each element, then 1 random element.
- Outside the Legendary slot: 90% level 1 and 10% level 2. A Legendary from the premium slot is always level 1.
- Each booster contains 5 Common cards, 3 Rare cards, 1 Epic card, and 1 premium slot that gives an Epic or a Legendary with a 20% chance.
- Fighters, Earth, Air and Water boosters also guarantee at least 2 Rare or better fighters.
- Boosters are stored unopened in your inventory. You open them with an animation, and the cards join your collection at that moment.
- Openings take your most recent cards into account to reduce obvious repetition from one booster to the next. Duplicate definitions are avoided whenever possible, but can be reused as a last resort so a booster can always be opened.
- Rare, Epic, and Legendary cards you have not discovered yet are weighted up to speed up collection progress.
- The premium slot also has bad-luck protection: after several openings without a new Epic or Legendary, weighting shifts more strongly toward a new card in that tier.
- Each standard booster has a 10% chance to add one cosmetic bonus card in eleventh position: 70% Full-Art and 30% Foil. These effects are visual only, never change statistics, and never appear in Sealed Arena.
Rarity composition per booster
Standard
- Common
- 5
- Rare
- 3
- Epic
- 1
- Legendary
- 20% premium slot
Guarantee : 5 Rare+ cards
Fighters
- Common
- 5
- Rare
- 3
- Epic
- 1
- Legendary
- 20% premium slot
Guarantee : 5 Rare+ cards · 2 Rare+ fighters
Accessories
- Common
- 5
- Rare
- 3
- Epic
- 1
- Legendary
- 20% premium slot
Guarantee : 5 Rare+ cards
| Booster | Common | Rare | Epic | Legendary | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 5 | 3 | 1 | 20% premium slot | 5 Rare+ cards |
| Fighters | 5 | 3 | 1 | 20% premium slot | 5 Rare+ cards · 2 Rare+ fighters |
| Accessories | 5 | 3 | 1 | 20% premium slot | 5 Rare+ cards |
Earth, Air and Water boosters keep the same rarity composition, with 5 fighters of the chosen element and 5 accessories. Accessories first favor ones that affect that element, then fall back to the normal accessory pool if none match.
Starter pack: at sign-up, choose a complete 10-fighter equipped deck, then receive 5 free standard boosters and 2,000 crystals.
Shop
| Offer | Price |
|---|---|
1 booster | 2,000 crystals |
5 boosters | 9,000 crystals |
12 boosters | 20,000 crystals |
30 boosters | 48,000 crystals |
2,200 crystals | $0.99 |
6,000 crystals | $2.49 |
12,500 crystals | $4.99 |
27,500 crystals | $9.99 |
60,000 crystals | $19.99 |
130,000 crystals | $39.99 |
Real-money purchases are processed securely and are only used to top up crystals. No cosmetics or non-card bonuses are sold. Shop equivalences are based on the best real yield reachable with the available booster bundles: for example, 60,000 crystals correspond to 36 boosters and 130,000 crystals to 79 boosters.
Player market
Player market
- The market lets you buy card bundles posted by other players with crystals.
- A listing is fixed: card, level, quantity, and price do not change, and the purchase is always for the full bundle.
- A player can have at most 10 active listings at the same time.
- A listed card is removed from all uses: it cannot be played in any deck or used for fusion while the listing stays active.
- Removing a listing deletes it permanently. The related cards then become available again across your whole collection.
- A listing becomes purchasable 10 minutes after publication and expires after 7 days. If it remains unsold, the affected cards or cosmetics automatically return to your collection.
- Filters, sorting, and the page are stored in the market URL: you can share a search or find it again with your browser’s back and forward buttons. Your last sort is also remembered.
- Cards from the starter deck can never be sold. Cards opened from the free starting boosters become sellable after 14 days. Depending on their origin, some rewards and boosters become sellable after a delay; a card created by fusion is sellable immediately.
- The market can be browsed as soon as an account is created, but buying, selling, and cancelling only unlock after the account is 7 days old.
- Provenance delays apply to cards and cosmetics. Cosmetics follow the same origin and resale-delay rules.
- To protect the game economy, Cartoria may temporarily limit purchases between two accounts when a transaction combines several abuse signals. A shared connection alone is never enough.
Market availability
- Starter deck
- Never sellable
- Daily reward
- After 7 days
- Free booster
- After 14 days
- Crystal booster or PvE reward
- After 7 days
- Direct purchase, Sealed Arena or fusion
- Sellable immediately
Minimum listing prices
| Asset | Minimum unit price | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Common card | 25 crystals | Level multiplier |
| Rare card | 100 crystals | Level multiplier |
| Epic card | 350 crystals | Level multiplier |
| Legendary card | 1,000 crystals | Level multiplier |
| Cosmetic | 500 crystals | No level |
The total minimum price is the unit price, multiplied by the card level when applicable, then by the bundle quantity.
Level multipliers: level 1 ×1 · level 2 ×1.5 · level 3 ×2.25 · level 4 ×3.5 · level 5 ×5.5.
Crystals
- Sources: daily quests, referrals and the monthly ranking.
- Battles don't earn crystals: they change your Fame.
Daily reward
On your first game entry of the day
- Triggered on your first entry of the day on an authenticated game page, with no forced re-login.
- After a long absence, only a single reward is given when you come back to the game.
Birthday reward
On your birthday
- Enter your birthday in your account settings.
- You can correct this date only once as long as no birthday reward has been granted yet.
- On the day, you receive 4 standard boosters. A notification and a premium popup announce it when you return to the game. Players inactive for more than 7 days also receive a reminder email.
Daily quests
Daily check-in
Enter the game once during the day
Open 1 booster
Open 1 booster
Fuse 1 card
Perform 1 fusion in the collection
Play 3 battles
Play 3 ranked, friendly or active PvE battles
Win 2 ranked battles
Win 2 ranked battles
Open a battle replay
Open a battle replay
Play 1 friendly battle
Start 1 friendly battle
Play 1 PvE battle
Use your daily PvE attempt
Edit 1 deck
Add, remove or move a card in a deck
Buy or sell 1 card
Create a listing or buy a card on the market
| Quest | Crystals |
|---|---|
Daily check-inEnter the game once during the day | 100 |
Open 1 boosterOpen 1 booster | 150 |
Fuse 1 cardPerform 1 fusion in the collection | 200 |
Play 3 battlesPlay 3 ranked, friendly or active PvE battles | 250 |
Win 2 ranked battlesWin 2 ranked battles | 400 |
Open a battle replayOpen a battle replay | 75 |
Play 1 friendly battleStart 1 friendly battle | 150 |
Play 1 PvE battleUse your daily PvE attempt | 250 |
Edit 1 deckAdd, remove or move a card in a deck | 125 |
Buy or sell 1 cardCreate a listing or buy a card on the market | 250 |
Each day, 6 quests are shown: 2 fixed and 4 rotating. Rotating quests change every 3 days. For the 7 days after choosing a Starter Pack, they become a guided path: edit a deck, play a friendly battle, open a replay, and start a ranked battle. Only quests actually shown in your current list can be completed and rewarded. The PvE quest only appears when a PvE event is active, and the Market quest only when your account can buy or sell. Play 3 battles counts ranked, friendly and active PvE battles, while Win 2 battles remains limited to ranked victories as the attacker. Open a battle replay counts PvP, PvE and tournament replays.
Monthly competitive PvP ranking
Rank 1 to 3
Rank 4 to 10
Rank 11 to 50
Rank 51 to 100
| Rank | Crystals |
|---|---|
Rank 1 to 3 | 10,000 |
Rank 4 to 10 | 7,000 |
Rank 11 to 50 | 4,000 |
Rank 51 to 100 | 2,000 |
The permanent ranking never resets. Eligibility requires an active competitive deck plus 12 ranked battles initiated across 4 distinct days during the closed month. Rewards then follow total Fame.
Monthly Sealed Arena ranking
Rank 1 to 3
Rank 4 to 10
Rank 11 to 50
Rank 51 to 100
| Rank | Crystals | Standard boosters |
|---|---|---|
Rank 1 to 3 | 5,000 | 2 |
Rank 4 to 10 | 4,000 | 1 |
Rank 11 to 50 | 3,000 | - |
Rank 51 to 100 | 1,500 | - |
The monthly result is frozen automatically at the start of each month. Eligibility requires completing at least 2 Sealed Arenas during the closed month. This reward can be received in addition to the competitive PvP reward.
Referrals
Rules
- You can have up to 10 referees.
- You can only have one referrer.
- Self-referral is not allowed.
Rewards
Sign-up with a valid code
Referee
2,000
Referrer
2,000
Referee's first ranked battle launched
Referee
2,000
Referrer
2,000
| Trigger | Referee | Referrer |
|---|---|---|
| Sign-up with a valid code | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| Referee's first ranked battle launched | 2,000 | 2,000 |
Friends
- Search for a player by their username.
- Send, accept or decline a friend request.
- Remove a friend at any time.
- Challenge a friend if your daily limit allows it.