Core Rules

How to Play

Everything you need to know to build your band, hit the road, and survive the tour.

Objective

Each game consists of 5 rounds. Each round is a show. Finish the 5-show tour with the highest total earnings (merch sales + venue payouts) to win.

Setup

Each player assembles a band of 1–6 Band Member cards, each with a Role, Performance score, Charisma score, and Skill (Special Traits).
Each band adds up the total Performance score and Charisma score of all band members separately, and writes both values down on their Band Summary Sheet.
Each player may choose a band name and pick a core genre from the following: Industrial, Metal, Electronic, Rock, Punk, Noise, Rap, Pop. That is your band's genre for the tour.
Each player prepares a 60-card Show Deck (Edge, Gear, Luck, Bummer, Promoter, and Stress cards) with exactly 10 of each card type.
Each player prepares a 10-card Venue Deck and a 10-card Crowd Deck.
Your band begins the tour with $100 in their band fund and a Morale score equal to the number of band members.

Designer Note: The starter set has been carefully balanced so that this game can be played straight from the box using the provided suggested Show, Venue, and Crowd decks without having to build a deck.

Round Structure

Flip a coin to determine player turn order.
The winner of the coin flip flips a Crowd card from their Crowd Deck and a Venue card from their Venue Deck. The effects of both cards affect all bands for that show. Players alternate which band flips cards each show.
The Show: Each band plays the top 3 cards of their Show Deck and resolves the effects in turn order. Bands with fewer than 6 members may play 1 additional card per member under 6 each show, and may choose to ignore the effects of one of those additional cards.
Performance: Add up the total Performance score of each band member, applying effects from Show cards, Venue card, and Crowd card modifiers.
Charisma: Add up the total Charisma score of each band member, applying effects from Show cards, Venue card, and Crowd card modifiers.
Merch Sales: Merch sales equal the sum of total Performance and total Charisma. Apply any card effects that modify merch sales. Add the total to your Band Fund.
Venue Payout: Each band collects the payout listed on the active Venue card, then applies any card effects that modify payout.
Fatigue Check: If your band's total earnings (merch + payout) for the show are less than $100, flip a coin for each Band Member. Each member that gets tails gains 1 point of Fatigue, reducing their Performance by 1.
Begin the next show.

End of the Tour

At the end of 5 shows, each band calculates their Hype Bonus to determine funds gained from social media hype and online merch sales during the tour.

Hype Bonus = Total Morale × Total Charisma. Add the result to your Band Fund.

The band with the most money in their Band Fund wins the game.

Situational Loss Conditions

If you would lose money when your Band Fund is at $0, you acquire debt. If you reach -$1,000 debt, you are removed from the tour.

If at the end of a show you have no remaining band members, you are removed from the tour.

If your total Morale score drops below 0, you are removed from the tour.

Card Types

Band Members

Your core performers — determine your band's perks, synergy, and raw skill.

Venues

Set the rules and risks for each show. Affects all bands.

Crowds

Influence merch, genre synergy, and advantages and disadvantages.

Gear

Improves Performance. Vulnerable to damage, loss, or theft. Attached to band members.

Edge

Band traits — good promoting, social following, tight live set, and more.

Luck

Unpredictable benefits like a viral moment or surprise sponsorship.

Bummer

Realistic unfortunate events that happen at shows.

Promoters

Modify payout, show structure, crowd, venue, and crowd cards.

Stress

Personal issues bands or individual members deal with on tour, unrelated to the shows.

Designer Notes

Card resolution order: In the event of confusion, card effects resolve in this order:

1 · Band Members 2 · Gear 3 · Edge 4 · Luck 5 · Stress 6 · Venue 7 · Crowd 8 · Promoter 9 · Bummer

The genre keywords are meant to synergize with a good deal of other cards in the game. Being strategic and diversifying your genre synergies is a great strategy.

Optional Rules — World Tour Mode

If players wish to continue their tour, after every 5 shows they may enter World Tour Mode.

Add +1 Performance and +1 Charisma to each band member and +1 Morale to each band.

Each band may swap out one band member for another from their collection.

Shuffle discarded cards back into each band's Show Deck. Each player may then spend $100 to reveal cards from the top of their Show Deck until they reveal one of the following: a Gear card (attach to a member), an Edge or Luck card (takes effect next show), or a Bummer or Stress card (goes to discard). The band with the most money may spend an additional $200 to do this a second time.

Each band may choose 3 Venue cards and shuffle them back into their Venue Deck, and 3 Crowd cards and shuffle them back into their Crowd Deck.