How to Play

1 - Beginning a Game of Little Troubles:

1.1 Official Little Troubles Formats:

The first decision to make when starting a game of Little troubles is determining what format to play. The only thing that changes between formats is the number of total cards in a deck, the rarity of cards that can be in a deck, and if a player can “mulligan” their starting hand. There are 3 formats for little troubles: Daycare, Preschool, and Grade School.

1.1.1 - Daycare:

Players are only allowed to use Common rarity cards in the Daycare format. Decks can be 40-60 cards, and players receive 2 10-to-6 mulligans during their initial draw. This lets you curate a more tailored hand from a large portion of your total deck, ensuring games aren’t decided simply based on a bad opening hand. Players can expect Daycare games to be a bit slower and more casual. You will see more cards played and there will not be drastic momentum swings during the game. This is the "I just wanna sit and have fun" format.

1.1.2 - Preschool:

Players can only use Commons and Uncommon rarity cards in the Preschool format. Decks can be 40-50 cards, and players receive a single 10-to-6 mulligans during their initial draw. The addition of Uncommon rarity cards means you will see more powerful effects, and cards are much more likely to disrupt plays or reverse the tempo of the game. Preschool is your "I've got a strategy, but I wanna see if it works before I go all in"/"I don't find certain powerful Rare cards fun to play against, but I still want a pretty strategic game" format.

1.1.3 - Grade School:

Players can use any printed cards in the Grade School format. If it prints, it plays! Grade School decks are 40 cards exactly, and you receive one 10-to-6 mulligan. Games in this format tend to be fast paced with complex strategies. This is your "I know the cards front and back. I know how to get to 100 cookies faster than my opponent. I've got this." format. You can expect Grade School games to have plenty of interactions with several momentum shifts.

1.2 - Starting a Game/Match:

Every match of Little Troubles begins the same, regardless of format:

Players present their decks and verify the correct deck size according to format.
Players sufficiently randomize their decks, then pass their decks to an opponent. The opponent performs one additional course of randomization; this is not optional.
For game 1 in a match, players will use a random method to determine who will go first, such as a die-roll or coin flip. For games 2 and 3, the loser of the previous game chooses who will go first.
Players will draw 10 cards and then either;

Determine 6 cards to keep as their starting hand and shuffle 4 back into the deck.

If the format allows, a player may take a Mulligan. They will shuffle all 10 cards back into the deck, draw 10 new cards, and proceed back to (a).

Once all players have their starting hands, the decks will be reshuffled and randomized by the same process as above.

Once all players are ready to proceed, play will begin with player 1’s turn 1. Play will then proceed to player 2’s turn 1. During each player’s first turn, players will not have a Fight Phase and will not receive the free 1 card draw during their Resource Phase. Following turns are indicated as player turn 2, opponent turn 2, player turn 3, opponent turn 3, etc. There is no limit to the number of turns in a game of Little Troubles.

2 - Turn Phases:
Every turn of Little Troubles consists of 3 phases that occur in the following order:

The Build Phase
The Fight Phase
The Resource Phase

2.1 - The Build Phase:
A player’s turn will always begin at the start of the Build Phase. The Build Phase is when the turn player will be able to play any Character, Action, Field, Toy, Scene, and/or Goal cards. Many Character, Field, and Toy cards also have abilities that can be activated during the Build Phase when the card is on the Playground. The turn player is allowed to play both non-Quick and Quick cards/abilities during their Build Phase.

The non-turn player is also able to activate cards and abilities during an opponent’s Build Phase, but they can only play or activate “Quick” cards and abilities.

Quick Action cards have a star symbol with streaks in the upper left hand corner of the card ( or ), and Quick Action abilities are denoted by a Symbol before the ability text.

The general requirements for a player to activate cards and abilities are: being able to pay the associated Cookie cost, meeting the activation requirements (if any) for the card, and being able to resolve all public information that will be affected (ie, you cannot play a card to Restore a Character if no Regressed Characters are currently on the Playground). Sections 6.6 “Public and Private Information” and 6.7 “Illegal Activations/Failed to Find” give more information on these requirements.

Each player can play or activate up to four cards or abilities in total during each Build Phase.

Note that One-Time Text Adjustment abilities are NOT included in the total. Please see the below section 6.2 titled “One-Time Text Alteration (OTTA) Effects” which covers these types of abilities in more detail.

The turn player can choose to end their Build Phase at any point. At this time, the non-turn player is allowed to play a card or activate an ability if they have not already reached their limit of 4 cards/abilities played. If the non-turn player does elect to make an additional action, the turn player will have the option to continue their Build phase and resume playing cards or abilities, up to their limit of 4. See the section titled “General Turn Priority” below for a more in-depth explanation on the order in which players can play cards/abilities.

Once both players have played 4 cards/abilities in this phase, or both players have elected to not play an additional card or ability, the Build Phase ends.

2.2 - The Fight Phase:
The Fight Phase starts immediately after the Build Phase ends. The Fight Phase is broken into three steps: Pre-Fight, Fight, and Rewards.

Players can activate a total of 4 cards or abilities for the entirety of the three steps of the Fight Phase. The order for playing cards and abilities during this phase follows the same priority of the Build Phase and is outlined in the section “General Turn Priority” below.

One-Time Text Adjustment abilities are again NOT included in the total. Please see the below section 6.2 titled “One-Time Text Alteration (OTTA) Effects” for further information.

Any cards or abilities activated during previous phases that instruct players to skip the Fight Phase causes the turn to progress directly from the start of the Pre-Fight Step to the end of the Rewards Step. Players will not be allowed to activate any cards or abilities during this phase if the Fight Phase is skipped in this way.

2.2.1 - The Pre-Fight Step:

The Pre-Fight Step is similar to the Build Phase with one major difference; during this Step, players may only activate cards or abilities with the “Quick” designation. This means players will not be able to play Character, Field, Toy, Scene, or Goal cards, but they will be able to activate Quick abilities (indicated by a symbol) on any type of card that is already in play.

2.2.2 - The Fight Step:

At the start of the Fight Step, the turn player may choose one Character they control to Pick a Fight with another Character they do not control. If the turn player declines to choose 2 characters to Fight, the turn proceeds directly to the Resource Phase and no more cards/abilities can be activated during the Fight Phase by either player.

If the turn player Picks a Fight, the characters Picked are now Fighting. If a character has an ability like “when this character is Picked for a Fight”, that ability happens immediately when they are Picked before any other cards or abilities can be played. Players are allowed to play cards and abilities during the Fight Step when characters are Fighting, but like the Pre-Fight Step, they can only play cards or abilities with the “Quick” designation.

The only ways a Fight can be stopped once 2 characters are Fighting is if an effect is resolved that ends the current fight, or if at least 1 of the 2 characters Fighting leaves the Playground.
If a Character is Regressed/Restored while Fighting, the new Adult/Regressed Character will still be Fighting.

2.2.3 - The Rewards Step:
Once the Rewards Step starts, players can no longer play any cards or abilities. However, One-Time Text Adjustment abilities that trigger in the Rewards Step do still occur.

The Rewards Step begins with comparing the Confidence and Maturity of the Characters that are Fighting. Either player may ask for clarification of why a Character has its current Confidence or Maturity.

Below is a list of the potential outcomes for a fight. A Character’s Fight Rewards are shown on the bottom of each Character card and are represented by the Cookie Reward and Draw Reward symbols. These show the respective number of Cookies and card draws a player will receive when they Win a Fight against that Character.

Neither Character’s Confidence is greater than or equal to the opposing Character’s Maturity: This Fight is a Tie. Neither Character is Regressed/sent to Timeout and no Cookies or Draw Rewards are given as a result of the Fight.
Only one Character’s Confidence is greater than or equal to the other Character’s Maturity: The fight is a Win for the player whose Character meets this description. Regress/send to Timeout (whichever is applicable) the opposing Character and reward the winner with the Cookie/Draw Reward listed on the losing Character.
Both Characters’ Confidences are greater than or equal to the opposing Character’s Maturity: This is considered a Win and a Loss for both players. Regress/send to Timeout (whichever is applicable) both Characters and reward Cookies/Draws equal to the opposing character’s Fight Reward to each player.

Note that Fight Rewards/results (gaining Cookies, drawing cards, and Regressing or sending a Character to Timeout) are considered to occur simultaneously. Once all characters that lost the fight are determined and all Cookie Rewards have been verified, any OTTA abilities triggered off the Fight Win/Loss or its Rewards/results will resolve. Once these effects are applied, resolve the outcome of the fight – reward each player with any Fight Rewards and Regress or send to Timeout any Character that Lost the Fight.

Any instance where a Character is Regressed or sent to Timeout due to losing a fight is considered a Fight Loss. Any card that triggers “When a/this character loses a fight” triggers at this time as well.

Reminder! A player winning 10 Fights is one of the standard ways to win a game of Little Troubles. If a player reaches 10 fight wins after the outcome and distribution of Fight Rewards in the Rewards Step, the game is considered over and no further abilities trigger.

After all OTTA abilities and Fight Rewards have been resolved for the Rewards step, any OTTA abilities that trigger at the end of the Fight Phase will resolve. Once all these abilities have been resolved, the Fight Phase ends.

2.3 - The Resource Phase:
Like the Rewards Step, players are not able to play any cards or abilities during the Resource Phase. One-Time Text Adjustment abilities that trigger in the Resource Phase do still occur.

The amount of Resources a player gains during this phase is determined by the cards currently on their Playground. Most Character cards and some other card types will provide Resources each turn in the form of card draws and Cookie generation. These are shown by a Draw Resource and Cookie Resource that indicate the number of cards the turn player draws and Cookies the turn player gains, respectively, during their Resource Phase while the card is on their Playground. Other cards and abilities can also change the number of Resources a player gains, such as giving an extra card draw or doubling the number of Cookies gained from Character cards.

During the Resource Phase, the turn player will calculate the total number of cards to draw and Cookies to gain by adding/multiplying all Resources and applying all abilities/effects in play. The non-active player will confirm this total, then the active player will draw cards/gain Cookies equal to these totals.

Each player will get 1 extra card draw each Resource Phase after their first turn. This draw is not affected by card abilities (ie. Professional Model), and a player receives this 1 card draw even if their total cards to draw from their resources in play is less than 1.
Determining the total Draw and Cookie Resource values is done in the following order:

-All addition and subtraction

-Then all multiplication and division

-As an example, if your total cookies Resources and effects are +3,+2,-1,-2, and x2: your total cookies for that turn will be 4. Think of it as being reverse PEMDAS.

Any effects that resolve or abilities that trigger at the end of the turn will occur immediately after Resources have been gained. If multiple players have such effects/abilities to resolve, the turn player will resolve theirs first, then the other players will resolve their effects/abilities following the turn order. If a player has multiple such effects/abilities ro resolve, they can choose the order in which to resolve them. Once all effects and abilities are resolved, the Resource Phase and Active Player’s Turn ends.

At the end of the turn, the below mandatory events occur. During this time, no Cards/Abilities can be activated and no OTTA abilities are triggered:

Any card that applies a continuous effect for the turn resets. An example is “(Behind) the Couch”; the number of action cards played this turn resets to zero.
Any effect applied by an action card or ability that changes the confidence or Maturity of a character will revert, unless specifically stated on said card.
If the turn player has over 9 cards in their hand, they must discard cards until they have exactly 9 cards left in hand.

3 - Ending a Game of Little Troubles:

A game ends in 1 of 5 ways:
1) A player chooses to exit the game: when this occurs, the player still present is the winner.
2) A player is removed from a game by a Big: when this occurs, the player still present is the winner.
3) A player resolves a card or ability that includes an effect that wins them the game: the player has won the game and the game is over immediately. This is referred to as achieving an Alternate Win Condition.
4) A player scores 100 cookies total: That player wins the game.

5) A player achieves 10 total fight wins: That player wins the game.

6) For tournament play - time in the round has been called: the turn player finishes the remainder of their turn, then, if one of the other win-conditions has not been met, both players proceed to the Tie-Breaker rules below.

Alternate win conditions supersede winning by Cookies or Fights. This means that if a player achieves an Alternate Win Condition at the same time their opponent achieves 100 cookies or wins 10 fights, the first player that achieved the Alternate Win Condition would win. If both players simultaneously achieve an Alternate Win Condition, the game ends in a tie.

Once a player has met the requirements to achieve a win condition, no more cards or abilities can be played and no more OTTA abilities will trigger. The check for if a player has met the requirements to achieve a win condition occurs at the following times:

Upon resolution of all cards and abilities.
Immediately after fight rewards are given during the Rewards Step of the Fight Phase.
Immediately after a player gains resources during the resource step, before any “end of turn” abilities trigger.
At the end of each Phase.

3.1 - Tie-Breaker/Time Rules:

If Both players achieve a non-alternate win condition at the same time, the below tie-breaker will be used to determine the winner. If both players have the same tie-breaker value, the game will end in a tie.

Each player calculates their percentage of Cookies and Fights Won compared to the goal of 100 Cookies and 10 Fights Won.
- These percentages are capped at 100%.
The 2 percentages are added together. Whichever player has a higher total percentage wins the game.
Example: Player A had 112 Cookies and 6 Fight Wins; This is 100%+60=160%. Player B had 44 Cookies and 10 Fight Wins; this is 44%+100%=144%. In this scenario, Player A has a higher total percentage and wins the game.

4 - The Playground:

The standard Playground for a player in a game of Little Troubles consists of the following Zones:

10 Main Zones
1 Field Zone
1 Goal Zone
1 Timeout Zone
1 Deck Zone

4.1 - The Main Zones - These are the zones on the Playground where Character and Toy cards are played. Only 1 Character/Toy can occupy a single zone at a time. In order to play a card in a zone that is already occupied, the card in that zone must first be removed by an effect, or, in the case of Characters, sent to Timeout through a Fight Loss.

4.2 - The Field Zone - The Field Zone is where Field cards are played. If you already have a Field card in your Field Zone, you can play another Field card; if you do so, the Field already in play is sent to Timeout. Some Field cards have an effect that gives control to another player. In these cases, you will move the card from your Field Zone to an opponent’s Field Zone, removing the existing Field Card (if any) from their Field Zone.

4.3 - The Goal Zone - The Goal Zone is where Goal cards are played. If you already have a Goal card in your Goal Zone, you can play another Goal card; if you do so, the Goal already in play is sent to Timeout.

4.4 - The Timeout Zone - This is the spot on the Playground where most cards go after they are played or leave the Playground. For example, a Regressed Character that loses a Fight is sent to Timeout, so the card is moved from one of the Main Zones on the playground to the Playground Zone.

Generally, Cards do not have effects and cannot be played while in Timeout. However, there are some cards and abilities that allow you to play directly from Timeout, or interact with the cards in Timeout in other ways.

4.5 - The Deck Zone - This is the area on the Playground where a player puts their deck. Cards cannot be played onto the Deck Zone.

5 - Card Type and Descriptions:
There are several different types of cards in Little Troubles that provide different benefits and are used in different situations. All card types are broken into two sub-categories; a “regular” version and a “unique” version. An example of this is the “regular” Character type of cards vs the “unique” Main Character cards. “Regular” cards have a goldenrod card border and can be played at a maximum of 3 copies per deck. The “unique” version of these cards will always have a different color border, generally have proper nouns for card names, such as “Ryan, the Babysitter”, and can only be played at 1 copy per deck.

The “unique” sub-types of cards are always also considered to fall within the “regular” category. For example, a Main Character card is also considered to be a “Character” card, but not all Character cards are Main Characters.

When most cards are played, they stay in a Zone on a Playground until interacted with in some way. The exception to this is Action Cards, which normally go to Timeout after being played. Cards can generally only be played into certain Zones on the Playground depending on their Type. Characters and Toys can only be played in your Main Zones, Fields can only be played in your Field Zone, and Goals can only be played in your Goal Zone. Scenes can be placed into any Zone on any Playground (you or an opponent’s), and stay until removed by an effect or another Scene card is played in that Zone. Once a card has been played into a Zone on the Playground, it cannot be moved to another Zone except by card effect.

The table to the right shows each of the card types, including both its “regular” and ‘unique” version.

5.1 - Character Cards:

Character cards and their unique variant, Main Character cards, are the resource generators in Little Troubles. Every Character card will have certain values printed on the card: a Cookie cost to play, Confidence , Maturity , Fight Rewards, & , and Resource values for Cookies and card draws .

Most Character cards will also have a regressed backside with the same information (except for a Cookie cost), but not every card has this backside. For the backside of cards, their Cookie cost is always considered to be the same as the Cookie cost printed on the frontside of the card. Characters that do not have a backside cannot be Regressed, nor can they be chosen for cards/abilities that Regress a Character, and these Characters are sent to Timeout if they Lose a Fight. There are also some Character cards that have a Toy or other card type on the backside. If an Adult Character with a Toy on the backside is Regressed through effect or Fight Loss, the Character remains on your Playground, but becomes a Toy with its listed abilities/effects. Characters that are Regressed to a Toy or other card type cannot be Restored; only Regressed Characters can be restored to Adult Characters and chosen for cards/abilities that Restore a Character.

Many Characters have an innate passive ability called Bribe, which would be listed at the top of their effect text in the form of “Bribe: X”. If a player does not control a Character that has Bribe, they must pay the controller of the Character X Cookies in order to choose the Character for a card or ability (please see the section 6.8 - Targeting (Choosing) and Cards that Target for more information on “Choosing”).

Character cards can only be played during the turn player’s Build Phase. Once played, many Character cards also have abilities that can be activated, such as Archaeologist's ability to pay X and add a card from Timeout back to your hand with a cost equal to half of X. However, if these abilities are not Quick, denoted by a symbol, they can also only be activated during the turn player’s Build Phase. Quick Abilities can be activated whenever applicable during any player’s turn.

When a player puts a character card into play, they will put it into 1 of their 10 Main Zones on the Playground. The character will remain on the Playground until it is removed by another card or ability, or sent to timeout through a Fight Loss. A player may control a maximum of 5 Characters at any time. If a player is at this maximum, they cannot play any more Toy cards until they are below the maximum, but effects can still resolve that would put them over the maximum number. Cards that are both the Character and Toy type count towards the 5 card maximum for both Toys and Characters.

There are 2 types of Character Cards: Regular and Main.

Regular Character cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 3 per card name. Regular Character cards have a goldenrod border with a crayon row icon in the top left corner of the card.
Main Character cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 1 per card name. Main Character cards have a blue border with a book and pencil icon in the top left corner of the card. Main Character cards typically have proper names, such as “Ryan, the Babysitter”, and they are generally more powerful than regular Characters with better abilities and/or higher Maturity/Confidence/other stats.

5.2 - Action Cards:

Action cards and their unique variant, Decisive Action cards, are cards that perform a one-time effect that change the board or game state. All Action cards will have a Cookie cost in the upper right corner of the card. Depending on the type of effect applied, Action Card effects are either permanent or reversed at the end of the turn.

Effects that revert at end of turn: Any effect that changes the Confidence, Maturity, Fight Rewards, or Resource Gains of any character(s), unless specifically stated otherwise on the card.
Example effects that are permanent: Any effect that increases/decreases a player’s total Cookies, adds a card to hand, returns a card to the deck, sends a card to timeout, and/or regresses/restores a character, unless specifically stated otherwise on the card.

When a player puts an Action Card into play, it is played directly from the hand and does not go into any Zone on the Playground. The card is sent to Timeout once all effects are resolved.

Non-Quick Action and Decisive Actions Cards can only be played during the turn player’s Build Phase. Quick Action and Decisive Quick Action Cards can be played by either player during any phase in which “Quick” cards/abilities can be used.

There are 4 types of Action Cards: Regular, Quick, Decisive, and Decisive Quick.

Regular Action cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 3 per card name.

Regular Action cards have a goldenrod border with a star icon in the top left corner.

Quick Action cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 3 per card name.

Quick Action cards have a goldenrod border with a shooting star icon in the top left corner.

Decisive Action cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 1 per card name. Decisive Action cards have a red border with a (magic wand) icon in the top left corner, and generally have more powerful effects than their regular counterparts
Quick Decisive Action cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 1 per card name. Quick Decisive Action cards have a red border with a magic wand with trailing sparkles icon in the top left corner, and similarly will usually have more powerful effects than their regular counterparts.

5.3 - Field Cards:

Field cards and their unique variants, Iconic (Global) Field cards, are continuous modifiers to the current state of play. Their effects can range from Cookie cost modifications, to changing the rules of Fights, to restricting Regression/Restoration. All Field cards will have a Cookie cost listed in the upper right corner of the card.

When a player activates a Field card, the card is placed in that player’s Field Zone on the Playground. The card stays face-up and active in the Field Zone until one of 3 events occurs.

A card or ability removes the card from play. This includes a lot of Field’s own abilities, such as “The Diaper Aisle” being sent to the discard pile once it gains 3 counters.
The player that controls a Field activates another Field card. The newly activated card will be placed in the Field Zone and the existing Field will be sent to Timeout.
If it is a Global Field: an effect of the Global Field in play gives control of the card to your opponent, who will place it face-up in their Field Zone and send the existing Field in that Zone (if any) to Timeout.

Field cards can only be played during the turn player’s Build Phase. Once played, many Field cards also have abilities that can be activated, such as Diaper Aisle’s ability to Regress a Character and search your deck for a card. However, if these abilities are not Quick, denoted by a symbol, they can also only be activated during the turn player’s Build Phase. Quick Abilities can be activated whenever applicable during any player’s turn.

There are 3 types of Field Cards: Regular, Global, Iconic, and Iconic Global.

Regular Field Cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 3 per card name. Regular Field Cards have a goldenrod border with a road playmat icon in the top left corner.
Iconic Field Cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 1 per card name. Iconic Field Cards have a green border with a fountain icon in the top left corner. These cards will often have possessive qualities in their names, such as “The Genie’s Scoreboard”, or be locations of known regular regression media tropes, such as “Haunted Daycare”, and will have more powerful effects than their normal counterparts.
Iconic Global Field Cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 1 per card name. Iconic Global Field cards have a green border with a globe icon in the top left corner. Iconic Global Field cards can either switch control between the players, or have abilities that can be activated by both players. “The Fountain” is the only Iconic Global Field Card in Little Troubles.

5.4 - Scene Cards:

Scene cards and their unique variant, Memorable Scene cards, are similar to Fields as they apply continuous effects that modify the effects, stats, or conditions of cards currently on the Playground. Unlike Fields, however, Scene cards are played on a single Main Zone of the Playground and usually only apply their effect to that Zone. Every Scene Card has a Cookie cost listed in the upper right corner of the card.

When a player activates a Scene, the player chooses one of the Zones on any Playground (theirs or an opponent’s) to place the Scene in. The Scene will remain on the Playground and apply its effect to any card (usually a Character) on the Scene until one of the below two events occurs:

A card or ability removes the card from the Playground. This includes abilities on the Scene cards themselves.
A player chooses to activate a different Scene in the same zone as an existing Scene. The newly activated Scene is placed in the chosen Playground zone, and the existing Scene is sent to Timeout.

Scene cards can only be played during the active player’s Build Phase. Once played, some Scene cards also have abilities that can be activated, such as “Sudden Class Change” having an ability to roll a die and possibly Regress/Restore the Character on the Scene depending upon the result. However, if these abilities are not Quick, denoted by a symbol, they can also only be activated during the turn player’s Build Phase. Quick Abilities can be activated whenever applicable during any player’s turn.

There are 2 types of Scene Cards: Regular and Memorable.

Regular Scene cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 3 per card name. Regular Scene Cards have a goldenrod border with a Film icon in the top left corner.
Memorable Scene cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 1 per card name and have a dark orange border with a film reel icon in the top left corner. Memorable Scene cards usually have stronger effects than their regular counterparts.

5.5 - Toy Cards:

Toy cards and their unique variant, Shiny Toy cards, are a bit of a combination of other card types. They can apply continuous effects to certain Characters on the Playground like Field and Scene Cards, or be used as a one-time ability similar to an Action card. Every Toy Card has a Cookie cost shown in the upper right corner of the card, and some also have Cookie/Draw Resource values like Character cards listed near the bottom. Toy Cards interact with other cards in play generally by one of two methods:

The first is through Grabbing. A toy with the “Grab” ability can be attached to a single character after an associated cost has been paid. Once the Character is Grabbed, the Toy card will apply continuous effects to the character until either card leaves the Playground.
- If the Character that a Toy has Grabbed is Restored or Regressed, the Toy will continue to Grab the Character so long as it can still Grab said character (ie, the card does not have a restriction to only be attached to Adult characters). If it cannot continue to Grab the character, both cards will remain on the Playground, but the Toy will “Drop off” and the Character will no longer gain the effects.
- If a Character that is Grabbing a Toy leaves the Playground by any means, the Toy Card “Drops off” and remains in play.
- A Character Can only Grab one Toy at a time. If a Character tries to Grab a Toy while Grabbing another Toy, they will Drop the current toy and Grab the new Toy.
- Toy cards that “Drop off” and stop Grabbing a character for any reason, but remain in play, can be reactivated and Grabbed by another Character.
The second way is through a one-time activated ability that grants an additional effect. Consider this second type an “Action Card in wait”. Once this one-time ability is used and all effects are resolved, the Toy Card is usually sent to Timeout.
Some Toy Cards also provide passive effects while on the Playground, even when they are not being Grabbed by a Character. A relatively common example of this is a Toy providing Resources during a player’s Resource Phase, similar to a Character. Cards that generate resources will have a box on the bottom of the card with Cookie/draw Resources listed next to their respective symbols ( and ).

When a player puts a Toy Card into play, they will put it into 1 of their 10 Main Zones on the Playground. The Toy will remain on the Playground until it is removed by another card or ability (including its own). A player may control a maximum of 5 Toy Cards at any time. If a player is at this maximum, they cannot play any more Toy cards until they are below the maximum, but effects can still resolve that would put them over the maximum number. Cards that are both the Character and Toy type count towards the 5 card maximum for both Toys and Characters.

Toy Cards can only be played during the turn player’s Build Phase. Once played, many Toy cards also have abilities that can be activated, such as the “Grab” ability described above. However, if these abilities are not Quick, denoted by a symbol, they can also only be activated during the turn player’s Build Phase. Quick Abilities can be activated whenever applicable during any player’s turn.

There are two types of Toy Cards: Regular and Shiny.

Regular Toy Cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 3 per card name. Toy Cards have a goldenrod border with a teddy bear icon in the top left corner.
Shiny Toy Cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 1 per card name. Shiny Toy Cards have a purple border with puzzle cube icon in the top left corner. Shiny Toys typically have a higher power level and complexity of play compared to their regular counterparts.

5.6 - Goal Cards:

Goal cards and their unique variants, Great Goal cards, are a type of card that gives a Reward when all the listed Tasks are completed. Unless otherwise noted, each Task only needs to be completed once in order to complete the Goal, and they do NOT reset at the end of the turn. All Goal cards will have a Cookie cost listed in the upper right corner of the card, a list of Tasks, and a Reward at the bottom for completing all of the Tasks.

When a player activates a Goal card, the card is placed in that player’s Goal Zone on the Playground. The card stays face-up and active in the Field Zone until one of 3 events occurs.

A card or ability removes the card from play.
The player that controls a Goal activates another Goal card. The newly activated card will be placed in the Goal Zone and the existing Goal will be sent to Timeout.
Once a player completes all of the Tasks on a Goal and receives the Reward(s), the Goal is sent to Timeout.

There are 2 types of Goal Cards: Regular, and Great

Regular Goal Cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 3 per card name. Regular Goal Cards have a goldenrod border with a target icon in the top left corner.
Great Goal Cards can be added to decks in a quantity of 1 per card name. GreatGoal Cards have a brown border with a treasure map icon in the top left corner. Great Goals usually have Tasks that are harder to complete, but the Rewards are also much more powerful to compensate.

6 - Extended Mechanics and Gameplay Clarifications:

6.1 - Playing a Card/Ability:

All cards and abilities in Little Troubles are played at the same “speed” and cannot be “interrupted”. This means that once a card or ability is played, no other cards or abilities can be played until the effect fully resolves (though OTTA abilities can activate - See the below section One-Time Text Alteration (OTTA) Abilities). Some cards may be played during different phases of the turn if they have a “Quick” designation (either by being a “Quick Action” card, or by having a symbol before the ability). Remember though, the “Quick” designation does not alter the “speed” at which the card is played.

All cards and abilities are played following the below process. Any card or ability played must resolve in full before another card or ability can be played.

The player indicates what card or ability they wish to activate, revealing the card if in hand.
Players verify the Cookies that need to be spent (if any) to activate the card or ability by looking at the Cookie cost and then adding/subtracting any cost modifiers in play.
- If playing a card, the Cookie cost is the value on the top right corner of the card. This is generally a number, but can also be “X”.
- If playing an ability, the Cookie cost will be listed in front of a colon before the effect text.
The player that activated the card/ability then removes this verified amount of Cookies from their total Cookie count.
Some cards and abilities have other “costs”, like sending a Character your control to Timeout, that must also be paid in order to activate. These necessary costs are paid now before the effect is resolved, and is considered to happen simultaneously to the cookies being paid.
- Any other activation cost (like sending a Character to Timeout) will be listed in front of a colon before the effect text on the card/ability.
Players determine if any cards in play have abilities that modify the activated card’s text (See the below section titled “One-Time Text Alteration (OTTA) Abilities”). If so, modify the card’s text, then resolve the effect in full. If no cards in play affect the text, the card is resolved in full as it reads.
Once all effects are resolved, priority to activate the next card/ability passes to the next player following the “General Turn Priority" (section 6.3).

Most card types stay on the Playground after they are played. The exception is Action cards, which almost always go to Timeout after their effects are resolved. Abilities can only be played on cards that you currently control on the Playground. Most cards stay on the playground after their abilities resolve, but some abilities do send the card to Timeout as part of the effect.

6.2 - One-Time Text Alteration (OTTA) Abilities:

Some cards have abilities while on the Playground that activate when certain conditions are met. For example, the card “Lifeguard” has the ability “when a Character you control is Regressed, Regress this Character and restore that Character.” These types of abilities are called “One-Time Text Alteration abilities” or “OTTA abilities”, and they change the effects of other cards and abilities being played. The conditions that must be met in order to activate an OTTA abilty are known as the ability’s “trigger”. OTTA abilities are considered to be a part of resolving the effects of an already activated card/ability, and thus do not count towards a player’s 4 total activations per Turn/Phase.

One-Time Text Alteration abilities can be either “Optional” or “Mandatory”. Optional OTTA abilities will always include a volitional phrase like “you can” or “you may” after the trigger. In order to try and activate an Optional OTTA ability, a player must be able to resolve all public information in the effect (see the section “Illegal Activations/Failed to Find” for further explanation). Mandatory abilities have no such volitional phrase, and Players MUST try to resolve the effects to the best of their abilities.

If a card on the Playground has an OTTA ability that triggers when another card or ability is played, that card’s effects are incorporated into the text of the played card/ability when resolving its effect. For example, you control Sunset Surfer and Lifeguard, which has the OTTA effect “when a Character you control is Regressed, Regress this Character and restore that Character.” If your opponent plays an Action card with the effect “Choose a Character and Regress that Character” choosing your Sunset Surfer, the OTTA ability of Lifeguard would activate, and the Action card effect resolves as “Regress the chosen Character (Sunset Surfer), then Regress Lifeguard, then Restore the Regressed Character (Sunset Surfer).”

As the name suggests, these effects only occur one time during the resolution of a card. “Infinite loops” cannot be created from multiple OTTA being triggered by the same event. Each OTTA effect will happen once, changing the effect resolution text, before the effect is then resolved in full.

If Multiple OTTA abilities are triggered at the same time, the order in which their effects are applied starts with the turn player choosing the order to apply their triggered OTTA abilities, followed by the next turn player choosing the order to apply their triggered OTTA abilities, and so on until all players have added their effects to the original card/ability text. After, the card/ability is resolved in full with the text changes applied from every player’s OTTA abilities.

When each player is choosing the order to apply their OTTA abilities, it does not matter if an OTTA ability is mandatory or volitional; a player can choose to apply either in whatever order they choose if both mandatory and volitional OTTA abilities are triggered at the same time.

6.3 - General Turn Priority:

The player that is allowed to play the next card or ability is considered to have “Priority”. Priority passes back and forth between players after each card/ability is played. The general outline for how priority passes during a Phase in which cards/abilities can be played is outlined below.

Phase Begins / Open Game State
Turn Player is allowed to play one card or ability, up to their allowed maximum of 4.
Non-turn Player is allowed to play one card or ability, up to their allowed maximum of 4.
The current Phase ends

6.4 - Printed Cookie Cost/Effects that Deal with Cookie Cost:

For effects that refer to a card’s Cookie cost, players will ALWAYS use a card’s PRINTED Cookie cost. This means that these effects do NOT account for any modifiers in play that make a player pay more or less than a card’s printed Cookie cost. For example, if a card with a printed cost of 6 was played last, any card with a printed Cookie cost of 7 or more would be considered playing cards in ascending cost, regardless of how much the player ends up paying to play the card.

For almost all cards, the Printed Cookie Cost is the number that is shown in the top right corner of the card next to the cookie symbol, like . For the backside of cards, their Cookie cost is always considered to be the same as the Cookie cost printed on the frontside of the card. This number is considered that card’s Printed Cookie Cost at all times – while in Hand, in Timeout, on the Playground, and while being played. For the example provided above, the Printed Cookie Cost will always be considered 9.

Cards that do not have a numerical value and instead have a value of “X” work a bit differently. These cards are only considered to have a Printed Cookie Cost when being played, and are considered to not have a Printed cookie cost at any other time (this is distinct from being equal to 0).

Cards in play that have continuous effects to compare the cost of cards played (ie. Playing cards in ascending/descending order) will always compare newly played cards to the Printed Cookie Cost of the last card played that had a Printed Cookie Cost while not being played, i.e. any card with a numerical value as its Printed Cookie Cost.

This means playing a card that costs X will not change the value “stored” in these continuous effects that compare Cookie Costs, but the value chosen for “X” must meet any restrictions imposed by these effects.

6.5 - Cards that Cost X:

Some Cards have a cookie cost of “X” instead of a number. For these cards, the player chooses a value for X, and then the card uses this value in the resolution of its effects. Values of X must be chosen so resolution of the card effect produces a whole value greater than 0. For example, if a card says “X: draw X/3 cards”, you must choose multiples of 3 for the value of X.

Players declare the value they are choosing for X when they first activate the card by revealing it in their hand/targeting it in Timeout.
Cards with a cost of X are still affected by Cookie cost modifiers in play. The modifiers will change the cost once a player has chosen the value for X upon activation.

While not in play, cards with a cost of “X” are not considered to have a Printed Cost. They are only considered to have a cost on activation and during resolution of effects resulting from said activation.

This means they are unable to be chosen by cards like Cookie Thief that allows you to play a card costing a certain amount or less, as these cards would not have a cost at the time Cookie Thief’s ability is played.
Further implications of this are best explained using the Field “Grade School”. Grade school reads “Players may only play Action cards in ascending order”. If the last card played during the turn was a card with a printed value of 3 in hand (for example, “Bike Helmet”) then the following would be true concerning cards costing X.
- A player must choose at least 4 for the value of X if they wish to play a card costing X as their next action.
- If a player does play a card with a cost of X for their next action, Grade School will not refer to this new value of X when looking to see if the next card is played in ascending cost. The next card played will still only have to have a printed cost higher than 3.

6.6 - Public and Private Information:

Information in Little Troubles refers to a lot of things – cards in hand, the Maturity of a Character in play, if a specific card is in your deck, a player’s Cookie Total, etc. Information can be broken into 2 categories: public and private information.

Public information consists of:

A player’s Cookie Total.
The number of total cards in a player’s hand.
The number of total cards remaining in a player’s deck.
The number of abilities and cards a player has activated this phase as well as what cards/abilities have already been played this turn.
The type and number of counters on any card in play.
Any information (Cookie cost, Maturity, text, etc.) on cards currently on the Playground or in Timeout.
- For cards with information on both sides (generally Character cards), both sides of the card are considered public information UNLESS the card has a (chain link) symbol in the top left corner – The reverse side of these cards are considered Private information while the card is on the Playground and in Timeout.
Any information on cards revealed in hand at any point during the current turn (including cards added from the deck to the hand).
Any information on cards sent from a place that is public information to one that is private information during the current turn (ie, being shuffled from Timeout back into the deck).
Any continuous effects that are currently active.
The current Turn/Phase.

Any information that does not fall into one of the above categories is considered private Information. Below are a few of the main examples of private information:

The specific cards you have in hand, including cards you have drawn.
The specific cards you have in deck (so long as they were not shuffled back into the deck this turn from a place considered public Information).
The reverse side of any card in hand/in play with a chain (chain link) symbol in the top left corner.
Any information on cards in your side deck.

It is the job of both players to keep track of public information throughout the game. If one player has a question regarding public information, the other player MUST answer to the best of their abilities. That said, neither player should abuse this ability to ask about public information for malicious intent (like stalling the game), and doing so may be considered a conduct violation.

6.7 - Illegal Activations/Failed to Find:

A player can activate a card/ability only if they are able to fully resolve all public information of that card/ability at the time of activation after they have paid all activation costs. If a player is not able to fully resolve these effects, the activation of the card or ability would be considered illegal, and game rewinds to before the card or ability was played.

This is only checked once at time of activation after all activation costs have been paid, so if an OTTA ability on the Playground would alter the board state before resolution of the activated card making it impossible to fully resolve, the card can still be played.

A good example of how this works is the card “Life Imitating Art”, which has the effect “Look at your opponent’s hand, discard a non-character card from it.” For a player to activate this card, the opponent must have at least 1 card in hand to discard as the number of cards in a player’s hand is public information. If the player activates the card, but is unable to discard a card as there are no non-Character cards in their opponent’s hand, this is not an illegal activation as the specific cards in hand are private information.

Cards can be activated even if all effects that deal with private information cannot be resolved. A simple example of this is being able to play “Field Trip”, even if you do not have any Field cards remaining in your deck; the specific cards in your deck are private information. This is also commonly referred to as “Failed to Find”.

6.8 - Targeting (Choosing) and Cards that Target:

Card effects are considered to Target (Choose) if a player must specify a particular card(s) as a part of the effect. Many effects on cards do require you to choose another card, and therefore target; the only effects that do not are those that affect all cards of a certain type, or cards that meet certain criteria.

An example card to explain Choosing/Targeting is “Didn’t Go As Planned”. This card’s text reads “Regress ALL characters you control, then restore a character you control that wasn’t regressed this way”. The first effect of this card does not choose/target, as all character cards the player controls are regressed. The effect to restore a character does choose/target, as the player must specify one character to Restore.

6.9 - Drawing Cards:

Drawing a card is taking the top card of your deck and adding it to your hand. When you draw a card, you do not have to reveal the card to your opponent; it is private information.

A player is unable to “deck out” in Little Troubles. If a player is to draw cards, but they do not have sufficient cards remaining in their deck, they will draw as many cards as possible from their deck, shuffle all cards in their Timeout to make a new deck, then draw the remaining cards from this new deck.

6.10 - Searching the Deck:

Many cards and abilities have effects to search the deck for a certain type of card, and then perform an additional effect like add that card to your hand or put it onto the Playground. If you search your deck and add a card to hand, you must reveal said card only if the effect was to search for a card that met certain criteria (ie, search and add a Character Card). If an effect only says to add “a card” to a player’s hand, like in the effect of “Diaper Aisle”, they do not have to reveal the card. After searching your deck for any reason, the deck must be shuffled.

6.11 - Side Decks:

For best 2-out-of-3 matches in Little Troubles, players are allowed to have up to 10 cards in a Side Deck. The restrictions on cards in the Side Deck are that they must be format legal, you must not have any copies of that card name in your Main Deck, and you can only have 1 card of each name in your Side Deck.

In between games of a match, players are allowed to swap out an equal number of cards from their deck for cards from their Side Deck. This gives players a great opportunity to switch in powerful cards that counter specific strategies, or add in cards that are better if going first/second.

6.12 - Rule of One:

Unless a card’s printed value is 0, no effect in the game can create a value of 0. If the resolution of effects would create a final numerical result of 0, that value is rounded to 1 with negative modifiers to record deviations from this actual value. For example, if a character has a confidence of 2, and you give that character -4 confidence until the end of the turn, the new value is 1(-2). Further modification of confidence will observe the -2, while the resolution of a fight will still use the value of 1.

6.13 - Rule of Fun:

As important as the Rule of One: the Rule of Fun. Make sure that you engage with the game, the physical play area, and your opponent in ways that foster a positive experience. If at any point during a match you feel like elements of the game are preventing you from having fun, whether they be external or internal, express this and take time to catch your breath. It's always better to delay a game by a minute or two than to ruin the whole experience. Always remember that, at the end of the day, Little Troubles is about having fun.

7 - Player Conduct and Rules Violations:

7.1 - Expected player conduct:
Players are expected to maintain the state of a game together and work with one-another to resolve any game discrepancies. This includes mechanical, environmental, and social maintenance.

7.1.1 - Mechanical: If players in the middle of a game realize that a card effect was missed or applied incorrectly, they should pause the game and see if the error can be resolved. If less than a full turn cycle has passed, and the fix would require only a simple correction to score, cards in hand/timeout, and/or board-state to resolve, players should do so and continue with the game. If too much time has passed or a more complicated solution is required, call a Big. As players, you are expected to do as much as you can to maintain a correct game, and Little Troubles encourages you to self-actualize in that pursuit of maintenance, but don’t be afraid to call over some help if anything seems off or weird!

7.1.2 - Environmental: Keep your space clean and free of distractions when playing a game. Open containers of food, strong fragrances, etc, should not be near your play space unless all players agree an item is OK. If any player says no to any potential environmental influence, their wishes should be respected.

7.1.3 - Social: Above all else, players are expected to maintain a positive play environment regardless of the level of play and headspace they are engaging in. There is no exception to this rule. When facing an opponent, you are expected to respect that person in full. There is zero tolerance for discrimination within the Little Troubles play space whether it be based on play experience, personal identity, or anything else. If at any point you feel like an opponent is disregarding their social responsibilities within the game or is being discriminatory, call a Big.

7.3 - Cheating and Conduct Violations:

Cheating in Little Troubles is considered manipulating the game state, environment, or rules with malicious intent to gain advantage. Cheating ranges from obvious things like picking up a card in your side deck and adding it to your hand, to less noticeable things like continuously asking an opponent about public information to stall for a win in time. If a player believes another to be cheating, they should call over a Big immediately. It is ultimately up to a Big to determine if a player has cheated or violated the rules.

If you are caught cheating in a match, in every remaining game you play in the event: your cookie total will be set to 1, the base confidence and maturity of your characters will be set to 1, their resource production will be set to 0, and your characters' fight rewards will be set to 100. If it is your turn currently, your turn ends immediately. Cheating is not tolerated in any way shape or form during any games of Little Troubles.

8 - Glossary of Terms and Keywords:

Example: Lorum Ipsum generalis superstar

Item added to your cart

How to Play

Country/region

Hold on there, kiddo!

Country/region

How to Play