Total Chaos

About Total Chaos

Total Chaos: Merciless + Eclipse + Eruption + 7-0, ruthless AI. Extreme tables add one of the three rule packs — Merciless, Eclipse or Eruption — or throw all of them at once.

The table

4 players: you and 3 computer rivals. Everyone starts with 7 cards.

Ruthless rivals read the table: they aim draw cards at whoever is closest to winning, freeze and flip to protect their lead, swap into small hands and fire a Riot Burst the moment it charges.

The deck

The table uses the 126-card Prism deck: numbers 0–9 in four energies (Flare ▲, Surge ●, Volt ◆, Void ■), two each of FLIP, FREEZE, +2, SHIELD and SWAP per energy, 6 PRISM wilds and 4 +4 wilds.

The Merciless pack adds +6, PURGE and FREEZE ALL in every energy, plus wild +10, REV +4 and ROULETTE cards.

The Eruption pack adds BLAST cards in every energy and wild ALL BLAST cards.

The Eclipse pack adds ECLIPSE cards that flip the whole table between the light side and the dark side.

How a turn works

On your turn, play one card that matches the active energy (colour) or the symbol of the top card. Wild cards play on anything and you choose the next energy.

Can't play? Draw one card and your turn passes.

Special rules at this table

• Stacking with cross-stacking: answer any +2 or +4 with another draw card — including a +4 on a +2 — and the whole pile moves on to the next player.
• SHIELD cards stay in front of you and block the next draw attack aimed at you, however big it is.
• The Riot Meter charges with every card you play; combos charge it faster. At 100% hit RIOT BURST to shatter up to 2 number cards of the active energy at once.
• Play a 7 and you swap your whole hand with any rival you choose.
• Play a 0 and every hand rotates one seat along the direction of play.
• Mercy rule: reach 25 cards in hand and you are knocked out of the round. The last player standing wins if nobody sheds first.
• On the dark side FREEZE becomes FREEZE ALL, +2 becomes +5, +4 becomes ROULETTE and SWAP becomes PURGE. Numbers keep their value.
• Instead of drawing one card, the pile erupts: 0 to 4 random cards (about 1.4 on average). BLAST forces the next player to erupt; ALL BLAST makes every rival erupt at once.

How to win

Be the first to shed every card. Your score is 100 for the win plus the points left in your rivals' hands, a speed bonus for quick wins, 25 per Riot Burst, a combo bonus and 50 extra for winning without drawing a single card.

Tips for Total Chaos

• Keep your hand small. With the mercy rule a single +10 on a big hand can knock you out — PURGE and FREEZE ALL are your escape hatches.
• Count what flips. Before you play ECLIPSE, check how your action cards change on the other side — a +2 becomes +5 on the dark side.
• Erupt when the pile is big. Eruptions average under two cards, so drawing is cheaper than it looks; save BLAST for a rival close to winning.
• A 7 is a comeback card: hold it until your hand is bigger than a rival's, then swap with whoever has the fewest cards.
• Charge the meter with combos. Several plays in a row fill it faster; burst when it shatters your highest-point number cards.
• Play a SHIELD early when your hand is large — it waits in front of you and eats the next +4 or +10.

Rule guides for this mode

• No Mercy rules explained: +6, +10, the mercy rule and more
• Attack-style rules: the random card launcher