What can I look at?

Handy Brawl • There is no hidden information in Handy Brawl. You may look at any card whenever
Game by Igor Zuber
Graphics design by Weronika Kałuża and Aleksander Jagodziński
Welcome adventurer…
…so you came here for some monster slaying? Looking for money and glory, ha? Do you have
what it takes not to get killed by the most vile creatures plaguing our kingdom? If you say so…
Look at one of those wanted posters and pick your target. Take off the hood by the way, so I can
see your face, probably for the last time…
Welcome to Handy Brawl, a dynamic, fully-deterministic and clever hand management game in
which you, a hero, will face one of several deadly monsters. In a moment you will choose one of
the available HEROES to control and one nasty MONSTERS to fight against. The game will be
played exclusively in your hands and will take you about 10-20 minutes to finish. Don’t worry if
you don’t have that much time, you can save it at any point simply by putting all the cards as
they are in your pocket or a wallet! Don’t get discouraged by the number of pages. This rulebook
describes many expansions. In order to play the game you need to read only 10 pages full of
examples!
Components
Game features 36 character cards divided into different character sets, each having its own
unique color and symbol, and 8 reference cards. HERO sets consist of 5 cards each. MONSTER
sets consist of 4 cards each.
Setup
Ready? Great! Just follow my instructions and you will be fine:
you want. Just remember not to change their rotation, side nor position when doing
so!
Cards
• There are 2 different card types – HERO and MONSTER cards.
• You will control HERO cards. They are your way of winning the game
• MONSTER cards on the other hand will try to kill you. You can’t control them, but their
actions are programmed and predictable so you’ll know what’s coming and you’ll be
able to prepare for it.
• Each card in the game is double sided, with each side having 2 separate parts (top and
bottom), i.e. every single card has 4 different Sections.
• The top section of currently visible side of the card is referred to as the Active Section.
• Each section shows some Icons which represent Actions a HERO or a MONSTER will
perform during the game.
Goal of the game
Goal of the game is to defeat all the MONSTER cards by rotating them so that they are
all exhausted – (this icon will look differently depending on the character set).
When all the MONSTER cards are out of health, you win the game – see Checking
endgame conditions.

• Pick one HERO and one MONSTER card set (each card set has a different border color
and set icon in top left corner). If this is your first Handy Brawl, you better choose the
Warrior (5 blue cards) as your HERO and Ogre (4 cards) as your enemy,
otherwise things may get nasty…
• Found all the cards? Mash them into a single deck, but make sure all of them are rotated
so that a circle is visible in the top right corner. Now give them a nice shuffle! If you
want to make things easier, make sure that a HERO card is on top.
• Take all the cards in your hand. You can start the game. Note that after this point, the
deck is no longer shuffled and you will loop through the cards one by one until you either
win or lose.
• It’s best to keep the cards fanned out, so that you can easily see the icons of all the cards
and prepare for upcoming hazards.

1 2
Turn Sequence To resolve a MONSTER card, you must pick FIRST row of actions pointed by a white stripe which
The game consists of a series of turns. Each turn is divided into 3 simple steps: when resolved would change the state of any other card.

1. Resolving top card of the deck. In this example there are 2 white stripes:
1. First starts with a action, but there are no MONSTER cards in the deck. Choosing this
2. Moving top card to the bottom of the deck.
group would have no effect on other cards so it is skipped.
3. Checking endgame conditions.
2.Second starts with a , which targets the closest non- HERO card in range 7. There are
You will repeat those 3 steps until you defeat the monster or get defeated yourself. See how easy multiple valid targets so this row of icons is activated. Monster targets the closest healthy hero card.
it is? Lastly, is activated which concludes the activation of the card.
Now let’s look into the details.

1. Resolving Top Card

• Every turn you must resolve the top card of the deck. To do it, you will activate one row
of icons pointed by a white stripe. Icons in a row are activated one by one from left to
right.
• To resolve a HERO card, you pick ANY ONE row of actions pointed by white stripe and
activate them. Performing an action as the HERO is optional, unless an icon has an
additional next to it (in that case you must perform the action).
• To resolve a MONSTER card, you must pick the FIRST row of actions pointed by a white
stripe, which when resolved would change the state of any other card in the deck. If
none of the action rows would change anything in the game, do nothing and move to
2nd step.

Resolving a HERO card

There are 2 rows to choose from here:

- First – consisting of and .
- Second – consisting of and . Hero must choose exactly one row 2. Moving Top Card to the back
of actions starting with a white • Simply move the top card to the bottom of the deck.
stripe. In that case HERO may either
perform or . Both of these HERO card becomes wounded and
Active section actions are optional, but will result MONSTER card is moved to the
in rotating the card ( ), which is bottom of the deck.
mandatory.

Inactive section

3 4
 3. Checking endgame conditions Health
• You win when: Most cards in the game have a health level associated with every section of that card.
o All the MONSTER cards are (exhausted).
The life distribution may vary between sets, but there are 3 main health levels depicted
• You lose when:
o All the HERO cards are (exhausted). by health icons. Those icons are of different shape and colors to distinguish cards of
o In a rare occasion in which all cards are (consider this a thematic win). different sets, but hold exactly the same information. The rulebook may use those
health indicators interchangeably. If you see any health icon, it refers to the health level
HERO won – All the MONSTER cards are exhausted ( ).
information and not a specific set.

• Healthy – Full health icon –

• Wounded – Half-empty health icon –
• Exhausted – Empty health icon –

Damage
Whenever a card is dealt damage, find a section with a lower life level and rotate it to
that section. If there are multiple sections with the same health level to choose from,
HERO lost– All the HERO you can pick any of them (no matter if it is a HERO or MONSTER card). You cannot deal
cards are exhausted ( ). damage to cards that are already . If not stated otherwise, dealing damage means
dealing exactly 1 damage.
General Rules If multiple targets are dealt damage at the same time, start resolving it from the ones
Allies and Enemies closest to the bottom of the deck.
Some rules may refer to allies and enemies.
1 damage 1 damage
Allies are cards of the same set, while enemies are cards of different sets. Health level transition:
Targeting There are various reactions that may prevent damage, e.g. , .
Each Action in the game follows the same targeting rules which is related to that icon’s
background: Nested activations
Whenever a card is activated, treat it as a top card of the deck. Treat all the other cards
• White background – the action can target any card (in accordance to above it, as if they didn’t exist for the remainder of STEP 1 of the turn (they cannot be
standard rules of that action). targeted, their feats and health levels don’t matter when checking conditions).
• Black background – the action can target only enemies (in addition to the
standard rules of that action).
• Other background (always identical to set color of the card) – the action
Icons
can target only allies (in addition to the standard rules of that action).
Icons described in this section are shared between multiple HEROES and MONSTERS.
Important! Knowing them is essential to playing the game.
A card can NEVER target itself!
The basic icons fall into 4 basic categories:
The only cases of a card interacting with itself is with and actions.

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 • Actions – Those icons are mostly activated on the top card of the deck or as a
HERO chooses to
result of activating a Reaction. They are the most common way you will be delay the highlighted
interacting with the cards. card 2 spaces
• Reactions (gold background) – Those icons can be activated in various towards the bottom
of the deck. (HERO
situations, but exclusively when being in the middle of the deck, thus a Reaction
might have chosen
can never be activated on the top card. any card in the deck
• Conditions (red background) – Those icons describe a cost or condition which except for itself and
must be fulfilled in order to activate the action row pointed by it. the ones with ).
• Features (diamond-shaped icons) – Those icons introduce various passive
abilities.

The same icons may appear on both HERO and MONSTER cards, however they may
differ in how they work. If an explanation starts with “HERO” or “MONSTER” keywords,
it explains how the card should be resolved if found on HERO or MONSTER card Push & Pull
respectively. Those action appear only on Monster cards. The number next to them references
action range.
1. Actions
• Pull – Move the furthest card in range X behind the active one. In case of
Action descriptions don’t take into consideration icon background and describe general
pulling HERO cards, don’t target exhausted ( ) enemies.
rules of that actions. If a description mentions “choose any card”, the icon background
• Push – Move the closest card in range X to the bottom of the deck.
may change its meaning to e.g. “choose any ally card” (see Targeting).

Quicken & Delay

Those actions appear only on Hero cards. The number next to them references action
power (rather than action range).

• Quicken - Move target card up to X spaces towards the front of the deck (a
quickened card can never be moved in front of the active one).
MONSTER chooses
• Delay - Move target card up to X spaces towards the bottom of the deck furthest
MONSTER MONSTER
(bottom of the deck is the furthest it can go). chooses furthest
non- enemy
card in range and chooses the
HERO chooses to quicken the highlighted card 2 spaces ally card in range
pulls it to the 2nd closest enemy
and pulls it to the
toward the front of the deck. (HERO might have chosen 2nd place.
place in the deck (in card in range
any card in the deck except for itself and the ones order to attack it in and pushes it to
the next action). the end of the
with ).
deck.

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Hit Block
• HERO – Choose any card in range X and damage it. Can be activated in response to in order to negate the damage.
• MONSTER – Choose the closest non- card in range X and damage it.
• Hero – May activate any one that is in range of the attack to negate
1. MONSTER attacks the closest received damage.
non- enemy card in range. • Monster - Must activate the furthest that is in range of a that is
targeting an ally card (including self) to negate received damage.
2. After the attack HERO • may be used to negate damage targeted at itself.
card becomes . • is usually designed to negate a single damage, that’s why it’s usually
followed by a . However it’s not always the case!
3. Next steps would be to move the top
card to the back of the deck. (Not That card cannot block as it is out of range.
shown in this example).

1. Currently resolved MONSTER card targets the

Heal
closest enemy card with action.
• HERO – Choose any card in the deck and rotate it to its starting position
(circle in top right corner). 2. There are 2 HERO cards in range, that can block
• MONSTER – Choose the closest card in the deck and rotate it to its the action. Player may choose only one of them to
block with. If they decide to do so, none of the HERO cards
starting position. will be damaged, the blocking card will be rotated instead,
because in both cases is followed by a
A card with has been restored mandatory action (which may not always be the
to its initial position (dot in top right case).
corner).

3. Conditions – Red Background

Conditions are a special set of icons that restrict the use of actions until certain
conditions are met. Those limitations will differ between the characters, but their
general rules stay the same.

A row of actions that starts with a may be activated only if a given condition is
Rotate
met.
Rotate this card, so that its bottom section becomes an active one.
• HERO - May activate a row of actions starting with a condition instead of other
2. Reactions – Gold Background rows only if that condition is met.
Reactions are usually followed by some actions. In that case if a reaction is activated, • MONSTER – Must activate the first row of actions for which the condition is met
activate all actions pointed by the arrow according to standard rules of 1st step of the (in addition to standard rules, that those actions would have to change the state
turn (from left to right, one by one and without placing the card at the bottom of the of at least 1 other card in the deck).
deck). After resolving a reaction, don’t change that card’s position, unless the rules
specifically tell you so. Condition icons are not present in the first two character sets and their specifics will be
explained at a later point.
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4. Features MANEUVER
You may rotate any other card in the deck, but in such a way that its health level
Weight
doesn’t increase (it may stay the same or decrease).
Cards with that icon cannot be moved by enemy cards (allies may still change
its position). 1. You may target any yellow-highlighted card in the deck.

2. Card with cannot be targeted, because this would

Huntress make the card more healthy ( ).

3. Card with can be targeted, because the rotation

She usually hunts smaller game, but her skills will prove themselves in any situation. What one arrow would make the card less healthy ( ), however this is
cannot stop, a dozen can. She easily avoids enemy charges, unless that’s her plan for luring them into well- usually not a good move!
hidden traps.
The above example refers to Huntress cards. Other
Huntress is suggested for players who already feel comfortable with basic game mechanics and want to try characters such as the Pyromancer may have a different
out something more complicated.
distribution of health levels, thus allowing targeting and
disallowing targeting icons.
1. Actions
ARROW
• Choose any one card from the bottom 3 cards of the deck and damage it.
• Interactions with other icons:
2. Reactions – Gold Background
o - If a targeted enemy has an active , they must use it to negate
the damage. Another cannot assist in negating damage inflicted on DODGE
another card (in contrast to negating damage). It is a defensive reaction which can be activated in reaction to any action that targets a card with
active .
• Two consecutive may be separated by unequal sign. Those are considered
to be 2 separate actions, meaning they are activated independent from each • If an action would target a card with icon in its active section, that reaction may be
other and one or both of them can be skipped. However, if both of them are activated to negate the effect of that action that would apply to the targeted card.
activated, the second action MUST target a DIFFERENT card than the first one. • is similar to action, however:
o It can negate ANY targeting action, e.g. , or .
can target one of the 3 bottom cards: o Unlike it cannot assist other cards.

1. Last card is a HERO card. You can damage it, but it’s MONSTER card is attacking twice a HERO card in front of it.
probably not the best idea.
2. Second card from the bottom is a MONSTER card. If 1st attack may be negated by and hero card will be rotated as a result.
you target it, the icon will be activated and
2nd attack cannot be negated as HERO card will not have an active anymore. HERO
the card will be rotated. Unfortunately you will
card will end up being wounded (not shown in the example).
cause no damage.
3. Third card from the bottom is another MONSTER
card. If you choose to target it, it will be damaged.
Even though there are other MONSTER cards
with icon in the deck, they cannot block
the action.
4. You can also skip this attack entirely! (Also not the
best idea).

11 12
3. Features Vampire and the Army of Undead
TRAP
Trap is a feature that causes enemy cards which move over it to receive damage. Apparently, in the far north, the dead rise from their graves. Villagers who survived describe an
• If an enemy card is moved in any way OVER a card with feature, that enemy card army of undead led by a vampire lord. The aspen stake is said to be the most effective weapon
suffers damage. against those creatures. Watch out for its hypnotizing abilities and sharp blood-sucking fangs.
• never inflicts damage when being moved itself! Vampire is suggested for players who easily defeat the ogre and are looking for tougher
• Ally cards don’t suffer damage when moving over cards with features. (Think of challenge. He is definitely harder to beat and requires more planning to be taken down.
it as the hero remembering where they set up her traps).
• One trap inflicts one damage, but single movement may result in triggering more traps 1. Actions
and receiving more damage in the process. RESURRECT
• Triggering the trap doesn’t end movement, but before continuing movement the card • Choose the closest card in the deck and rotate it to its starting
must first resolve taking damage. position (dot in the top-right corner).
• inflicts damage only during 1st step of the turn (It doesn't damage enemy cards
• This action is almost identical to action. The only difference is it
when they are put to the bottom of the deck as a natural course of the turn in step 2).
targets cards instead of ones.
• Interactions with other icons:
o icon on a MONSTER card must be activated when triggering a trap to
negate suffering damage. Cards other than the one triggering the trap cannot
use their to negate the damage.
o - if as a result of enemy card moving over a , the enemy card is
damaged and now has an active feature, HERO must stop moving that
card at that exact spot.

1. HERO wants to quicken a MONSTER card 2 spaces forward.

2. During the 1st movement, the MONSTER card triggers .
3. Because it has an active , it is activated and negates the damage.
4. As the consequence of activating , the card is rotated. The condition is met, there are
5. Now the MONSTER card has in its active section.
at least 2 ally cards.
6. Even though HERO wanted to pull the card 2 spaces forward, 2nd movement is now impossible.
First row is activated and both of
those cards will be targeted
by actions.

FLIP
• Flip THIS card along the long edge.

13 14
INSPIRE 2. Conditional icons – Red Background
• Find another closest (ally) card in the deck, this is now the inspired card. Activate Activate, if enough exhausted cards
it as if it was now the top card of the deck (as if cards above it didn’t exist – see
This condition refers to the number of ally cards present in the deck.
nested activations). When resolving the inspired card, calculate all the action
ranges from its actual position in the deck. • The condition is met only if X or more ally cards are present in
• After you perform , do not put the inspired card to the bottom of the deck, the deck.
come back to the top card and continue with resolving other actions after .
• In case an action row has two or more consecutive actions, they will target
the same card.

1.Top card of the deck inspires the other closest ally card.
2. Highlighted MONSTER card performs its actions as if it was now the top card of the deck.
3. The condition on conditional icon is not met. Even though there are two cards in the deck,
The condition is met, there are
one of them is not taken into consideration, because the active card treats all the cards above if as if
at least 2 ally cards.
they didn’t exist (see nested activations).
4. The inspired card activates its last row and pushes away the closest HERO card. First row is activated and both of
5. After the inspired card ends its resolution, you must come back to the top card and activate the those cards will be targeted
remaining icons in the row. In this case there nothing else to activate.
by actions.

The condition is not met, there

is only 1 card with , but 2
are needed.

Next row starting with will

be activated instead.

15 16
The Pyromancer 1. Player resolves the top card of the deck.

2. Player cannot activate the row starting

From birth, this youngling showed remarkable fire manipulation abilities. Their rebellious nature made them
escape from the boring everyday life of magic school. Now they travel the world and make a living helping with , because player has only 3
the inhabitants of the visited cities. This time however, they were given a job that could prove beyond their icons available (visible on cards highlighted
skill... with red color). Remember that the top card
cannot use its own to pay the cost.
Pyromancer is suggested for players who feel comfortable with the other Heroes and
want to experience some more challenging playstyle. 3. Player decides to activate the row starting
with icon. First he must Pay the cost.
Health distribution
4. Player pays the cost by finding exactly 2
Pyromancer is the first character to have a different health distribution among its
other cards with icons in the deck and
sections. Whenever a Pyromancer card would become damaged, you may choose rotating them.
which section to rotate the card to (see Damage rules).
5. There were 3 valid targets and player
1. Conditions and Reactions chose to pay with the 2 cards highlighted
Two icons described in this section are directly related to each other, thus they are explained with the red color (already rotated on 2nd
together. picture).
Cost Paid
Fire Energy 6. Once the cost has been paid, player may
• Fire Energy icons visible in active sections of Pyromancer cards can be used to Perform the actions.
pay the cost of casting spells.
7. Now the player performs and .
Pay the cost and activate He targets the 2 cards highlighted with red
• Most of the action rows on Pyromancer cards are preceded by a condition. color (already rotated on 3rd picture).
Actions to the right of it can only be activated after the player pays the specified
8. The last two things would be to the
cost.
top card and move it to the bottom of the
• To pay the cost, you must find exactly X other cards with in their active
deck (both things not shown in the example).
section and rotate them. (Those icons are always followed by as a
reminder).
• After you pay the cost, you may activate the icons following the icon.

If this card is at the top of the deck, the player may activate
one of the three rows of icons.
Actions Performed
1. To activate the row starting with icon, the player
must first rotate 2 other cards with icons on them.

2. To activate the row starting with icon, player must

first rotate 1 other card with an icon on it.

3. In both cases the player cannot pay with the visible

on the top card, the cost must be paid with different cards.

17 4. If the player cannot pay or doesn’t want to, they must 18

choose the last row of icons.
 Actions Interactions with other icons:
Maneuver • - if a targeted enemy card has an active , that reaction must be activated, thus
• See Maneuver in Huntress Section. preventing from inflicting damage to that card only. (The other card still receives
damage, unless it has an active as well).

Ablaze
• Choose any two (different) cards with that were used to pay cost and
Resurrect
damage every card in between them.
• Choose any card in the deck and rotate it to its starting
• Ablaze always has a cost related to it.
position (circle in top right corner).
• See Resurrect in the Vampire section for an example.
1. Player chooses the row. To activate
it, they must first Pay the cost.
Fireball 2. There were exactly 3 cards with icons and
• Choose exactly one card with that was used to pay cost and player has rotated all of them (2nd image).
damage both cards adjacent to it. This effect doesn’t damage the top card of the
deck. 3. Now the player performs action. They must
• Fireball always has a cost related to it. choose exactly 2 cards that were used to pay the cost.
They decide to choose two red-highlighted card (2nd
image).

1. Player decides to activate line . They must first pay the cost. 4. All the cards between the 2 cards chosen in the
previous step are now damaged as a result
2. After paying the cost (by rotating the 3rd card in the deck), player of action. (Red-highlighted cards in 3rd image).
activates and damages both cards that are adjacent to the card that was
used to pay the cost. (Cards are already damaged in the 2nd image). 5. As shown in the example, this effect also damages
HERO cards.
3. As shown in the example, this effect also damages ally cards.
Cost paid 6. The last step would be to the top card and put it
on the bottom of the deck (not shown in the example).

Action performed

19 20
Interactions with other icons:

• - if a targeted MONSTER card has icon in its active section, that icon
must be activated, thus preventing from afflicting damage to that card only. (The
card with does not prevent damage dealt to other cards targeted by action.)

Teleport
• Swap places of any two different cards in the deck of a specified type.
• Teleport always targets 2 cards and it can swap both ally and enemy cards depending
on the icon colors.

o Swap places of 2 ally cards.

o Swap places of 2 enemy cards.

o Swap places of 1 enemy and 1 ally cards.

Interactions with other icons:

• - Remember that Monster cards with icon cannot be moved by Hero

actions, thus cannot be moved by nor .

21 22
 • blocks actions such as , , , , , and .
Spider Swarm • does not block activating reactions such as and ,paying the
Huge spiders have invaded the capital undergrounds. The sewers are broken and everyone is too afraid to cost or activating and (the last 2 never target other cards).
go there. The city officials are going to pay a lot to the volunteer who takes care of this shitty case. The actions after the reactions may still be blocked!
• It may happen that when resolving a group of HERO actions, some of them may
Spider Swarm is suggested for experienced players. This Monster may prove itself deadly if the deck is not
manipulated in the right way. become blocked or unblocked as a result of resolving others, e.g. a card
with may be pushed away. Before resolving any single HERO action,
1. Features always make sure that it is not currently blocked by .
WEB
• prevents an enemy card directly in front of a card with icon
from activating actions that would change the position of any other card
in the deck (other than the one being resolved).
• I.e. blocks actions such as : , , . Unfortunately blocks
• does not block a card from being put at the bottom of the deck as both and . Player may
only choose 3rd row and
a natural course of the turn in step 2. activate .
• It may happen that when resolving a group of HERO actions, some of
them may become blocked or unblocked as a result of resolving others,
e.g. a card with may be damaged and no longer have in its
active section. Before resolving an action, always make sure that it is not Although player cannot
perform action, they may still
currently blocked by . choose to either the card or
activate .

The player cannot perform

neither nor actions, because
the is blocking both of them. They
must still choose one row which will 2. Swarm condition
result in activating , which is not
blocked by .
This icon introduces a new deadly way in which MONSTER cards
may strengthen each other. If the top card of the deck is a
MONSTER card AND a continuous group of one or more Spider
Unfortunately for the player, is
blocking all actions on the card. If Swarm cards is positioned directly behind it, then activate
they can activate the row starting all rows of cards in that group before you activate the top
with , they would still be able to
perform , even though the
card of the deck. Start with the most distant one and continue
preceding is blocked by . towards the top until you’ve resolved the row of the card directly behind the
top card of the deck (don’t activate the visible on the top card). Then continue
with activation of the top card of the deck according to standard rules.
VENOM
• prevents an enemy card directly in front of a card with icon • When Activating treat the card is it on as if it was now the top card of
from activating actions that would change the side or rotation of any the deck (see nested activations rules).
other card in the deck (other than the one being resolved). Effectively it • row is never activated when being as an actual top card of the deck.
blocks attacking and healing.
23 24
 • Each section of Spider Swarm has a row.
Werewolf
Banished from society for a curse placed upon him by envious enemies. He tries to find a
1. Top card of the deck is a Spider Swarm card. Before the player resolves remedy for his condition, while proving that he is not a threat to everyone around him…
it, they must see if there is a group of other Spider Swarm cards directly
behind it. In this case there are 2 cards (red- and yellow-highlighted).
The Werewolf introduces more complex gameplay scenarios due to his cards being
2. Starting with the most distant Spider Swarm card within that group multicolored, that’s why it’s suggested for players who don’t have any troubles with the
(yellow-highlighted card) the player must activate all of their rows.
rules that were presented with previous sets.
3. Yellow-highlighted card performs targeting the closest enemy
card. A Hero or a Monster?
4. Player decides to block the attack with on the most distant HERO The Werewolf is the first character whose cards are a mix of HERO and MONSTER
card. This concludes the activation of the yellow-highlighted Spider sections. It is also the first character having two distinct health icons and multicolored
Swarm card.
card borders.
5. Now the player must activate the row of red-highlighted Spider
Swarm card. When resolving , remember that the pulled MONSTER Cards with active sections having a sun health icon (and a bright border) are
card cannot be pulled above the active card (and red-highlighted card is considered to be HERO cards. Cards with active sections having a moon health
considered to be the active one at the moment).
icon (and a dark border) are considered to be MONSTER cards.
6. Performing and concludes the activation of the red-highlighted
Spider Swarm card. Even though the HERO and MONSTER Werewolf sections come from the same set of
7. Now the player finally resolves the top card of the deck. They must cards, they are considered to be enemies! What’s more, Werewolf MONSTER and any
ignore row and find another one starting with a white stripe. other MONSTER set are also considered to be enemies!
8. MONSTER performs of the last row. (Don’t confuse it with row,
which in this case happens to have exactly the same effect). Player
decides to block the attack with the remaining .
Enemies
9. This concludes the activation of the top card. Now the player would put
Enemies
the top card to the bottom of the deck (not shown in the example).

10. In the next turn there will be 3 Spider Swarm cards at the top of the
deck. This is a very deadly situation for the player, they should have
prepared better!
Enemies
Health distribution
Werewolf is another character to have a different health distribution among its sections.
Whenever a healthy Werewolf card would become damaged, you may choose which
wounded section to rotate the card to (see Damage rules). You may choose to rotate
the card to or section (keeping him a Hero or turning him into a Monster).

Hero Section Monster Section

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Actions 1. Werewolf monster card is on top. It activates the first
Most Werewolf actions have already been introduced with previous sets, but are now row of actions and performs , targeting 3 cards
used in an unusual way. When playing with the Werewolf, keep an eye on the actions’ directly behind it.
backgrounds, because some of them may be targeting enemies instead of allies and vice 2. Remember that when dealing damage to multiple
versa, which may be unintuitive at first. targets, the most distant one is resolved first. In the
example it’s a monster card and because the Werewolf
MANEUVER, TELEPORT 1 treats other monsters as enemies, it will be damaged.
Those two actions work exactly the same way as before. Please
see Maneuver and Teleport sections for examples. 3. In the 2nd picture, the enemy card is already
damaged. Note that the on the other monster card
HIT, HEAL didn’t assist in blocking the damage, because all the
Those two actions also work exactly the same way as before, but this section has been cards are targeted with that attack at the same time.
put as a reminder to look at the background colors of those actions, because Werewolf 4. Now the second card is resolved. It’s a hero card. Even
may use to target enemies and to target allies. though it comes from the same set, the Werewolf treats
it as an enemy and it becomes wounded.
INSPIRE
• Please see the explanation and example in the Vampire section. 5. Because Werewolf cards have 2 different wounded
• Note that HERO may target any card (according to the background), MONSTER sections, player may choose which section rotate the
would target the closest valid (ally) instead. card to ( / ). In this case player chooses .
2
CLAWS 6. In the 3rd picture the Werewolf attacks its last target.
Damage all enemy cards in range X. Remember, when damaging multiple The enemy card is already exhausted, so it cannot be
damaged further, but it will still actively use its to
cards, resolve the damage starting with the most distant one (see Damage).
negate the damage, which will result in rotating the
Interactions with other icons: card.

• if a targeted card has icon in its active section, that icon must (in case of 7. In the 4th picture, you can see the final result of
MONSTER card) or may (in case of HERO card) be activated, thus preventing from performing action. Now the player needs
afflicting damage to that card only. (The card with does not prevent damage dealt to the card and put it on the bottom of the deck.
to other cards targeted by action.)

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Blood Demon Actions
Death
In the mountains far to the west, a group of cultists summoned a creature from another When this action is activated, the player immediately loses the game. Prevent
dimension. The cult is no longer a concern as the demon has already fed on it, but it MONSTER from activating this icon at all cost. This action cannot be negated by
continues to wreak havoc in the eastern provinces of the kingdom and someone needs any Reaction.
to take care of it. Void
Blood Demon is the most difficult MONSTER set and may require multiple attempts to Choose the closest non- enemy card in the deck and exhaust it.
even get close to being defeated. If you haven’t played all the other character sets, This action cannot be negated by any Reaction.
please do so, before trying to take on this one.
Claws
Health distribution Damage all enemy cards in range X. Remember, when damaging multiple
Blood Demon has a health distribution similar to the Pyromancer. Whenever cards, resolve the damage starting with the most distant one (see Damage).
a Blood Demon card would be damaged, you may choose which section to
For example and interactions with other icons see Claws in Werewolf section.
rotate the card to (see Damage rules).

Conditions 1. Top card of the deck is a Blood Demon

card. Player must count number of active
Activate, if enough Rage counters rage counters visible on other Blood Demon
This condition refers to the number of Rage counters present on other ally cards. In this example there are 4 rage
cards in the deck. counters visible, marked with yellow circles.
Remember that even if there were any rage
The condition is met only if X or more Rage counters are present on other
counters on the top card, they would not be
ally cards in the deck. counted.
• Rage counters are represented by small circles and can be found inside the 2. Knowing number of the counters we can
health icons of active Blood Demon card sections. A health icon can have 0-2 now resolve the top card of the deck. First
Rage counters. row starts with a . Fortunately for the
player, there are not enough rage counters
1 Rage counter 2 Rage counters to trigger that action row. If there were,
player would lose the game on the spot due
to action.

3. Second row starts with a . It will be

activated, because there are at least 3 rage
counters present. action will be
activated and will target closest
non- enemy card, exhausting it
immediately.

4. Note that action cannot be prevented

by any reaction, including .

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Characters
Heroes
Each Hero is represented by a set of 5 cards sharing a color and a set symbol. If you
decide to play with a certain HERO, take all of their corresponding cards.
The Warrior – Blue
Warrior is suggested for beginners as he uses only the basic actions.
The Huntress - Green
Huntress is suggested for players who already feel comfortable with basic game
mechanics and want to try out something more complicated.
Monsters
Each Monster is represented by a set of 4 cards which share a color and a set symbol.
If you decide to play with a certain MONSTER, take all of their corresponding cards.
The Ogre – Brown
Ogre is suggested for beginners as he uses only the basic actions and is
relatively easy to defeat.
The Vampire and his Army of Undead – Turquoise
Vampire is suggested for players who easily defeat the ogre and are looking
for tougher challenge. He is definitely harder to beat and requires more
planning to be taken down.

The Pyromancer - Orange Spider Swarm - Purple

Pyromancer is suggested for players who feel comfortable with the other Spider Swarm is suggested for experienced players. This Monster may prove
HEROES and want to experience some more challenging playstyle. itself deadly if the deck is not manipulated in the right way.

The Werewolf – Yellow/Black

If you haven’t played all the other characters, please do so before Blood Demon – Burgundy
trying the Werewolf. Blood Demon is a deadly creature and may take multiple attempts to be
defeated.

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Additional Content
Acknowledgments
Puzzles
Visit dedicated BGG page to solve additional puzzles. Handy Brawl is a game created for 2022 In-Hand Game Design Contest hosted on
Board Game Geek.

Feel free to visit the game page and leave an honest review.

Thanks to my friends Aleksander Jagodziński and Weronika Kałuża for creating amazing
icons and graphics designs for Handy Brawl!

Many thanks to Sir Thecos for creating great playthrough video and UberDante for
enhancing the PCIO implementation of Handy Brawl.

This game wouldn’t be what it is if not for amazing testers and supporters:

• Blaž Gracar
• Wundersim
• UberDante
• Jorge Zhang
• Mark Fuhrman
• kred
• Chih-Wei Chang
• Charles Ward
• Sir Thecos
• Wojciech Wiśniewski
• Milan Žroutík
• Anoik
• Guancio

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