Each player receives ten random creatures: five in hand and five in a private draw pile, plus two Mindbugs and three life. Play a creature or attack with a creature on your turn.
After you play a creature, refill your hand to five immediately. Your opponent can spend one Mindbug to take control of the new creature and use its play ability. If they do, you take another turn.
An attacker threatens one life. The defender may block with one creature. The weaker creature is defeated; equal strength defeats both. An unblocked attack costs one life.
Frenzy: a creature surviving its first attack may attack a second time. Hunter: choose a legal enemy creature that must block. Sneaky: only Sneaky creatures may block. Poisonous: always defeats its opposing creature in combat, even if weaker. Tough: prevents its first defeat by becoming exhausted; it may still attack and block.
Play, Attack and Defeated abilities resolve when their named event occurs; ongoing abilities modify creatures while in play. Win by reducing your opponent's life to zero or leaving them unable to take a legal turn.
Fan-made adaptation with independent visual artwork. Mindbug was designed by Richard Garfield, Skaff Elias, Marvin Hegen, and Christian Kudahl, and published by Nerdlab Games.