How to Play Cyberpunk TCG: A Beginner's Guide

The Short Answer: The Cyberpunk Trading Card Game is a two-player battle where you build a crew of edgerunners and fight to become a Night City legend. You win by controlling seven Gig Dice at the start of your turn. Each player begins with six dice, which means you need to steal at least one from your opponent while protecting your own. Games typically run 20 to 40 minutes once you know the rules.

Developed by WeirdCo in collaboration with CD Projekt Red, the official Cyberpunk TCG brings the world of Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners to the tabletop. The game lets you build decks around your favorite characters like V, Jackie Welles, Johnny Silverhand, and Goro Takemura. 

If you're coming from Magic: The Gathering or other trading card games, you'll find familiar mechanics here alongside new ideas that set Cyberpunk TCG apart. This guide covers the winning condition, turn structure, combat, and the keywords you'll see on cards.

The Goal: Gig Dice and How You Win 

In the Cyberpunk TCG, Gig Dice represent the contracts and jobs that build your reputation in Night City. Each player starts the game with six polyhedral dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20) in their Fixer Area. On each of your turns, you roll one die from your Fixer Area and add it to your Gig Area with the rolled value showing. That die is now a Gig you control. Your goal is to control seven Gig Dice at the start of your turn. That’s your winning condition. 

Here's the catch. You only start with six dice. To reach seven, you must steal at least one Gig from your opponent. This creates the core tension of the game. You can't sit back and stall your way to victory. You have to go out and earn your cred.

Your Street Cred is the sum of all your Gig Dice values. Some cards require a minimum Street Cred to play or activate, so higher rolls open up stronger options as the game progresses.

What You Need to Play 

Starter decks like "The Heist" and "Embracing Power" include a ready-to-play deck and three Legends. You'll need to supply your own dice. If you want to try before you buy, WeirdCo has released free demo decks as print-and-play PDFs at your local game store or online.

Card Types 

Every card in the Cyberpunk TCG falls into one of four card types. 

Legends

You run exactly three with unique names. They start face-down in your Fixer Area and can be Called by paying 1 Eddie, which flips them face-up and triggers any Call ability. Legends define your deck's RAM color limits and can be equipped with Gear, but they can't attack or block unless they have the Go Solo keyword.

Units

Your crew. Pay their Eddie cost to play them into your Field. Every Unit enters with Lag, meaning it can't attack until your next turn. Once ready, Units attack by Spending (turning sideways).

Gear

Attaches to a friendly Unit or face-up Legend, boosting stats or granting abilities. When the equipped card leaves play, the Gear goes with it.

Programs

One-time effects. Pay the cost, resolve the text, and move to the Trash (discard pile). Some have Quick, which lets you play them as a reaction during combat.

The RAM Color System 

Each Legend has one or more RAM colors. You can only include cards in your deck that match at least one of your Legends' colors.

If you want to mix colors, pick Legends with overlapping RAM. Some Legends are also dual-color, opening up more deck combinations.

Setting Up the Game 

Setup takes about a minute once you know the steps.

1. Shuffle your three Legends face-down and place them in a row in your Fixer Area.

2. Set up your Gig Dice. Place your d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20 in your Fixer Area. Your opponent does the same.

3. Shuffle your deck and place it to the side.

4. Roll a d20 to determine the first player. High roll chooses who goes first.

5. Draw five cards. You may mulligan once by shuffling your hand back and drawing five new cards.

6. First player penalty. The player going first Spends (turns sideways) two of their face-down Legends. These do not Ready during their first turn. This balances the advantage of moving first.

Turn Structure

Start Phase

At the beginning of your turn: 

• Ready all your Spent cards (turn them upright).

• Draw one card.

• Gain a Gig by rolling one die from your Fixer Area and moving it to your Gig Area with the rolled value showing.

Check your Gig Area. If you control seven or more Gig Dice, you win. 

Main Phase

This is where most of the action happens. You can take these actions in any order, and you can mix them freely:

• Play cards from your hand by paying their Eddie cost.

• Sell a card with a Sell Tag to gain Eddies (once per turn).

• Call a Legend by paying 1 Eddie to flip a face-down Legend face-up (once per turn).

• Activate abilities on your cards.

• Attack with your ready Units.

End Phase 

Resolve any end-of-turn effects and pass to your opponent 

Combat and the React Window 

Combat is where games are won and lost. Understanding the flow of an attack, especially the React window, is the key to playing well.

Declaring an Attack

Spend a ready Unit and declare your target:

• Fight: Target a Spent enemy Unit. You'll compare Power, and the higher value wins.

• Steal: Target your opponent's Gig Area. If your attack isn't blocked, you take one of their Gig Dice.

Ready Units cannot be attacked. Only Spent Units are valid Fight targets.

The React Window

After you declare, your opponent can respond:

During the React window, the defending player can:

• Call a Legend by paying 1 Eddie.

• Declare a Blocker with a ready Unit that has the keyword, redirecting your attack to it.

• Play Quick cards or abilities as reactions.

Example: Goro Takemura is one of the strongest Blockers in the first set, combining Blocker with Quick for constant defensive threat.

Resolving Combat 

For Fights: Compare the attacker's Power to the defender's Power. Higher Power wins. The loser is knocked out and moves to the Trash. On a tie, both Units are knocked out.

For Steals: If your attack wasn't redirected by a Blocker, take one Gig Die from your opponent's Gig Area and add it to yours. Higher-Power Units steal more:

Keywords and Triggers

Keywords

• Adrenaline lets a Unit ignore Lag and attack immediately. 

• Blocker redirects an opponent's attack. 

• Quick allows reactions during combat. 

• Go Solo plays a Legend as a ready Unit that can attack immediately, but it's removed from the game if it leaves the Field.

Triggers 

• Play occurs when a card enters from hand. 

• Call occurs when a Legend flips face-up. 

• Attack occurs before the React window. 

• Defeated occurs when a Unit is knocked out.

The Spend cost (€$ icon) turns the card sideways. Since attacking Spends a Unit, Lag blocks both attacking and Spend abilities on the turn a Unit enters.

Example Turn: Stealing a Gig

Here’s a mid game turn showing how attacks and reactions play out. 

• The Situation: You have Jackie Welles (Power 4) ready in your Field. Your opponent has a ready Unit with Blocker and one face-down Legend. Both players control three Gig Dice.

• Your Turn: After your Start Phase, you play Mantis Blades on Jackie, boosting him to Power 7. You Spend Jackie to attack your opponent's Gig Area, declaring a Steal.

• React Window: Your opponent pays 1 Eddie to Call their face-down Legend, revealing Goro Takemura (Power 5, Blocker, Quick). They immediately Spend Goro to redirect your attack. Jackie now fights Goro instead of stealing a Gig.

• Resolution: Jackie's Power 7 beats Goro's Power 5. Goro is knocked out. But because the Steal was redirected, you don't take a Gig Die. Your opponent sacrificed their Legend to protect their dice, and Jackie is now Spent and vulnerable on their turn.

This is the core rhythm. Push for a Steal, force your opponent to react, and weigh the trade-offs.

Building Your First Deck

We recommend you learn with a starter deck first. "The Heist" and "Embracing Power" teach the game with pre-built lists.

When building from scratch:

1. Choose 3 Legends with unique names.

2. Build a 40 to 50 card deck matching your Legends' RAM colors.

3. Balance low-cost and high-Power Units.

4. Include Sell Tag cards for Eddie generation.

One of the best parts of the Cyberpunk TCG is building decks around your favorite characters from Cyberpunk 2077 or the Edgerunners anime.

Ready to build your crew and rule Night City? Visit On-Board Gaming to browse Cyberpunk TCG products, including booster boxes and starter decks. We also host Cyberpunk TCG events at our Escondido store, from Beta release events to Welcome to Night City prerelease weekends. Stop by to learn the game, meet the community, and see if you have what it takes to become a Night City legend.