How to play the Palworld TCG

Official Card Game · Beginner Guide

How to Play the Palworld TCG

Your first game in about ten minutes, taught the way we'd teach you across a demo table. Every rule on this page is checked against Bushiroad's official rulebook, with section numbers so you can verify us — nothing is invented.

Beginner friendly · 10-minute read

Last verified · 8 August 2026

Rules checked against the official Comprehensive Rules ver. 1.00 (30 July 2026) and Bushiroad's official beginner pages. Citations like "CR 6.2.1" point at the rulebook section, so any claim here can be checked at the source.

The game in 20 seconds

Two players. Each brings a 50-card main deck and a 10-card soul deck. You start on 10 life, build up souls as energy, summon Pals to your base and attack. Drop to 0 life — or run out of deck — and you lose. (CR 1.1.1, 6.1.1.1, 6.2.1.8, 11.3)

Watch it first: the official tutorial

Bushiroad's own tutorial video walks a first game on camera. Watch it here, then use the written guide below as your table reference — the two follow the same order.

Video: "Palworld OFFICIAL CARD GAME Tutorial Video" — the official Palworld OFFICIAL CARD GAME channel (@PalworldOCG_EN), embedded from YouTube. Checked 8 August 2026.

What you need: one trial deck each

A trial deck is a complete game for one player. Official contents (TD01 and TD02 both): a 60-card set (50-card main deck + 10-card soul deck), a paper playmat and play guide, a life counter, a material & ingredient counter, one BP01 booster pack, and one parallel-rarity card replacing a main-deck card. Two players, two decks, nothing else needed.

Palworld TCG TD01 Dawn of Palpagos Trial Deck box
Palworld TCG TD02 Dawn of Palpagos Trial Deck box

Contents per the official TD01/TD02 product pages, checked 8 Aug 2026. Building your own deck later? The rules: exactly 50 cards in the main deck, at most 4 copies of any card name, and up to 8 cards with the lucky Pal icon (CR 6.1.1).

The table, before we start

YOUR SIDE OF THE TABLE BASE your Pals and structures fight from here Pal Pal Structure SOUL DECK your 10 soul cards SOUL AREA your energy pool: +2 souls each turn, rest them to pay costs MAIN DECK 50 cards face down GRAVEYARD used and beaten cards LIFE: START AT 10 track it with the counter in your trial deck YOUR HAND start with 5 cards — kept hidden from your opponent
Our own simplified schematic — zone names per the official rules (CR 4). The paper playmat inside every trial deck shows Bushiroad's exact layout; this diagram just shows you what each zone is for.

Set up in seven steps

  1. Show your opponent which deck you're using, then shuffle your 50-card main deck into your deck zone.
  2. Randomly decide a player — that player chooses who goes first.
  3. Both players put all 10 soul cards into the soul deck area.
  4. The player going second moves 1 soul from their soul deck into their soul area — a small head start on energy.
  5. Both players draw 5 cards.
  6. Not happy with your hand? Once per game you may shuffle all 5 back and draw 5 new ones — you keep the second hand.
  7. Set life to 10. The player going first begins.

Straight from the official setup sequence (CR 6.2.1).

Your turn: five phases, always in order

1

Stand

Stand (untap) all your cards in base and soul area. (CR 7.2)

2

Draw

Draw one card from your deck. (CR 7.3)

3

Soul

Move 2 souls from soul deck to soul area — your energy grows every turn. (CR 7.4)

4

Main

Play cards, use abilities, attack — any number, any order. (CR 7.5, 8)

5

End

Damage on surviving Pals resets to 0, and the turn passes. (CR 7.6)

One wrinkle, quoted straight from the rulebook so we don't paraphrase it wrongly: "The player who goes first skips the draw phase" (CR 7.3.1). The official Rules & Q&A page carries the full text.

Souls are your energy

Souls are the game's mana. Every soul phase you move 2 from your soul deck into your soul area (CR 7.4.2.1), and to pay a cost you rest — turn sideways — that many souls (CR 10.4.3). They stand back up at the start of your next turn, so your energy pool climbs turn after turn and is never spent for good. The player going second starts with 1 soul already in play (CR 6.2.1.5). Stuck with a bad hand? Once per turn you may pay 3 souls to draw a card (CR 8.5).

Combat basics

In your main phase, rest a standing Pal to attack. Your target: the opponent themselves, or one of their resting Pals or structures (CR 9.2.3, 9.3.2). The defender isn't helpless — they may rest one of their standing Pals to block, making it the new target (CR 9.4.2).

  • Pal fights Pal: both deal damage equal to their power to each other (CR 9.6.3.1). A Pal whose damage reaches its power goes to the graveyard (CR 11.4.1).
  • Hitting the player: the attacker deals damage equal to its strike value (CR 9.6.3.3). The defender puts that many cards from the top of their deck into the graveyard, one at a time — if a card with the lucky Pal icon turns up, the check stops there and no life is lost; otherwise their life drops by the damage dealt (CR 11.2).
  • Remember the end phase: damage on surviving Pals resets to zero at end of turn (CR 7.6.3) — finish a Pal off this turn or it didn't count.
  • Winning: opponent at 0 life or out of deck — you win (CR 11.3).

Deeper timing rules (the quick step, abilities, keywords) live in the official Comprehensive Rules — linked below. We teach only what we can cite.

Your first game checklist

  • One trial deck per player, playmats out of the box and on the table.
  • Run the seven setup steps above.
  • Keep the deck's paper play guide open beside you for the first game.
  • Don't overthink turn one — play Pals, make attacks, learn by doing.
  • Flooded with souls and no cards? Pay 3 souls, draw a card.
  • Rules argument? The official rulebook settles it, not us.

Three ways to go from here

Learn it free from an official teacher at the Sydney demo weekend (5–6 September), get a trial deck in hand, or read the fair-questions page.

Demo days & events Trial decks — restock list FAQ

The official sources we checked

Official "For Beginners" page →

Official Rules & Q&A (play guide, playmat and Comprehensive Rules PDFs) →

Official TD01 and TD02 product pages →

BackesTCG is an independent Australian retailer and is not affiliated with Bushiroad or Pocketpair. Palworld OFFICIAL CARD GAME is a Bushiroad and Pocketpair product. Images on this page are official product packaging, shown as sold by BackesTCG; the play-area diagram is our own original schematic and shows no game artwork.