Beginner guide
How to Start Playing the Digimon Card Game
A plain-English start for complete beginners: what the game is, what goes in a deck, how a turn works and what to do with the cards you already own. Every rule here comes from the publisher's own rule documents.
What the game is and how you win
In the Digimon Card Game you raise Digimon from eggs, evolve them into stronger forms and send them to attack your opponent. Instead of a Leader card, the game uses a Digi-Egg deck that hatches your first Digimon.
You win in one of two ways. Your Digimon attacks successfully when your opponent has no security cards left, or your opponent has no cards in their deck and cannot draw during their draw phase.
What a deck is and what goes in it
You build two decks, and the official rules set their sizes:
- A main deck of exactly 50 cards, with up to 4 copies of any card number.
- A Digi-Egg deck of 5 cards or fewer. It can hold as many as you like within that limit, even none, again up to 4 copies per card number.
The game has four card categories, each labelled at the top edge of the card: Digi-Egg, Digimon, Tamer and Option. Digimon cards are your fighters. Tamer cards stay on the field, and Option cards are used from your hand. Read each card's text to see what it does.
Security, memory and setting up
Security is your defence. At the start, each player takes the top 5 cards of their deck and places them face down as a security stack. When an attack gets through, the attacker checks the top security card, and an attack that finds none left ends the game.
Memory is how you pay for cards. One memory gauge, numbered 0 to 10 on each side, is shared by both players. Paying a cost moves the marker toward your opponent's side. When it sits on their side, your turn ends.
To set up, choose who goes first by rock-paper-scissors, draw 5 cards (one optional redraw each) and put the marker at 0.
What a turn looks like
A turn runs through four phases in this order:
- Unsuspend: turn all your sideways cards upright again.
- Draw: draw 1 card. The first player skips this on their first turn.
- Breeding: do one of three things: hatch a Digi-Egg from the top of your Digi-Egg deck, move your Digimon from the breeding area to the battle area, or do nothing.
- Main: play cards, digivolve, use Options and attack, in any order and as often as you can pay for it.
The turn ends when your memory is at 1 or more on your opponent's side and everything has been resolved.
What digivolution means
Digivolution is the heart of the game. During your main phase you reveal a Digimon card from your hand and stack it on top of a Digimon already on your field. The new card replaces the old one's look and strength, while the cards beneath stay under it.
You pay the new card's digivolve cost with memory. Each Digimon card lists what it can digivolve from, so check the requirements shown on the card.
This is why the Digi-Egg deck matters. Every strong Digimon in your deck starts as a small one that hatched from an egg.
What to buy first and how to read a card
For a first purchase, the product types to look for are starter decks and booster packs. A starter deck gives you something playable straight away. Boosters add variety once you know what you like. Check the official products page to see what is current.
Every card has a card number made of a set code, a hyphen and three digits, such as EX13-001. Cards with the same name and card number are the same card. The official card list shows the rarities C, U, R, SR, UR, SEC and P, and marks alternate-art versions with an Alternative Art label.
Rarity and illustration can't be referenced during a game, so they never change how a card plays. See card variants explained for how collectors tell printings apart.
Where to learn for free
The official Digimon Card Game site gathers its free material on a rules page:
- The Official Rule Manual and the Comprehensive Rules Manual, both downloadable.
- Play Sheets and Memory Gauge sheets you can print.
- Card Q&A, searchable by card number or name, and Rule Q&A.
- Pages for errata, banned and restricted cards, and token cards.
The banned and restricted list changes over time, so read it on the official site when you build for events.
What to do with cards you already own
If you already own Digimon cards, begin by splitting them into Digi-Eggs and everything else. A Digi-Egg plus the Digimon it can grow into is the seed of a deck, so keep matching colours together.
Put cards you care about in soft sleeves, and store them dry and away from sunlight. Do not stack them loose in a box where edges can chip.
To find out which card and version you are holding, scan it with the free U.C.M app. It identifies the card so you do not have to compare numbers by eye. The Digimon card scanner page explains the steps.
The fast way: scan it
Open U.C.M, point your phone at a card or a sealed product and it looks for the exact print and shows the official picture and today's market price. It is free to download, and the free plan includes 3 scans per week.
Questions
How many cards are in a Digimon Card Game deck?
The main deck must have exactly 50 cards. You also build a separate Digi-Egg deck of 5 cards or fewer. In both decks you can include up to 4 copies of a card with the same card number.
What is the Digi-Egg deck?
It is a small second deck of Digi-Egg cards. During your breeding phase you can hatch the top card into the breeding area, then move that Digimon to the battle area. It can hold up to five cards, or none.
How does the memory gauge work?
Both players share one gauge numbered 0 to 10 on each side. Paying a card's cost moves the marker toward your opponent's side. Your turn ends once the marker is at 1 or more on their side.
Do I need a starter deck to begin?
A starter deck is the easiest way, because it gives you a playable deck straight away. You can add booster packs later. Check the official products page to see what is currently available.
Does an alternate-art card play differently?
No. The official rules say a card's illustration and rarity cannot be referenced during a game, so an Alternative Art version plays exactly like the same card number in its normal artwork.
Official sources and further reading
We checked this guide against the publisher's own pages. Rules and products change, so always confirm the details there.
More collector guides
Card names and images belong to their owners. U.C.M is an independent app and is not affiliated with any card game publisher or grading company. General information, not financial advice.