Build a Unicorn army in your Stable, protect your engine, and disrupt opponents with well-timed destruction, steals, and counters.

How to Play Unstable Unicorns

Overview

Unstable Unicorns is a turn-based card game about building a ridiculous Unicorn army in your Stable while doing everything you can to slow down (or straight-up ruin) everyone else. On your turn you’ll draw cards, play a card (or draw again), and use Unicorns, Upgrades, Downgrades, and one-shot Magic cards to create powerful combos.

The game is quick to teach because the turn structure is simple. The chaos comes from card text and from Neigh cards (Instants) that can cancel other players’ plays at the worst possible moment.

Components

• 114 black-backed cards (these form the main deck)

• 13 Baby Unicorn cards (these form the Nursery)

• 8 reference cards (optional quick rules)

Key Table Areas and Terms

• Stable: the play area in front of each player where Unicorns, Upgrades, and Downgrades live.

• Nursery: the face-down (or stacked) pile of Baby Unicorn cards. Baby Unicorns are not part of the deck/discard.

• Deck: the face-down draw pile of black-backed cards.

• Discard pile: where cards go when they are discarded, destroyed, or sacrificed.

Common effect verbs you’ll see on cards:

• DRAW: take the top card of the deck into your hand.

• DISCARD: move a card from your hand to the discard pile.

• SACRIFICE: move a card from your Stable to the discard pile (usually a cost you pay).

• DESTROY: move a card from another player’s Stable to the discard pile.

• STEAL: move a card from another player’s Stable into your Stable.

Card Types (what they do at a glance)

• Baby Unicorns: each player starts with one in their Stable. Extra Baby Unicorns enter stables only via card effects.

• Unicorn cards (Basic or Magical): stay in your Stable until sacrificed/destroyed/stolen. Many Magical Unicorns have ongoing or triggered abilities.

• Upgrades: positive effects that sit in a Stable.

• Downgrades: negative effects you attach to a (usually other) player’s Stable.

• Magic cards: one-time effects. When you play one, resolve it, then discard it immediately.

• Instant cards (Neigh): can be played on any player’s turn in response to that player playing a card from hand. Multiple Instants can chain.

Important clarification: Unicorn, Upgrade, and Downgrade cards have no effect while in your hand-their text only matters once they are in a Stable.

Setup

1. Separate the Baby Unicorns and the reference cards from the black-backed cards.

2. Shuffle the black-backed cards together to form the deck (include any expansion cards only if everyone agrees).

3. Deal 5 black-backed cards to each player.

4. Each player chooses 1 Baby Unicorn and places it into their Stable.

5. Put the remaining Baby Unicorns into a stack: the Nursery.

6. Place the remaining black-backed cards face down as the Deck, with space for a Discard pile.

7. Choose a starting player (the rulebook’s tongue-in-cheek suggestion: whoever is wearing the most colors).

If you are playing with exactly 2 players, the rulebook includes specific balance changes-see the Two-Player variant.

Turn Structure (4 phases)

Players take turns clockwise. Each turn has four phases:

1) Beginning of Turn

Resolve any effects in your Stable that trigger “at the beginning of your turn.”

• If multiple such effects exist, they are considered to happen at the same time.

• If one effect tells you your turn ends immediately, you still resolve your other beginning-of-turn effects.

2) Draw Phase

Draw 1 card from the deck.

3) Action Phase

Take exactly one of these actions:

• Play a Unicorn card from your hand, or

• Play a Magic card from your hand, or

• Play a Downgrade card from your hand, or

• Play an Upgrade card from your hand, or

• Draw 1 additional card from the deck.

This “one action” rule is the main throttle on tempo: you usually either develop your Stable or reload your hand.

4) End of Turn

If you have more than the hand limit, discard down to it.

• Default hand limit is 7 cards (unless a card changes it).

Playing Cards and Resolving Effects

Playing a card

When you play a card during your Action Phase, follow its instructions in order.

• Magic: resolve it immediately, then place it in the discard pile.

• Unicorn / Upgrade / Downgrade: place it into the appropriate Stable, then apply its text as relevant.

Neigh cards (Instants) and chaining

Neigh cards are Instants that can be played whenever another player plays a card from their hand.

• A Neigh can stop the play of the card, not the ongoing “game state.”

• You cannot Neigh a card effect that triggers from a card already sitting in a Stable (for example, a beginning-of-turn “destroy a Unicorn” effect).

• Multiple Instants can be chained (a counter to a counter, etc.) before the table moves on.

“Entering” and “Leaving” a Stable

A Unicorn “enters” a Stable when it is played, stolen, or put there by another effect. A Unicorn “leaves” when it is sacrificed, destroyed, or stolen away. Many card effects care about these moments.

Mandatory vs optional text

If a card says you may do something, it’s optional. If it does not say “may,” assume it’s required.

• Special case: an optional beginning-of-turn ability must be chosen before you draw for your Draw Phase; if you forget and draw, you’ve missed the chance to use that optional ability this turn.

• Mandatory effects must still happen if the table notices you skipped them.

Choosing Targets for Effects (Official “play style” options)

Some cards require you to pick a player or a card as a target. The rulebook offers two consistent ways to handle timing:

• Option 1 (easy): You declare all targets first, then other players decide whether to play a Neigh.

• Option 2 (advanced): Other players decide whether to play a Neigh before you name targets.

Both are valid; choose one as a group so Neigh timing feels predictable.

Searching the deck or discard pile

If an effect allows you to search the deck or discard pile for a specific kind of card, you:

1. Find a legal card.

2. Reveal the chosen card to the other players.

3. Put it into your hand (then shuffle the deck if required by that effect or your house rules).

End Game and Winning

Primary win condition

The first player to successfully collect the required number of Unicorns in their Stable wins. Each Unicorn card counts as 1 Unicorn unless it says otherwise.

Required Unicorns to win:

• 2-5 players: 7 Unicorns

• 6-8 players: 6 Unicorns

If the deck runs out (alternate end condition)

If the deck runs out of cards before anyone reaches the winning Unicorn total, the game ends and:

1. The player with the most Unicorns in their Stable wins.

2. If there is a tie for most Unicorns, tied players add up the number of letters in the names of all Unicorn cards in their Stable; the highest total wins.

3. If there is still a tie, everyone loses (no winner).

That final rule is the game’s way of saying: “Congratulations, you all played yourselves.”

Scoring and Recording Guide (Unstable Unicorns)

Unstable Unicorns is not a “victory points” game in the traditional sense. The outcome is driven by how many Unicorns you have in your Stable when the game ends (and, in rare cases, a letter-count tiebreaker).

For our site, treat Unicorn count as the match’s primary numeric “score” because it cleanly supports ranking and tie resolution.

What counts as a “Unicorn” for scoring?

• Each Unicorn card in your Stable counts as 1 Unicorn unless that card explicitly says it counts as more.

• Your starting Baby Unicorn is a Unicorn card in your Stable, so it contributes to your total like any other Unicorn card.

• Only Unicorn cards count toward the Unicorn total (Upgrades and Downgrades do not).

Normal win (goal reached)

Most games end when a player reaches the required Unicorn total:

• 7 Unicorns (2-5 players)

• 6 Unicorns (6-8 players)

In this ending, the “winner” is simply the player who hit the goal first and ended up with that many Unicorns in their Stable.

What to record (recommended)

Even though only one player wins, recording the final counts is useful for rankings and analysis:

• Each player’s Unicorns in Stable (Final)

Alternate end (deck runs out)

If the deck runs out before anyone reaches the goal:

1. The player with the most Unicorns in their Stable wins.

2. If tied, use the official tiebreak:

   • Tied players total the number of letters in the names of all Unicorn cards in their Stable.
   • Highest letter total wins.

3. If still tied, the official rule is no winner (everyone loses).

Bonuses and penalties

• Bonuses: There are no “bonus points,” but some Unicorn cards can be worth more than 1 Unicorn if the card says so.

• Penalties: There are no point penalties. The main “constraint” is the hand limit (discarding down to 7 at end of turn), which affects options, not score.

Final score calculation (what the app should store)

Primary score: unicorns_final

At match end, each side (player) records:

• unicorns_final = total Unicorn count in their Stable, accounting for any “counts as 2 Unicorns” style text.

Tiebreak score: unicorn_name_letters_total (only if needed)

Record this only for tied players when the deck-out tiebreak is actually required:

• Sum letters in the printed names of the Unicorn cards in that player’s Stable.

• Ignore spaces and punctuation unless your group agrees otherwise (the rulebook doesn’t specify; be consistent if it comes up).

Recording matches on our site

Minimum record (fast, still valid)

• Players

• Winner (or “no winner / everyone loses” if the rare double-tie happens)

Best record (recommended for ranking + stats)

• Unicorns in Stable (Final) for every player

• Win Target used for the table (6 or 7)

• End trigger:

  • “Unicorn goal reached” (normal)
  • “Deck depleted” (deck ran out)

• Letter totals only if a tie needed the tiebreaker

• Optional: match duration

Common recording mistakes (and how to avoid them)

• Mistake: Using the wrong win target.
  Fix: If you played with 6-8 players, the win target is 6 Unicorns. Otherwise it’s 7.

• Mistake: Counting Unicorn cards instead of Unicorn value.
  Fix: If any card says it counts as more than 1 Unicorn, use that value when totaling unicorns_final.

• Mistake: Applying the letter-count tiebreak in a normal win.
  Fix: The letter tiebreak is only defined for the “deck ran out” ending when players are tied for most Unicorns.

• Mistake: Forgetting the official 2-player balance tweaks.
  Fix: If your match was 2-player, use the Two-Player variant (deck removals + starting Neigh) so the match is comparable to other 2-player results.

Record each player's final Unicorn total; only record the letter-count tiebreak if the deck runs out and players tie for most Unicorns.