Cyberpunk TCG Rules: Beginner Guide to How to Play | Part 1

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Hola Everyone! It’s your boy Anketsu here, and welcome back to my Cyberpunk TCG guide!

If you’ve spent some time in Night City through Cyberpunk 2077, you probably already know most of the faces, places, and shady jobs that make up the world of Cyberpunk. Now you can take that world to the tabletop with Cyberpunk TCG, the official trading card game based on CD PROJEKT RED’s video game universe.

The game first appeared in its Community Alpha in early 2026, followed by the Beta in September 2026, with the full Welcome to Night City release scheduled for November 6, 2026.

I’ve been digging into the game since its early versions, and in this guide I’ll walk you through everything you need to sit down and play your first game.

Now grab a seat, relax, and enjoy the guide!

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What Is Cyberpunk TCG?

If you’re completely new to Cyberpunk TCG, don’t worry, let’s start from the very beginning.

The easiest way to think about the game is this: you and your opponent are two crews trying to make money and build Street Cred by taking on Gigs in Night City.

You’ll use a deck of cards to build your crew, play Units and equip them with Gear, use Programs and special abilities, and send your Units into fights. At the same time, you’ll be trying to steal Gigs from your opponent before they can do the same to you.

Gigs are represented by dice, so you’ll actually see your progress growing on the table as the game goes on.
(It’s also a nice nod to Cyberpunk’s tabletop RPG roots, where dice have always been an important part of the experience).

Your Legend characters also play a special role, giving your crew abilities and helping shape how your deck works.

Don’t worry if some of those terms don’t mean much yet. By the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly what a Gig, a Legend, a Unit, and everything else on the table actually does.

So, let’s get the table ready and see what you actually need to play.

What You Need to Play & Setting Up the Table

Before we start playing, let’s get the table ready. There’s a little bit to set up, but once you’ve done it once, it becomes very quick.

Each player needs:

• 1 deck of 40–50 cards
• 3 different Legends, separate from your deck
• 1 d4, 1 d6, 1 d8, 1 d10, 1 d12 and 1 d20
• A way to represent and keep track of your Eddies

1. Prepare your dice
Take your six dice and place them in your Fixer Area. Keep them there for now — you’ll start gaining them as Gigs once the game begins.

2. Prepare your deck
Shuffle your 40–50 card deck and place it face-down in your Deck Area. Your Trash starts empty.

3. Set up your Legends
Take your 3 different Legends and place them face-down in your Legend Area. Randomize their order without looking at them.

4. Prepare your other areas
Your Field, Gig Area, and Eddies Area all start empty. These are the areas you’ll use during the game as you play cards, gain Gigs, and generate Eddies.

5. Decide who goes first
Both players roll a d20. Whoever rolls higher chooses who goes first. If you tie, roll again.

6. Draw your opening hand
Each player draws 6 cards.

Don’t like your opening hand? You get one mulligan. Shuffle all 6 cards back into your deck, then draw 6 new cards. You have to keep the second hand.

7. Apply the first player setup
The player going first takes their two leftmost Legends and spends them. They’ll remain Spent through that player’s first turn and won’t Ready during their first Start Phase.

And that’s our starting position.

Your deck is ready, your three Legends are face-down, all six dice are waiting in your Fixer Area, and both players have their opening hand.

Now we’re ready to play the first turn.

The Types of Cards You’ll Play

Now that the table is ready, let’s take a look at the cards you’ll actually be playing. There are four card types in Cyberpunk TCG: Legends, Units, Programs, and Gear. Each one has a different job, but don’t worry about memorizing everything yet we’ll see them in action as we play.

Legends

Your 3 Legends are the centerpiece of your crew. They’re kept separate from your main deck and start the game face down in the Legends Area.

You can reveal one by using Call a Legend, or use a Legend as a resource to help pay a cost. Once face-up, Legends can provide special effects for your crew.

We’ll take a closer look at how Legends work later, because they’re one of the most unique parts of Cyberpunk TCG.

Units

Units are the members of your crew that actually take to the Field.

They’re the cards you’ll use to fight your Rival’s Units and attack their Gig Area to steal Gigs. When you play a Unit, you pay its Cost and place it on your Field.

There’s one important rule to remember for now: a Unit that has just been played has Lag, so it can’t attack during that turn.

Gear

Gear represents the equipment you give to your crew.

When you play a Gear card, you pay its Cost and equip it to a friendly Unit or face-up Legend. Gear can give your characters additional abilities or improve what they can do.

We’ll get into the details of equipping and using Gear later. For now, just think of it as equipment that makes your crew stronger or gives it new abilities.

Programs

Programs are one-shot effects that you play to immediately do something on the table.

You pay their Cost, resolve the effect written on the card, and then put the Program into your Trash.

So, unlike a Unit or Gear, a Program normally doesn’t stay on the Field you play it, resolve it, and it’s gone.

Reading a card

You’ll notice a few important numbers and symbols on these cards.

The Cost is in the top-left corner and tells you how many €$ you need to spend to play the card. Power is used when Units fight and when they attack Gigs.

Some cards also have RAM and other keywords or timing triggers. These can affect which cards you can use and when their abilities happen, but we’ll leave the more advanced details for Part 2.

For now, the important thing is simply knowing what each type of card is for:

Legends shape your crew.
Units fight and steal Gigs.
Gear equips your crew.
Programs create immediate effects.

With that out of the way, let’s finally start playing a turn.

Your First Turn

Alright, we’ve got everything on the table, so let’s actually play.

A turn is divided into a Start Phase and a Main Phase. Once you understand these two parts, the basic flow of the game is pretty straightforward.

Start Phase

At the beginning of your turn, you do three things:

1. Ready your cards.
Any cards you’ve Spent become Ready again. This includes your Eddies and your Legends.

2. Draw a card.
Draw 1 card from your deck.

3. Gain a Gig.
Choose one of the dice in your Fixer Area, roll it, and move it to your Gig Area. The number you roll determines the value of that Gig.

This value is important because it contributes to your Street Cred.

Street Cred

Street Cred represents the reputation your crew has built during the game.

Your current Street Cred is based on the total value of the Gigs you control. So, if you have a Gig showing 6 and another showing 3, you have 9 Street Cred.

This gives your Gigs another layer of value. When you steal a Gig, you don’t just gain another Gig — you also gain its Street Cred, while your Rival loses it.

This makes high-value Gigs especially tempting targets. It also makes choosing which die to roll from your Fixer Area an important decision. A higher roll gives you more Street Cred, but if that Gig is later stolen, you could end up giving that same Street Cred to your Rival.

Just remember one important distinction: the number on the die doesn’t change how many Gigs you have. A d12 showing 12 is still just one Gig, just like a d4 showing 1 is one Gig. The value matters for Street Cred and certain card effects, while the die itself counts as a single Gig.

Main Phase

Now you’re free to take actions. There’s no fixed order you have to follow, so you can play cards, manage your resources, and attack in whatever order makes sense.

You can:

• Sell a card to gain an Eddie.
• Play Units, Gear, and Programs by paying their Cost.
• Call a Legend by paying 1 €$ to reveal one of your face-down Legends.
• Use abilities when their timing allows it.
• Attack with your Units.

You don’t have to do all of these things. You can play your entire turn without attacking, or you might spend the turn building your crew and preparing for the next one.

One thing to keep in mind is that a Unit you just played has Lag, so it can’t attack during that turn.

Once you’re done, simply end your turn and your Rival gets to play theirs.

That’s the basic rhythm of Cyberpunk TCG:

Ready → Draw → Gain a Gig → Take your actions → End your turn.

Now that you know how a basic turn works, let’s see what happens when you actually decide to attack someone.

Attacking, Fighting & Stealing Gigs

Now that you know how a turn works, it’s time to do what your crew is here for: take on the Rival.

When one of your Units is Ready, you can Spend it to attack. You can choose one of two targets: a Rival’s Unit or their Gig Area.

Fighting a Unit

If you attack one of your Rival’s Units, you enter a Fight.

The two Units compare their Power. The result determines what happens to the Units involved.

For now, you can think of it simply as:

My Unit attacks → Rival’s Unit fights back → compare Power.

Some cards can modify the Power of the Units involved, so don’t worry about every possible outcome yet. We’ll cover those interactions in Part 2.

Attacking the Gig Area

You can also skip the Rival’s Units and attack their Gig Area directly.

This is how you try to Steal Gigs.

Your attacking Unit uses its Power against the Gigs in the Rival’s Gig Area. If it can steal Gigs, those dice are moved from your Rival’s Gig Area to yours.
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This is important because Gigs aren’t just something you collect passively. Your Rival can take them away from you.

Your Rival can react

And here’s where things get more interesting.

When you attack, your Rival gets a React Step before the attack is resolved. During this window, they can use certain defensive options, such as:

• Quick effects;
• Blocker Units;
• Call a Legend.

For example, a Rival might use a Quick effect to weaken your attacking Unit, or use a Blocker to redirect the attack to another Unit.

So an attack isn’t always as simple as:

Attack → resolve.

It can be:

Attack → Rival reacts → resolve the attack.

Once the attack is resolved, your Unit remains Spent and you can continue your Main Phase if you have other actions available.

That’s the basic combat system. You send your crew into fights, protect your own Gigs, and look for opportunities to steal your Rival’s.

Next, let’s put all of this together and see how Gigs, Street Cred, and the win condition actually determine who wins the game.

Winning the Game

By now, you might be thinking: “Alright, Anketsu. You’ve shown me what I need to play, how the turns work, how to fight and even how to steal Gigs… but you haven’t told me the most important thing yet. How do I actually win the game?“

Well, it’s simpler than you might expect.

At the start of your turn, if you have 7 Gigs in your Gig Area, you win the game.
(Fun fact: In the Alpha version of the game, the rules were different, and you won by reaching 6 Gigs).

That’s it. You don’t need to defeat your Rival’s entire crew or reduce their life total. Your goal is to build up your Gig Area while trying to stop your Rival from reaching 7 first.

One important detail: you don’t win the moment you collect your seventh Gig. You need to start your turn with 7 Gigs in your Gig Area.

And remember, each die counts as one Gig, regardless of the number showing on it. A d4 showing 2 and a d12 showing 12 are both one Gig. The number affects your Street Cred and certain card effects, but not the number of Gigs you control.

And that’s the basic goal of Cyberpunk TCG.

At this point, you know enough to sit down and play your first game. But we’ve only scratched the surface.

In Part 2, we’ll dive into the deeper mechanics, more complex interactions, and the details that can really change how you play.

For now, grab a deck, roll some dice, and get your first game started!

F.A.Q. 🚨