Endgame
Win by forging three keys before your opponent.
A player wins the game when they have forged three keys. Keys are typically forged by spending six aember. There are no life totals and no base to destroy — the game is purely a race to forge keys first.
Scoring
Each key normally costs six aember to forge.
Forging a key requires a player to spend six aember. Certain cards may modify this cost upward or downward. Once the cost is paid, the key is forged and counts toward the three needed to win.
General
There is no mana or resource cost to play cards.
KeyForge has no mana or resource system. Players may play cards from their hand without paying a resource cost. Many cards actually generate aember when played, meaning playing cards often accelerates your path to victory rather than consuming resources.
Turn structure
At the start of your turn, choose one of your three houses to activate for that turn.
Each deck contains exactly three houses (factions). At the start of your turn, you must declare one of your three houses as the active house. During that turn, you may only play, use, or discard cards that belong to the chosen house. Cards from the other two houses may not be played, used, or discarded that turn.
Restriction
You can only play, use, or discard cards from your chosen house each turn.
The house chosen at the start of your turn acts as a gate on all card actions. Cards belonging to unchosen houses cannot be played from hand, used (if already in play), or discarded that turn. This restriction is the primary limiting mechanic in lieu of a resource system.
Setup
Each deck contains 36 cards split equally among three houses (12 cards per house).
A KeyForge deck is composed of 36 playable cards. The deck building algorithm assigns exactly three houses to each deck, and each house contributes exactly 12 cards. This fixed structure ensures balanced house representation while allowing for a vast combination of specific cards.
General
The four card types are creatures, actions, artifacts, and upgrades.
KeyForge cards fall into one of four types: Creatures (played onto the battlefield, used to fight and generate aember), Actions (one-time effects played from hand), Artifacts (persistent cards played onto the battlefield with reusable effects), and Upgrades (attached to creatures to modify them). Players themselves have no life total and cannot be attacked directly.
Resource production
Aember is generated by playing cards and using creatures and artifacts.
Players accumulate aember — the resource needed to forge keys — primarily by playing certain cards that produce aember as part of their effect, and by using creatures and artifacts whose abilities generate aember. Aember is tracked using tokens and sits in the player's aember pool.