The goal of this mini-game is to acquire as many Region Cities as possible and beat the opponent. Each time a Mythic space is created (4 sides of either Dark or Light connections are built), a Region of Solus card is placed in the space and a marker is placed on top of the card to represent the controlling player. This Region card and marker represents the controlled city. Control the most cities and you win the game.

Players: 2

Scoring: Mythic Cities that are captured are worth 1 point each.

1. If each player doesn’t have their own Thornraver deck, use the drafting method to build your standard deck. Players can choose to remove cards from the draft prior to drafting.
2. You should play with at least 21 cards with 1 Mythic Piston, 2 Legendaries, 5 Epics, 5 Neutrals and 8 (or more) Actions. 
   1. Each player must take the same number of cards. If you decide to take more than 8 Action cards, the opponent must take the same number. 
3. Each Player will take 1 Mythic COG card (Bonestealer, Skullhorn, etc) to be used whenever they like during the game. This card, when played, will allow you to move another card in the Horde.
4. (If drafting) Players should draw 2 Region of Solus cards and the high card gets the first pick in the draft.
5. Place 1 Overlord in the middle of the play area.
6. Each player should draw 3 Horde cards into their hand.

Players take turns following these steps:

1. The first player will draw 1 card from their Horde deck.
2. That player should place 1 card into the play area connecting with the Overlord (SPINE) on the board.
   1. If that player has played an Epic, Legendary, Instant Play or either of their Mythic cards, their turn will continue (explained in Specific Rules below)
3. Ignore all rules on Thornraver cards except cards that have the INSTANT PLAY ICON (See below the specific rules). 
4. The second player will then begin their turn and players keep taking turns until:
   1. They cannot play any more cards onto the Horde, or
   2. They run out of cards
   3. Play will continue until both players have run out of cards which means if one player has used the Instant Plays and the other player chose not to, that player may have consecutive plays at the end of the game. 
5. During the game, each player is attempting to create “Mythic Spaces” in which they can play a Region of Solus card in the middle and create a “Mythic City”.
   1. Once you have closed a space of either 4 light or 4 dark connections, place a Region of Solus card face down in that space and place either a Capital icon or Resource icon of the same color (purple, red, green, or blue) on top of the card representing that you control the space. 
   2. Once you have placed your token on that space, it is controlled for the game.
   3. If the space taken was created by connecting 4 dark connections, place a + or – token on that space so that both players can remember that the connections on that space are dark, not light. This makes it easier for you to notice the differences as the game expands. It’s an optional rule but one that we’ve found helps a lot. 
6. Continue playing back and forth until both players finish all their Horde cards. Count the Mythic Cities for each player and the player with the higher number of cities has won the game. You may also play first to score 14 wins, 8 Capital tokens plus 6 Resource tokens.

The most important specific rules of the game are the powers that certain cards give you when they are played:

• Legendary: There are 2 Legendary cards in your deck. A Legendary card allows you to move a card connected to the Horde to any other location on the Horde which may trigger additional actions.
• Epic: There are 5 Epic cards in your deck and these cards trigger a swap capability. A player will draw 1 card from their deck and then place 1 card from their hand at the bottom of their deck. 
  • It can be the drawn card. This is optional but only if the player passes on using the power. They may not draw a card prior to making that decision. 
• Mythic: Each player has 2 Mythic cards. 
  • 1 Cog which is played similar to the actual game in which it may be placed at any time during your turn on the board independent of your normal actions. 
  • 1 Piston which is actually in your hand and shuffled at the beginning of the game. This card is a powerful card that allows you the ability to Instant Play it AND move a card on the board in the same turn. 
• Instant Play: Several cards have an Instant Play option including Nightowl, Quietrain, and Vermin. These cards can be played Instantly drawing another card to replace them and still playing a second Horde card for your turn. However, this is optional and they can also be played normally.
• Overlord: The starting Overlord has the ability to create a movement of another card on the board once all 4 sides of the card have been connected to. The player that makes that connection will have the power. If a card is removed from the Overlord another card may be placed to close the connections again and that power will happen again for the player closing the connections. 
• Mythic Cities: When you create a Mythic area and place your city in that area, it provides a bonus movement to that player allowing them to move a card on the board to another location. 
  • You may not move any of the 4 connected cards from a Mythic city that was just formed on your active play. You may move a card off that city on your next active play. 

Additional Rules:

• Sides on Special cards that do not show a connection are treated as Dark connections.
• Only the first time a card is played can a movement triggering event occur. 
• Players CANNOT move a card that breaks the connection leaving any cards not connected (this includes dark connections).
• Once an Instant Play is made, draw the replacement card before continuing.
• Mythic cards played cannot be moved. Mythic Cities created cannot be moved.
• You must finish all card powers before moving on to subsequent card powers.