QUICK FIELD CHECK
Follow the printed word to the card's destination.
The disappearance animation is not the rule. Use this field check to decide whether the same copy can return.
- Discard
- What happens nowThe card leaves your hand but is not destroyed by Discard alone.
- When it returnsIt can return through normal deck cycling.
- Exhaust
- What happens nowThe card is removed for the rest of the current Explore or Combat encounter.
- When it returnsIt returns when the next encounter begins.
- Consume
- What happens nowThe card is destroyed when it is played.
- When it returnsIt does not return unless another effect creates a new copy.
- Temporary
- What happens nowThe card is destroyed whenever it leaves your hand, including through a targeted Discard.
- When it returnsThat copy does not return.
- Uses
- What happens nowEach play spends one use; reaching zero consumes the card.
- When it returnsIt keeps returning while the counter remains above zero.
- Linger
- What happens nowThe card avoids the automatic end-of-turn discard.
- When it returnsIt stays in hand until it is played or another effect moves it.
- Forget
- What happens nowA Toad reward removes one chosen removable card from the deck.
- When it returnsThat card does not return during the run.
READ THE PROPERTY
Match the word to the card's destination.
Check the card's top-right status scroll before playing it. The current UI puts Uses and similar card-state counters there instead of burying them in the description.
If it only says Discard, expect the card to leave the hand and re-enter normal deck cycling. Discard is movement, not permanent deck removal by itself.
If it says Exhaust, plan on one appearance for this encounter. After it is played or exhausted, it stays out until the next Explore or Combat encounter, then returns to the deck.
If the action says Consume, assume that copy is destroyed when played. It does not return next encounter unless another effect creates a new copy.
If the property says Temporary, any route out of the hand destroys it—including a targeted Discard. Linger can prevent automatic end-of-turn discard, but does not cancel Temporary when another effect moves the card.
If the card shows Uses, watch the number fall on each play. Uses remaining means the same copy can be played again later; reaching zero consumes it. Do not confuse that run-long counter with Exhaust's encounter reset.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
On the next draw and the next encounter, ordinary discarded cards return normally, exhausted cards return only after the encounter changes, and consumed or departed Temporary cards stay gone. A Uses card remains only while its counter is above zero.
VERSION BOUNDARY
These definitions and the Uses counter behavior are tied to the current Demo glossary and build 23718635. Team Lazerbeam's older wording ‘one use per combat’ matches the current Exhaust rule, but individual card properties and counts can change in Early Access.
CARDS IN THIS ANSWER
Know the effect before you build around it.
Ability text is tied to the recorded Demo build. “How you get it” stays cautious where a packaged shop value does not prove a guaranteed reward.
Explore / Food
Rations
- What it does
- The current Demo action record gains 1 energy. It has three uses and is recorded with Exhaust 1.
- How you get it
- The packaged Demo record lists a shop cost of 2, but that does not prove a guaranteed shop, reward, or appearance rate.
- Use it with
- Treat it as a net +1 Explore-energy tool in the current build. Old footage may show a 1-cost card gaining 2; that older version also netted only +1.
Combat / Skill
Puppet Husk
- What it does
- Makes one permanent copy of a targeted Combat card, then consumes itself.
- How you get it
- The packaged Demo record lists a shop cost of 3; it does not prove a guaranteed source in any particular run.
- Use it with
- Copy a high-value one-use card, not a nearly empty charged tool. One current field report says remaining charges and Exhaust carry over; Temporary behavior is unresolved.
Explore / Curse
Spore Lung
- What it does
- Linger, Temporary, and Unplayable. Each card play reduces maximum health by 1 in the Demo record.
- How you get it
- Added through an enemy action; the current evidence does not identify every enemy that can create it.
- How to clear / avoid
- Use a Discard or another effect that moves it out of your hand. Temporary then destroys it; Linger only prevents the automatic end-of-turn discard.
Combat / Skill
Second Guess
- What it does
- Discards one targeted card and draws one replacement. The Demo record carries Persistent 2 and Exhaust 1.
- How you get it
- Its packaged record lists shop cost 1 and a maximum of one copy, but neither field guarantees that a run will offer it.
- Use it with
- Turn an unneeded card into another look at the food or Fatal engine without spending energy. It improves selection; it does not create net hand size.