The Cup is a free 1v1 creature card battler, broadcast live. You coach a survivor and a line of three creatures. Every turn you play one card and make one attack, then the die TV decides how hard it lands while BroadcASH and BOBcast call it from the booth. Knock out all three of theirs and the match is yours.

THE DIE DECIDES. YOU CHOSE THE DIE.

Every creature is printed Safe, Swingy or Jackpot. Safe hits for the number on the card. Swingy rolls. Jackpot can miss outright, and a natural can wipe a creature off the board. You pick the risk when you draft, and everybody watches it land. There is no skip button, because the animations are the interface.

EVERY CARD DOES EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS

Any of your creatures can hit any of theirs. No lanes and no hidden rules: the card is the rule, and the feed spells out every hit, reflect and knockout as it happens. A dome that hands damage straight back. A bee that stings once and goes to the Pit for it. Three a side, and three to six minutes a match once you know the rules.

TONIGHT'S FIGHT CARD

• 59 contestants and 9 survivors from the United States, Canada and Mexico, every one a real animal or a cryptid, each with a checkable file

• THE ROAD: 10 cases against invasive species, back to back. Draft creatures and kits as you go, and a knockout is gone for the road

• Matches against the House, dealt or drafted, as many as you want

• Live 1v1 on Steam from the full release on November 10

• Every match written to tape, with highlights and replays

• A shelf of mugs to earn, and a score composed in-house

THE STATE OF THE BROADCAST

The rules, the dice, the booth and the natural history are done. The card art is being commissioned one creature at a time: eleven of sixty-eight are painted so far, with more on the way, and the rest wear placeholder art until their turn comes.

The demo is out now: THE ROAD, the tutorial and matches against the House, offline. Card art by @chioart08, @prayogaardip, Ondřej Tichý and @tmcglynnart. A broadcast of the Galactic Athletics Commission.