About Master Udo Vs. the Four Martial Arts Masters
Master Udo is a solo fighting game by Jorge Zhang in which you prove you are the strongest martial artist around by beating four masters one after another. It finished 4th overall at the BoardGameGeek 2022 Solitaire Print and Play Contest and second among card-based games.
The combo system is the star. Every card in your hand is split in two: the left half is a condition (play as the third card, play right after a leg card, combo of three at most) and the right half is an effect. You play cards on top of each other so only the last card’s effect, the finisher, is visible, and most effects scale with X, the length of the combo. Your hand is also your health: unblocked attacks make you discard, and when the cards are gone you lose.
How to play in one minute
- Take the 10 starter cards into your hand, shuffle the attack deck, lay out the master cards and set the charge tracker to 0.
- Pick a master. Each turn, reveal attack cards equal to the swords on that master; they show which body part is targeted.
- Play any number of combos, checking every card’s condition, then resolve each finisher: deal X damage to the master’s hearts or block attacks.
- Unblocked attacks force you to discard a named card from your hand, or exhaust one from your discard pile for good.
- When all of a master’s hearts reach 0, take your discards back, add that master’s special move to your hand and challenge the next one. Beat the fourth master to win.
What’s in the PDF
- Rulebook as a 16-page screen PDF or an 8-page booklet (print double-sided, short-edge flip).
- 31 double-sided cards, 9 per sheet, on 8 Letter pages in colour.
- You add 5 cubes. The files are on the designer’s website, linked from the BGG thread.
In the PDF
- Rulebook (16 pages for screen, or an 8-page booklet for print)
- 30 cards (10 starter, 10 master, 10 attack) and a charge tracker, double-sided, on 8 pages
Martial ArtsFightingKung FuHand ManagementCombo BuildingCard OverlappingBoss Battles