How to Play Sunnyside Cemetery

5 min readApr 4

Read this guide to help you prepare your ideal deck and dominate your opponents!

We’re beyond excited to launch Sunnyside Cemetery, and after getting lost in the hype we realized: most of you have never played it! So here’s an in-depth rundown on the kinds of cards you’ll use, how game turns play out, and how some of Sunnyside Cemetery’s unique features set it apart from other trading card games you may have played.

Objective

Reduce your opponent’s Tombstone HP to 0, before they do the same to you! Damage is dealt primarily with direct attacks from Reapers. If a Reaper unleashes their attack without an enemy Reaper or Support card to block it, they’ll do 1 damage to the receiving player’s Tombstone. Certain Support and Omen cards will also damage Tombstones, as will Bosses.

Players start the game with 20 Tombstone HP (though we may change this number for game balance).

Card Types

Let’s start with everyone’s favorite: the Reaper!

Reaper Cards

The Reapers are the cards you’ll first be able to mint as part of our Sunnyside Cemetery collection (price 369 $STARS, collection size 10,000).

You can also mint a pack of 10 for 20% off (2952 $STARS)

Faction

You’ll notice right away that each one has a certain color robe: that’s their faction. Play multiple Reapers of the same faction at the same time to activate their trait bonuses (see infographic below this section).

Building a deck with complementary Reaper factions is key to victory! Whether you want to go all-in on one faction or take a chance with several in your deck is up to you.

White: Angel’s Calling
Green: Deathly Tribe
Red: Hell Pack
Blue: Cult of Destiny
Black: The Undying
Brown: Sunny Squad

Stats

Sunnyside Cemetery’s Reapers are made up of three primary stats:

Health (4–15): The amount of damage a Reaper can take before being Exiled.
Attack (1–9): Amount of damage inflicted each time a Reaper attacks
Crit (0–30): The % chance for a Reaper to inflict +2 damage each time they attack

These stats can be modified with other cards, faction bonuses, and other special effects. They are semi-randomized on each mint, though we use a specially designed “power allocator” script to ensure that no one Reaper NFT can be ridiculously overpowered.

Ability

In addition to their Faction, many Reapers also have a special ability — indicated by their scythe! Of course, as Reapers love death, these abilities only activate once they are defeated and exiled (“sent to the graveyard,” as it were). More on what exile means later.

With the combination of stats, abilities, and factions, there’s an insane amount of variation in the Sunnyside Cemetery NFTs available on Stargaze.

Values subject to change for game balance. Refer to in-game infographs for up-to-date numbers!

Support Cards

Supports are played directly behind Reapers, and their effects (though varied) often benefit them. Others will do damage directly to your opponent’s Tombstone, force your opponent to Exile a card, allow you to draw a card, and much more!

Supports have a set amount of durability, represented by a health icon. But Sunnyside Cemetery is a dangerous place, and your supports will passively lose durability each turn. Once they reach 0, they’ll be exiled.

Omen Cards

Omens are the “spells” of Sunnyside Cemetery, with powerful, magical effects. You might swap two Reapers’ stats, manipulate your deck, or roll the dice to gain massive attack power — or lose it!

Omens are single-time use cards. Once they are fielded, they are sent to Exile.

Veiled Omens

These are the “trap” cards of Sunnyside Cemetery. They are played face-down in a special slot on your side of the field, and are activated at the start of your opponent’s turn.

Read more on each card type and game phases below!

Bosses

The big bads, the evil entities, the game-changers of Sunnyside Cemetery are the Bosses! All bosses (thus far) are included in your download of Sunnyside Cemetery, no additional NFTs required. Only one Boss is allowed per deck.

The key difference between playing other cards and playing a Boss is that you need to draw it four times. Essentially, once you draw a Boss, you’ll play out your turn with the other cards in your hand and send the Boss back to the bottom of your deck. After the 4th time drawing a Boss, you can play it in an open Reaper lane.

Relics

Relics are the “comeback” mechanic of Sunnyside Cemetery — if your opponent has two or more cards on the field than you, this special ability activates. It’s a way to keep underdogs in the game without giving them too much of a loser’s advantage. Choose your Relic when building your deck and it activate automatically once the condition is met.

Exile

Finally, we come to Exile: arguably the most unique and game-changing element of Sunnyside Cemetery compared to other trading card games. Exiled cards are those that are either defeated in battle or destroyed/discarded via other means. But what is dead comes back to life in Sunnyside Cemetery — once 20 or more cards are in the Exile pile, you’ll begin drawing from those cards to play your turn.

Certain factions and card effects are amplified when played from Exile, giving you a powerful second wind to take down your opponent. But relying on the undead is a double-edged sword. For each card you play from Exile, your tombstone takes damage. Can you beat the clock and defeat your opponent before the price of reanimation takes its toll?