How to play

1. The goal

You bring a team of 3 Soltokemons, one in the arena at a time. You win when all 3 of your opponent's creatures faint. Each round you and your opponent secretly pick an action at the same time, then both actions resolve in Speed order. You cannot see their choice first, so good play is about reading them.

2. The four stats

• HP (Health): how much damage the creature can take before it faints. The raw number you see.
• Attack: a multiplier on the damage you deal. 1.30 means you hit 30% harder than average; 0.85 means 15% softer.
• Defense: a multiplier that reduces the damage you take. Higher is better. Damage scales with the attacker's Attack divided by your Defense.
• Speed: decides who acts first each round. The faster creature lands its move (and its status) before the slower one. Ties are random.

3. Type matchups

A 4-element cycle. Each type beats one and loses to one. The other two matchups are neutral.

Electric

beats Water

→

Water

beats Fire

↑

↻

↓

Grass

beats Electric

←

Fire

beats Grass

• Hitting a type you beat (super effective): 1.5x damage.
• Hitting a type that beats you (resisted): 0.66x damage.
• Neutral matchup: 1x damage.

We keep this at 1.5x on purpose. A full 2x would let the type matchup decide the whole game. At 1.5x type is a strong edge, but a bad matchup is something you answer by switching, not a death sentence.

Ice: the neutral sub-group

Cryomon (and its evolutions) sit OUTSIDE the 4-element rock-paper-scissors cycle. Ice neither resists nor is super-effective against Electric, Water, Grass or Fire, and none of those types are super-effective against Ice either - every matchup involving Ice resolves at 1x type multiplier. So Cryomon's edge is its kit (a Frost Bite that chills the foe + balanced stats), not the type chart. Treat ice as a controller you bring for utility, not for a free type win.

4. How damage is calculated

Every hit runs through this formula:

• Power: the move's base power (see the moves table below).
• STAB (Same-Type Attack Bonus): 1.25x if the move's type matches the user's own type, otherwise 1x. So your Strike and Burst always get the bonus, Tackle never does.
• Type: 1.5x super effective, 0.66x resisted, or 1x neutral (section 3).
• Attack ÷ Defense: your Attack multiplier divided by the target's Defense multiplier.
• Random: a small roll between 0.90 and 1.00, so damage is never fully fixed.
• Critical hit: a flat 6.25% chance (1 in 16) on any damaging move to deal an extra 1.5x.
• Damage is always at least 1. Status moves deal no direct damage.

5. Energy ⚡

Energy is the heart of the game. You start each creature at 5 energy and gain +2 at the end of every turn, up to a maximum of 9. Every move has an energy cost, and that +2 regen is lower than a Strike (3), so you cannot just spam your best attack. Each turn the real decision is: spend now, or bank energy for a Burst?

Energy is tracked per creature. Switching does not let you dump a charged Burst onto a fresh fighter, the new one has its own energy bar.

6. The six moves

Every Soltokemon has the same six roles, themed to its element. Each one exists for a clear reason:

Move names by type

7. Status effects

Each type's Signature move inflicts a different status for 3 turns. This is what gives every creature a real playstyle. The exact numbers:

• A creature can carry only one status at a time. Applying a new one (or the same one again) refreshes it back to 3 turns.
• A status sticks to the creature. It only ticks down and deals its damage while that creature is the active fighter.

8. Switching

You can swap your active Soltokemon for one on your bench, but switching uses your whole turn: the opponent gets a free hit on the creature coming in. Switch to gain a type advantage or to save a low fighter, while predicting what they will do. When a creature faints, sending in the next one is free and does not cost your turn.

9. What happens each turn

1. You and your opponent pick an action secretly, at the same time.
2. Any switches happen first (the switching side does not also attack).
3. Remaining attacks resolve in Speed order, faster creature first.
4. End of turn: status damage (Burn, Leech) is applied, then both active creatures gain +2 energy.

10. Quick tips

• Lead with a type edge, or with fast Sparkmon to land Shock first.
• Use Tackle on turns where you are saving energy for a Burst.
• Status first, then attack. A Burned or Soaked foe deals far less damage.
• Do not stay in against the type that beats you. Switch to the one you beat.
• Speed wins races. The faster creature lands its move and its status first.

11. Genetic mutations

Caught Soltokemons have up to 4 mutation slots that permanently boost them. You don't roll a fight, you roll their genes. Two items drive the chase, bought from Dr. Helix at the Solana City Market after meeting him at the Hospital:

• Mutagen 🧬: fills one EMPTY slot with a random mutation. Useless on a creature with all 4 slots full.
• Helix Spinner 🌀: re-rolls EVERY existing mutation on a creature. Useless on a creature with 0 mutations.
• Three tiers, marked by colour and a letter on the slot pill: white C (common, +5%), blue R (rare, +10%), pink E (epic, +18%).
• Ten kinds: +HP, +ATK, +DEF, +SPD, vs Electric / Water / Grass / Fire, Wild Hunter (vs wilds), Duelist Edge (vs trainers).
• Bonuses are additive across slots. A full set of 4 epics on the same channel caps around +72% - real, but never enough to ignore type matchup or level.
• Mutations are PER-CREATURE, not per-element. They live on CAUGHT instances; the mascot you picked at the start is a synthetic LEAD slot, so to mutate something for your lead element you catch one in the wild and put it in team slot 0 from the Bag.

Mutations are server-rolled with a secret seed, so you cannot grind for a specific id by timing your clicks. The Mutagen always sticks (it goes into an empty slot); the Helix Spinner is the chase - re-roll a 4-common set hunting for that epic +ATK, but every re-roll costs another spinner.

12. Evolutions

Every element evolves by LEVEL, with no extra item or trade. The evolved sprite glows with the type's colour and gains stars (✦) per stage:

• Stage 1 - Level 30. A mid-game milestone (around the city + a couple of trainers). One ✦ star, one glow ring.
• Stage 2 - Level 75. An endgame milestone. Two ✦ stars, a stronger glow.
• Stats already scale with level under the hood (engine.ts), so the evolved sprite is the VISIBLE celebration of growth, not a separate stat jump.
• Evolutions are OPT-IN: when you cross 30 or 75 the game asks. Decline and you stay on the base form even at high level. You can accept later from the Bag (the ✨ button on the card).
• Acceptance is tracked PER ELEMENT, in your save, so it follows your account across devices.

Combat power is per-ELEMENT. An old Lv.1 capture catches up automatically to your element's level - the Bag shows the effective battle level, not the stale capture level.