---
key: mechanic/deck-building--family-draw
type: mechanic
id: deck-building--family-draw
lang: en
title: 'Drawing, searching and managing randomness'
summary: >-
  Drawing moves cards from the deck to the hand. More options matter only if
  they fit the remaining resources and turn plan.
updatedAt: '2026-10-21'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/deck-building--family-draw/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/deck-building--family-draw.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/deck-building--family-draw.md
aliases:
  - Drawing cards
tags:
  - Deck building
  - Card operations
sourceIds:
  - source-7726ac5e97630c73
  - source-3719d6c00eb94e21
  - source-7f09c8a736762f4f
sources:
  - id: source-7726ac5e97630c73
    title: 'Dominion: Adventures rules'
    url: >-
      https://www.riograndegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/DomAdventures2022.pdf
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-3719d6c00eb94e21
    title: Aeon's End · original rules
    url: 'https://media.lavkaigr.ru/uploads/9e-aeons-end-rulebook.pdf'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-7f09c8a736762f4f
    title: Slay the Spire
    url: 'https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: deck-building
    id: family-draw
    title: Deck building
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/deck-building/#family-draw'
    categoryIds:
      - section-2
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-21'
    title: Drawing cards
    description: >-
      Drawing moves cards from the deck to the hand. More options matter only if
      they fit the remaining resources and turn plan.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/slay-the-spire-battle.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 810
      game: Slay the Spire
      sourceUrl: 'https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/'
      originalUrl: 'https://www.megacrit.com/images/ss8.jpg'
      credit: Mega Crit
      rights: © Mega Crit. All rights reserved.
      caption: 'Draw pile, hand and discard'
      alt: >-
        Slay the Spire: the draw pile at bottom left, the player’s hand and the
        discard pile at bottom right.
      markers:
        - x: 4
          'y': 93
          label: The pile that supplies drawn cards
        - x: 32
          'y': 86
          label: Drawn cards become available in the hand
    tips:
      - Separate receiving a card from permission to play it.
      - Show where draws come from and how the hand size changes.
    examples:
      - title: Slay the Spire
        url: 'https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on
  2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are
  preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire
  classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and
  editorial review.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/deck-building
---
# Drawing, searching and managing randomness

id: deck-building--family-draw
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/deck-building--family-draw
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/deck-building--family-draw/

Drawing moves cards from the deck to the hand. More options matter only if they fit the remaining resources and turn plan.

## At a glance

![Slay the Spire: the draw pile at bottom left, the player’s hand and the discard pile at bottom right.](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/slay-the-spire-battle.webp)

[Slay the Spire](https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/) · © Mega Crit. All rights reserved.

1. The pile that supplies drawn cards
2. Drawn cards become available in the hand

- Separate receiving a card from permission to play it.
- Show where draws come from and how the hand size changes.

- [Slay the Spire](https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/)

## How it works

How a player gets access to the cards he needs.

## Variants

### Variants and applications

<a id="family-draw-variants"></a>

- Draw. Rule: The player draws more cards than the basic rule of the move gives. <a id="variant-draw-01"></a>
- Draw up to. Rule: The game replenishes the hand up to a certain amount, so cards already held affect the amount of draw. <a id="variant-draw-02"></a>
- Selective draw. Rule: The player looks at several cards and takes some, sending the rest to the zone specified by the rules. <a id="variant-draw-03"></a>
- Peek. Rule: The player recognizes the following cards without changing their position. <a id="variant-draw-04"></a>
- Scry / surveil pattern. Rule: The player looks at the top of the deck and can remove inappropriate cards to the discard pile or another area. <a id="variant-draw-05"></a>
- Tutor. Rule: The player finds a card in the legal zone and receives it into his hand or places it in another available space. <a id="variant-draw-06"></a>
- Filtered tutor. Rule: Search is limited by price, fraction, type, tag or other condition. <a id="variant-draw-07"></a>
- Retrieve. Rule: The player chooses a card that has already been used or discarded and immediately returns it to his hand. <a id="variant-draw-08"></a>
- Exhaust recovery. Rule: The effect removes a card from the temporary exclusion zone and returns it to the circulation of the current battle. <a id="variant-draw-09"></a>
- Loot / rummage. Rule: The player draws and discards cards in the prescribed order; the difference in order determines the availability of choice. <a id="variant-draw-10"></a>
- Stored draw. Rule: The effect postpones additional draw until the next turn or selected moment. <a id="variant-draw-11"></a>
- Draw rules. Rule: The rules guarantee a card of a certain type or change the draw when a condition is met. <a id="variant-draw-12"></a>

## Context and limits

Design taxonomy of basic rules and options, including card operations and external systems. The number of entries is not a generally accepted classification of independent mechanics.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on 2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and editorial review.

- [Dominion: Adventures rules](https://www.riograndegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/DomAdventures2022.pdf) (id: source-7726ac5e97630c73)
- [Aeon's End · original rules](https://media.lavkaigr.ru/uploads/9e-aeons-end-rulebook.pdf) (id: source-3719d6c00eb94e21)
- [Slay the Spire](https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/) (id: source-7f09c8a736762f4f)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors