---
key: mechanic/deck-building--family-victory
type: mechanic
id: deck-building--family-victory
lang: en
title: 'Scoring, tempo and end conditions'
summary: >-
A deck must meet the victory condition before defeat. The player shifts
priorities between damage, defense and preparing future turns.
updatedAt: '2026-10-21'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/deck-building--family-victory/'
jsonUrl: >-
https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/deck-building--family-victory.json
markdownUrl: >-
https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/deck-building--family-victory.md
aliases:
- Card combat goals and tempo
tags:
- Deck building
- Systems and context
sourceIds:
- source-fa3aa60b9285f5a7
- source-7726ac5e97630c73
- source-913c57cc3395f4be
- source-7f09c8a736762f4f
sources:
- id: source-fa3aa60b9285f5a7
title: Dominion Rio Grande Games
url: 'https://www.riograndegames.com/games/dominion/'
verifiedAt: null
- id: source-7726ac5e97630c73
title: 'Dominion: Adventures rules'
url: >-
https://www.riograndegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/DomAdventures2022.pdf
verifiedAt: null
- id: source-913c57cc3395f4be
title: Ascension · Stone Blade rules
url: 'https://stoneblade.com/ascension/how-to-play/'
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-victory
title: Deck building
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/deck-building/#family-victory'
categoryIds:
- section-3
supersededBy: []
attributes:
preview:
updatedAt: '2026-10-21'
title: Card combat goals and tempo
description: >-
A deck must meet the victory condition before defeat. The player shifts
priorities between damage, defense and preparing future turns.
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: Defeat the enemies while staying alive
alt: >-
Slay the Spire: player health, enemy bars, available energy and the hand
inform the current plan for victory.
markers:
- x: 70
'y': 69
label: Target health defines the remaining combat objective
- x: 26
'y': 71
label: The player must also preserve their own health
tips:
- Identify which turns a deck uses to prepare and which to finish.
- Make shifts in priorities readable through the combat state.
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
---
# Scoring, tempo and end conditions
id: deck-building--family-victory
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/deck-building--family-victory
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/deck-building--family-victory/
A deck must meet the victory condition before defeat. The player shifts priorities between damage, defense and preparing future turns.
## At a glance
[Slay the Spire](https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/) · © Mega Crit. All rights reserved.
1. Target health defines the remaining combat objective
2. The player must also preserve their own health
- Identify which turns a deck uses to prepare and which to finish.
- Make shifts in priorities readable through the combat state.
- [Slay the Spire](https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/)
## How it works
What the deck should have time to do and how the rules force you to change priorities.
## Variants
### Variants and applications
- Victory cards. Rule: Some cards contribute final points, taking up space and potentially degrading working hands.
- External scoring. Rule: Cards produce tokens, advancement or other points without adding new cards into circulation.
- Composition scoring. Rule: The final result depends on the sets, types, quantity, uniqueness or other characteristics of the cards owned by the player.
- Non-card purchase. Rule: The player spends a resource on an event, permanent rule or points, maintaining the composition of the deck.
- Supply end condition. Rule: The batch ends after the specified stacks or other shared resource are emptied, affecting the timing of purchases.
- Clock. Rule: Limiting moves, buffing enemies, or the overall counter does not allow you to develop your deck indefinitely.
- Alternate win condition. Rule: A separate combination or achievement allows you to complete the game differently than through the base goal.
- Deck as health. Rule: Losing cards reduces your survival margin; exhausting the deck or failing to make a mandatory discard results in defeat.
- Boss / stage gate. Rule: To continue, you must pass an opponent or a test that tests the specific capabilities of the assembled deck.
## 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 Rio Grande Games](https://www.riograndegames.com/games/dominion/) (id: source-fa3aa60b9285f5a7)
- [Dominion: Adventures rules](https://www.riograndegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/DomAdventures2022.pdf) (id: source-7726ac5e97630c73)
- [Ascension · Stone Blade rules](https://stoneblade.com/ascension/how-to-play/) (id: source-913c57cc3395f4be)
- [Slay the Spire](https://www.megacrit.com/press-kits/slay-the-spire/) (id: source-7f09c8a736762f4f)
CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors