What you need to play

Two decks, a way to count to ten, and something to represent two resources. That is the whole shopping list.

The main deck#

• Exactly 50 cards. Not "at least" — exactly. A 49-card or 51-card deck is illegal.

• At most 4 cards with the same card name. The limit is on the name, not the artwork or the collector number, so four copies plus an alternate-art fifth is still five copies of that name.

• At most 8 cards carrying the Lucky icon across the whole deck.

• At most 2 colours. Cards come in red, blue, green and purple; a legal deck uses no more than two of them. Colourless cards are exempt and can go in any deck.

The soul deck#

• 10 soul cards, kept as a separate pile.

Souls are your energy: each turn you move some into play, and you tilt them sideways to pay for things. They are not shuffled into the main deck and they are never drawn.

Everything else at the table#

The floor rules list what a tournament expects you to bring for this game:

• both decks, in sleeves that differ between the main deck and the soul deck so the two cannot be confused mid-game;

• a life counter;

• material and ingredient markers.

Dice, beads or coins are acceptable stand-ins for any of the markers. Bring spare sleeves and a pen as well — neither is required, both save an event.

A note on souls without cards#

The rules explicitly allow tracking souls as numbers rather than physical cards, provided you track two values: how many souls you would have in total, and how many of those are standing. In a casual game that is up to the two of you; at an event it is up to the organiser.

Where to buy in#

You do not have to build from scratch. A starter deck plus a handful of booster packs is enough for two people to play immediately, and the official product pages list what is currently available.

Source: Comprehensive Rules ver. 1.00 (30 July 2026) §6.1 “Preparing the Decks”, the Palworld OFFICIAL CARD GAME Play Guide, and Bushiroad TCG Advanced Floor Rules ver. 1.2.12 §1.2.2.