Pick … unique digits (0–9) as your starting hand. These are your weapons.

Each round, both you and the Machine secretly pick one card — revealed at the same time.

Higher card wins the round. The winner's card is spent (removed from play). The loser's card goes to the winner's hand. So the winner loses their played card but gains the opponent's — net swap.

Equal cards = draw. Both cards are permanently removed from play. Nobody gains anything.

Weighted Score decides the winner. Not all wins are equal — a close win (9 beats 8) scores high. A wasteful win (9 beats 0) scores low or negative. Play smart, not just strong.

Strength = sum of your remaining cards. If scores are tied, higher strength wins. If still tied, round wins decide.

Big cards are risky — playing 9 against a 0 wastes your best weapon for nothing. Small cards can bait the Machine into wasting big ones.