Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist Kingdom Gameplay

Duel Rules

 * Each player begins the Duel with 2000 Life Points.
 * Direct attacking your opponent's Life Points is not allowed.
 * Players can Summon any Level Monster without offering Tribute.
 * Certain cards have anime-only special abilities that affect the Playing Field (e.g. "Umi" hides underwater monsters from being seen by the opponent; if attacked, "Mystical Moon" will lower "Umi's" tide to reveal the hidden monsters, etc).
 * Fusion Monsters didn't seem to exist as separate cards that the player owned within his Main Deck (Flame Swordsman was actually a Normal Monster, with the dub showing it as a Fusion Monster because it was Fusion Monster in the TCG).
 * Certain Field Types gave certain monsters bonuses, like the Ocean field for WATER monsters, which was eventually turned into a real card, (Umi), except the original ATK and DEF of those monsters gained by the bonus increases by 30 percent.
 * Only one attack is allowed to be declared per turn.
 * When a monster is destroyed by a card effect, the controller of that card will receive damage equal to half of that monster's ATK points. This is especially noticeable when a monster is destroyed by "Mirror Force".

Tournament Rules

 * Only 48 hours is given to obtain 10 star chips.
 * Participation is by invitation only. Each participant is given 5 Invitation Cards, 2 Star Chips, and 1 Dueling Gauntlet.
 * Participants in the preliminary round must be in possession of at least 1 Star Chip.
 * Each Duel, a player must wager a minimum of 1 Star Chip.
 * Players who have lost all their Star Chips are sent home.
 * The first 4 players to obtain 10 Star Chips will be admitted entry into the Castle in order to participate to the Duelist Kingdom Finals.
 * The Duelist Kingdom Finals are set up in a playoff-type mini-tournament.
 * Each participant of the Duelist Kingdom Finals must present one of his Playoff Entry Cards ("Glory of the King's Hand" or "Glory of the King's Opposite Hand").
 * "Glory of the King's Hand" is needed to claim the tournament cash prize.
 * "Glory of the King's Opposite Hand" allows the winner to challenge Pegasus for the Championship.