Fightball was invented by a creative mollusk living at the bottom of the sea. In the time-honored tradition of all great developments in Science and the Arts, it takes a fast-talking invertebrate who stinks of low tide to show us the next big thing in our own crowded world.

Okay, not really.

Fightball started life under the working title of Basketbrawl, as the basis for a real-time collectible card game with an NBA license. Designers Mike Selinker and James Ernest created the original game proposal for Wizards of the Coast in 2001. Basketbrawl required a play mat, two customized 40-card decks, and an orange 20-sided die.

When Wizards decided they didn't want the game, James Ernest was happy to refit it and publish it under his own imprint, James Ernest Games. Ernest and Selinker converted their collectible game into a fixed-deck format, creating six fantasy teams and inventing the universe of Fightball. They also made some improvements to the original game, like taking out the die.

To read the rules of Fightball, click here.

To learn about the players in Fightball, click here.

To read about the strategy of the game, click here.

For the list of Frequently Asked Questions, click here.

To learn ten things you didn't know about Fightball, click here.