Quick answer
CardSpicy explains the Digimon Card Game from the publisher’s rules rather than from table habit, and the game uses one shared gauge that both players draw from — what you leave behind is what your opponent starts with.
Most card games hand each player their own resources at the start of a turn, and the skill is in spending them well. The Digimon Card Game does something else. There is one gauge on the table, both players draw from it, and the amount you leave behind is the amount your opponent starts with.
That single decision changes the shape of a turn, and it is the first rule worth learning after the Digimon card index has told you what the cards are.
One gauge, shared between both players
The memory gauge has 0 in the centre and runs to 10 on each player’s side. It is not owned by either player; it is a single track that both players move. To pay a cost, the counter is moved one space toward your opponent’s side for each point of the cost.
When the turn changes hands
If the counter lands on 1 or higher on your opponent’s side, your turn ends once any effect or action already in progress has finished resolving, and it becomes your opponent’s turn. That is the rule that ends most turns, and it means a turn is not measured in a fixed number of actions — it is measured in the gauge.
The reverse matters just as much. If the resolution of an effect or action pulls the counter back to 0 or above on your side, your turn continues. A card that returns memory can therefore buy you another action.
Why you cannot simply spend everything
Because the memory left on the opponent’s side is the memory they begin with. Ending a turn is a payment, not a pause: a turn that finishes with the counter deep on the opponent’s side hands them a large opening play. A turn that finishes with it one space over gives them almost nothing. Two turns that deployed the same cards can therefore leave the opponent in very different positions.
The ceiling
Neither player can hold more than 10 memory, and a cost cannot be paid with memory you do not have. To play a card costing 13 you need at least 3 memory on your side already, because the counter has to be able to move the full distance without passing 10 on your opponent’s side.
What this page does not claim
No prices, and no card counts. We have not yet run a checked pull of graded sales for the Digimon Card Game, and the rules on this page are quoted from the publisher’s own glossary rather than from third-party summaries. Where Bandai does not define something, this page says nothing about it.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pay memory costs in the Digimon Card Game?
By moving the memory counter one space toward your opponent’s side for each point of the cost. The gauge has 0 in the centre and runs to 10 on each side, and it is shared between both players.
What happens when the memory gauge crosses to your opponent’s side?
Your turn ends once any effect or action already in progress has finished resolving, and it becomes your opponent’s turn. The amount left on their side is what they begin with.
Can the gauge move back to your side during your turn?
Yes. If the resolution of an effect or action moves the counter to 0 or above on your side, your turn continues rather than ending.
What is the most memory a player can have?
Ten. Neither player can exceed 10, and a cost cannot be paid with memory you do not have, so a 13-cost card needs at least 3 memory on your side already.
Is the memory gauge the same as a per-turn energy pool?
No. A per-turn pool belongs to one player and is refilled at the start of that player’s turn. The Digimon gauge is a single shared track, and spending moves it toward the opponent.
Sources
Sources and further reading
- Bandai — the Digimon Card Game official rules and glossary: the memory gauge, the areas of the playing field, the card types, the card code prefixes and the timings referred to on this page.
- Bandai — the Digimon Card Game rulebook and restricted-card list.
- Rules wording is quoted from the publisher’s own glossary rather than from third-party rules summaries.
- This page was compiled 2026-10-06. Card counts are only quoted where the publisher publishes them.
Rules wording is quoted from Bandai’s own rules and glossary at the date cited and is subject to change. This page is rules and identification, not valuation: we publish no price for Digimon cards, because we have not yet run a checked pull of graded sales for the game.
Related reading
- The Digimon card index — the seven colours and the four card types
- Digivolution and sources: what sits under a Digimon
- The security stack, and how a game ends
Where to go next
- The CardSpicy card index — every card we track, with its PSA 10 population and market history (195 cards).
- The illustrator index — every artist behind those cards, card by card (110 artists).
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