diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index a64be1b..e5a5c28 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -491,6 +491,15 @@ zombie (now an occasional opponent, `TUNE.racketEvery`, not the every-game fixtu
   `RETURNED`, `DOUBLE KILL`) is a footnote to something you already watched happen. Sharing the loud
   FACE with the milestone cards is right; sharing their SIZE made every footnote read as a milestone.
 
+## Session log: the rules cards get zones too (2026-08-29, Oliver: "wichtige Infos, schwer zu erfassen")
+
+Same disease as the walk-on, same medicine: the three mode modals (THE TOURNAMENT, DEATH MATCH,
+THE TRAINING COURT) carried compound em-dash sentences edge to edge. `render.drawRulesModal`
+(driven by `m.rules: [{lead, sub, hot, pips}]`): each rule is its own boxed row — the statement
+in cream, the consequence beneath it DIM for information and the modal's hot colour only when it
+threatens (`hot`), and a rule about blood shows the pool as the HUD's own pips instead of a naked
+number. Entrance lanes, freeze and tap rules unchanged; title/body still carry the words.
+
 ## Session log: the walk-on gets its own face (2026-08-29, Oliver: "buried in a wall of text")
 
 The opponent intro carried six kinds of information as one modal line stack. It wears designated
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index ad355f5..ec2de3d 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -871,6 +871,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=337"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=338"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/beats.js b/src/beats.js
index e45c750..0b5f0a6 100644
--- a/src/beats.js
+++ b/src/beats.js
@@ -390,19 +390,27 @@ export function startMatch(cup = false, draw = null, train = 0) {
     G.seen.train = true;
     showModal({ title: 'THE TRAINING COURT', color: UI.hot,
       body: ['ONE BODY, ONE GAME AT A TIME',
-             'FELL IT — OR BLEED OUT — AND IT COMES BACK', 'NO RUN IS BANKED — REPS PAY QUARTER XP'] });
+             'FELL IT — OR BLEED OUT — AND IT COMES BACK', 'NO RUN IS BANKED — REPS PAY QUARTER XP'],
+      rules: [{ lead: 'ONE BODY, ONE GAME AT A TIME', sub: 'FELL IT OR BLEED OUT — IT COMES BACK' },
+              { lead: 'NO RUN IS BANKED', sub: 'REPS PAY QUARTER XP' }] });
   } else if (cup && !G.seen.cup) {
     G.seen.cup = true;
     showModal({ title: 'THE TOURNAMENT', color: UI.hot,
       body: ["UP YOUR LEAGUE'S DEAD HIERARCHY — THE FINAL IS SET",
-             'ITS POINTS DRAW BLOOD — ' + TUNE.matchPlayerHp + ' AND YOU ARE EATEN'] });
+             'ITS POINTS DRAW BLOOD — ' + TUNE.matchPlayerHp + ' AND YOU ARE EATEN'],
+      rules: [{ lead: "UP YOUR LEAGUE'S DEAD HIERARCHY", sub: 'THE FINAL IS SET' },
+              { lead: 'ITS POINTS DRAW BLOOD', sub: 'AT ZERO YOU ARE EATEN', hot: true,
+                pips: TUNE.matchPlayerHp }] });
   } else if (!cup && !train && !G.seen.match) {
     G.seen.match = true;
     // Oliver's copy direction: name the stake, count the blood. TUNE.matchPlayerHp is the real
     // number, so the modal can never drift from the pool it describes.
     showModal({ title: 'DEATH MATCH', color: UI.hot,
       body: ['WIN THE POINT — WOUND THE ZOMBIE',
-             'ITS POINTS DRAW BLOOD — ' + TUNE.matchPlayerHp + ' AND YOU ARE EATEN'] });
+             'ITS POINTS DRAW BLOOD — ' + TUNE.matchPlayerHp + ' AND YOU ARE EATEN'],
+      rules: [{ lead: 'WIN THE POINT', sub: 'WOUND THE ZOMBIE' },
+              { lead: 'ITS POINTS DRAW BLOOD', sub: 'AT ZERO YOU ARE EATEN', hot: true,
+                pips: TUNE.matchPlayerHp }] });
   }
   matchOpponent();
   matchReady();
diff --git a/src/render.js b/src/render.js
index cfc0588..50579f6 100644
--- a/src/render.js
+++ b/src/render.js
@@ -2341,6 +2341,50 @@ function drawFlickHint() {
 const BACK_C = 1.70158;
 const easeBack = p => 1 + (BACK_C + 1) * (p - 1) ** 3 + BACK_C * (p - 1) ** 2;
 
+// THE RULES CARD (2026-08-29, Oliver: the mode modals were walls of text too). Each rule is its
+// own boxed row — the statement in cream over its consequence in the modal's colour — and a rule
+// about BLOOD shows the pool as the game's own pips instead of a naked number. Driven by
+// m.rules: [{ lead, sub, pips }]; title/body keep carrying the words for the suite.
+function drawRulesModal(m, t, dx) {
+  const boxW = Math.min(W - 28, 240), bx = Math.round(W / 2 - boxW / 2);
+  const rowH = r => (r.sub ? 34 : 22) + (r.pips ? 12 : 0);
+  const gap = 8;
+  const blockH = 30 + m.rules.reduce((a, r) => a + rowH(r) + gap, 0) - gap;
+  let y = Math.round(H / 2 - blockH / 2);
+  const hx = dx(0, 1);
+  ctx.font = B(24); ctx.fillStyle = m.color || UI.warm;
+  if (hx) for (const [f, a] of [[0.7, 0.12], [0.35, 0.26]]) {
+    ctx.save(); ctx.globalAlpha = a;
+    ctx.fillText(m.title, W / 2 + Math.round(hx * (1 + f)), y + 8);
+    ctx.restore();
+  }
+  ctx.fillText(m.title, W / 2 + hx, y + 8);
+  y += 30;
+  m.rules.forEach((r, i) => {
+    const h = rowH(r), rx = dx(i + 1, -1);
+    panel(bx + rx, y, boxW, h, 3, 'rgba(8,26,18,0.85)', 'rgba(120,150,130,0.4)');
+    ctx.font = F(8, 700);
+    shadowText(r.lead, W / 2 + rx, y + 12, UI.cream);
+    // the consequence line: DIM for information, the modal's hot colour only when it threatens
+    if (r.sub) { ctx.font = F(8, 0); shadowText(r.sub, W / 2 + rx, y + 25, r.hot ? (m.color || UI.warm) : UI.dim); }
+    if (r.pips) {                                   // the pool, in the HUD's own pip language
+      const pg = 9, pw = (r.pips - 1) * pg;
+      for (let k = 0; k < r.pips; k++) {
+        ctx.beginPath(); ctx.arc(W / 2 + rx - pw / 2 + k * pg, y + h - 9, 2.6, 0, 7);
+        ctx.fillStyle = '#8a1a12'; ctx.fill();
+        ctx.strokeStyle = 'rgba(0,0,0,0.5)'; ctx.lineWidth = 1; ctx.stroke();
+      }
+    }
+    y += h + gap;
+  });
+  if (t >= 1 && Math.floor(G.idleT * 2) % 2) {
+    ctx.font = F(8);
+    shadowText(IS_TOUCH ? 'TAP TO CONTINUE' : 'PRESS ANY KEY', W / 2,
+      Math.round(H / 2 + blockH / 2 + 24), UI.warm);
+  }
+  ctx.textBaseline = 'top';
+}
+
 // THE WALK-ON'S OWN FACE (2026-08-29, Oliver: the opponent card was "a wall of text" — six kinds
 // of information in one line stack). Designated zones instead: the MASTHEAD (mugshot beside the
 // name with the slogan under it), THE MEASURE (its level boxed against yours — the number wears
@@ -2417,6 +2461,7 @@ function drawModal(m) {
   ctx.fillRect(0, 0, W, H);
   ctx.textAlign = 'center'; ctx.textBaseline = 'middle';
   if (m.foe) return drawFoeModal(m, t, dx);
+  if (m.rules) return drawRulesModal(m, t, dx);
   const body = m.body || [], img = m.icon && SPR[m.icon];
   // cap the illustration against the viewport, not just the asset: at 270px tall (landscape) a
   // portrait-sized icon pushed the TAP prompt down onto the weapon rack