Dungeon Solitaire
A deck-building, dungeon-making, rogue-like card game made for the 2019 GMTK jam!
The theme of this jam was "Only one". This game demonstrates that theme by putting players in situations where they are only able to pick one card from a deck that the are continuously building.
How to Play
Building Your Deck
At the title screen, you can push the Z key to start the game. You will then be shown the deck building screen.
At this screen, you will be asked to pick seven cards to make your starting deck of cards. For each set of three cards, use the left and right arrow keys to pick the card, then the Z key to confirm.
Once you have selected all of your cards, the game will begin.
Playing the Game
This screen is the main screen of the game. On each level, your goal is to move the player piece from its starting location to the staircase. You may move the player in any of the directions shown by the arrows by using the arrow keys.
However, most of the time, there will not be a straightforward path to the staircase. In that situation, you will need to play some cards.
Playing Cards
When at the main game screen, pressing the Z key will open the Deck Menu.
At this menu, you can move the cursor up and down with the arrow keys, and select an option with the Z key. Selecting "Cancel" or pressing the X key will close the menu.
If you select "Draw Cards", the game will automatically draw the next 3 cards from the deck.
When the 3 cards are displayed, you can select one of the cards with the left and right arrow keys. Press the Z key to confirm your selection.
The card you select will be moved to the playing field. The other cards will be discarded, and cannot be used until the next level.
At this point, the card you chose can be moved with the arrow keys. When it is in the correct position, press the Z key to place it.
When you place a card onto the table, it will not return to your deck. Think carefully about which cards to use.
If there are fewer than 3 cards remaining in your deck, you will only be able to pick from those ones.
Viewing the Deck
By either selecting "View Deck" from the Deck Menu, or by pressing the X key at most points during the game, you will be able to view the cards in your deck.
The cards on the left are the ones in your deck, and the cards on the right are the ones in your discard pile. You can look at different cards by using the arrow keys, which is helpful when you have a lot of cards in your deck.
Pressing the Z or X key will return you to the previous screen.
Different Kinds of Room Cards
As well as having different entrances and exits, some rooms have special features:
The staircase is the main goal of each level. Aim to move the player piece to this space.
Move to a room containing a heart, and your HP will be replenished by 1 point.
When you move into a room containing a chest, you will be immediately given a choice of three more cards to add to your deck.
When you enter a room containing a monster, you will fight. The monster will be defeated, but you will lose one HP in the process. When you run out of HP, it's Game Over.
Special Cards
Certain cards cannot be played onto the board, and instead perform special functions when played. There are four types of these, and a description is displayed on-screen whenever they can be selected.
Winning the Game
Instead of a staircase, Level 9 contains a Crown. When you pick up this Crown, you will win the game!
Tips and Advice
- Once you use a card, it's gone forever. The ones you don't use will be added back into your deck at the start of your next turn.
- Sometimes, you can draw a card containing a monster. These cards can still be useful. Check the number of exits on the card!
- There are two ways to lose the game. You will lose if you run out of HP from fighting too many monsters, but you will also lose if there are no more cards in your deck and no moves you can make. Be careful!
Good luck!
Turn-based RPG AND Solitaire ! Two of my favorite types of games all rolled into one. NICELY DONE !!
You definitely get my gold star. Superb work, keep it up !
I've played about all of your games, they are really good, I only wish I could get them in the html5 format tho…
I love the little animation of the turned-over cards when the player character fights monsters on them. :D
Belated bug report: there seem to be occasional situations where the game announces that the player is stuck when they can legally reach the crown on level 9:
Thanks again for the really fun game - I've played it a lot, and I still delight in it!
Finally got my first win after getting to the room with the crown and failing once. I would play this as like a full rouge like deck builder, most fun I've had on Pico so far and that's saying something. Love your games, can't wait to see what you make next.
Flew a little too close to the sun XD
Been really enjoying this game - thank you for making it!
Oh! Oh, I think I figured out a bug!
In the no_more_moves() function, there being more moves depends on there being an available square meeting one of three conditions: s.middle_sprite==88 (a closed chest), s.middle_sprite==104 (an exit stairacse) or s.patron_card.flip<0.5 (which I assume means the card being face down). However, there is no check for s.middle_sprite==109 (the crown on the final level), so it is possible to reach the final level, be in a position to win it all, and have your game cut off with a message that there are no remaining moves because you're out of cards, all reachable cards are face-up, and there's no closed chests left.
Just doing a quick check, I think adding "or s.middle_sprite==109" to the two lines with the checks in that section prevents this bug and allows the game to be completed as intended under such circumstances.
Finally broke through! This game is so much fun, makes me keep wanting to come back & play again!
EDIT: I wonder how few steps/cards is possible now.
I think I'm now officially a speed runner for this game.
Took me awhile, but I lowered my step count to 28! Fewer than 6 cards might be undoable though.
In my never ending quest to win this game with as few steps/cards as possible, I have caught my white whale - the 5 card win!
Incredible game. How did I miss this gem? Have u considered also making a physical version for print and play board game folks? As a board game fanatic, I see this game doing well as a solo card game :)
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