Las Vegas 2024. Vampires have stolen your blood. Play the card game of your life and win it all back.
Rules
Every round you will be dealt 9 cards face-down. The goal of the game is to flip as many cards face-up as possible. There is one Vampire card and 8 value cards ranging from 2 to 9. There is always only one copy in each card on the board. If you flip the Vampire card you lose the round.
Complete rows or columns to unlock Hint Tokens.
-
A [+] hint token can be placed on a face-down card to predict its number. The token will display a number once placed. The value of the face-down card is that number or higher. Vampire cards count as 10. So a [8+] token means the card is either a 9, an 8 or a Vampire
-
A [<>] token can be placed on a face-up card to predict the numbers of adjacent face-down cards. The token will show which adjecent cards have a higher or lower value. Vampire cards count as 10.
- A [□] hint token will highlight a 2x2 area. The Vampire card must be in that area.
If you think you know where the Vampire card is you can use the Stake to stab it immediately for more points.
Flipping a card will raise the stakes. If you flip over all value cards or stab the Vampire the stakes will be added to your winnings. If you flip the Vampire the stakes will be substracted from your winnings.
You can use the button in the lower left corner to pass a round. You will keep the stakes but you need to pay a penalty of the value of two card flips.
Each match lasts 5 rounds.
Use the blood you win to unlock opponents with higher payouts. You win the game if your reach 5000ml. Your progress will be saved between matches. But if you lose all your blood your savegame will be wiped and you need to start over.
Credits
This game was created as part of the A Game By Its Cover Jam 2020. The goal was to create a game based on of the cartridge covers from the Famicase Exhibition 2020. The cover to High Stakes was created by Tyler Q Anderson and Jamie C Lee.
The music was composed by Gruber Music.
The game was written and designed by me ;). Enjoy!
This is very good! I love the way the little hint tokens bounce when the stake drops into a card - great little touch!
Bruh i just got lucky and 68ml blood, then, when i unlock the second demon guy, i lose 130ml THE FIRST ROUND wtf??
are there like ways to know which one it is bc it just feels like gambling
It's definitely gambling, but using logic (e.g. "the eight and nine are already showing, so this card with an "8+" hint on it must be the vampire") can get your odds better than chance in my experience.
...I would recommend saving up before tackling any given table, though, just so bad luck doesn't wipe you completely out.
Great game! I got addicted almost instantly. Got through the game in my second run! :) thanks for the spoopy evening!
.png)
I love the concept, I love the execution, I love the design, everything. What I like the most is how you made this game from a gambling game into a skill game with the hint tokens.
This game is very, very good. The design and presentation are really premium, and the feeling of taking risks and gambling is captured really well. There are lots of times when you are debating with yourself on if you should pass, or press your luck. Also times when you just get a feeling and decide to use the stake after a few card flips. Excellent sense of tension.
Thanks for the feedback guys. Version 2 was just released which now includes Win-Streaks and a Score Mode for some added replayablility. Also, I linked a "Design Notes" video above for those interested in how the game came about.
Ah man, I felt the thrill of gambling with this one, and I have never gambled.
i havent been addicted to playing a game for quite a while, and this one took me in a heartbeat. the pixilated design fits perfectly with the gambling genre, and was also brain teasing the more you risked. i was so immersed one time that i started speaking to myself outloud(which never happens), and i was hooked on the game for hours.
HOOOLY macaroni. I have a gambling addiction now! This same is so damn great!
I love this game, I think it would've made a perfect mobile game to gamble all your blood at any place you want.
Pictured: the easiest round of my life
Thanks for the feedback guys. Glad to hear you are enjoying it!
Based on player feedback on Newgrounds I added one last tweak to the game's difficulty. The Streak number will now feed back into the Pass Penalty. So with repeated playthroughs of the game Passing becomes more expensive and you can rely less and less on Pass to help you out of tricky situations - suggested by Newgrounds user Lokiferus.
Made it all the way to the 100x dealer. After a few bad rounds, my life came down to a 50/50 flip with all my blood on the line and a 2+ token on the table. I played the odds, turned over the 2+, got the vampire and lost it all. It was an intense moment.
One of my favorite games on the platform. Absolutely amazing, both aesthetically and mechanically.
Loved this one! Didn't read the instructions first but it only took a few rounds to riddle out the game. Very addictive! Took a while to get to 5000ml 😅
 (1).gif)
Found it really difficult, but enjoyed it a lot, and the animations are just sooooo good
Heck yes, I finally beat it. This game is very well done and challenging. I spent hours trying to beat this game, very satisfying when I finally did.
Thank you for putting together such an entertaining game
The odds get really tough after 2 streaks. I'm scared to play now that I have 3. Great game!
.png)
Is anyone else losing all their blood because of the double or nothing or do I just like to gamble
This game introduced me to Pico8 and I've been obsessed with these games ever since. The dark and eerie graphics and music tied with the tension of high stakes gambling is bone chilling fun. It took me sometime, but after a few late nights with some hot coffee i was able to beat them all and get my blood back. This game is awesome, I would love to see an upgraded version someday, maybe with some spooky 3D graphics.
Absolutely bloody fantastic.
I was going to comment on the behavior of the + hint token seeming off. And then I looked at the code.
( ORLOK! )
/
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ |
Well done!
i got obsessed with this game instantly. it was so well made and the chances? well done.
Such a good game, all around. I especially like the randomised card backs - you might not notice that but it's a really nice touch. Well done! Would highly recommend playing through at least once
For first unlock: Save up about 100-150 ml of blood.
For second unlock: Save up about 500 ml of blood.
For final unlock: Upwards of 1000 ml of blood.
Anyway 10/10 game i love this
Awesome vibe. Took a little while to figure out, but once I had a system, it was slow and steady to the win.
You are probably wondering what that was... You see, the card with the stake in it, the vampire (final one too) was to put simply, a plus 3... The other was a plus 9, best misclick in my life... Not even joking.
And to give a heads up, that was the round I won in! Thank goodness for the mistakes we make in life...
Don't know how active this thread is anymore, but I've taken to speedrunning this game, and it is actually pretty fun. To this, I commend the creator - *good work, @Krystman, good work*
-
(the evidence)
Oh yeah also there is this
Once you get past 10,000 the score overlaps other screen elements at times, like here:
There is now an official speedrun leaderboard for High Stakes. Anyone who wants to submit a run can follow this link!
@THATUSERUSER Awesome! You are pushing this games to heights I have never imagined. I'll put that UI issue on the list. Is there any feature you wished there was from a speedrun perspective?
@Krystman I don't know if you have enough tokens for this, but an in-game timer would be nice. (For both the main game and when playing a single vampire in score mode.) But that would be more of a luxury than anything. Maybe it could be an option to turn it on in the pico-8 pause menu?
Absolutely love this game so much! Everything about it feels so perfectly polished, and the theming is fantastic. Really amazing piece of work <3
Fantastic game! I’ll echo everything Tommo said. I love how the little card tiles shift when a stake is slammed down. Excellent attention to detail.
[Please log in to post a comment]