Scoundrel

One-Deck game type. 1 deck. Unlimited redeals.

Object

Clear the dungeon by discarding all cards without running out of health.

Rules

Scoundrel is a solitaire game about a dungeon crawl. You start with 20 health and your goal is to clear the dungeon without running out.

The red face cards and aces are removed from the deck.

Deal four cards at a time from the deck. These cards represent the dungeon room. After dealing cards, you may either run, or attempt to clear the room. If you run, click the talon, place the four cards at the bottom of the deck, and deal four new cards. But you may not run from two rooms in a row.

If you try to clear the room, you must play three of the four cards, as follows:

• Hearts represent healing potions. If you play one, increase your health by its face value. But your health cannot increase above 20. You can only use one heart per room. If you were to play a second heart before clearing the room, it is simply discarded with no health increase.
• Diamonds represent weapons. You can collect one and play it to the weapon space. If a weapon was previously played here, discard it, along with any slain monsters played next to it.
• Black cards represent monsters. Each monster's strength is based on its rank - Jack is 11, Queen is 12, King is 13, and Ace is 14. You may slay a monster with either your fists, or the played diamond/weapon. If using your fists, discard the monster and reduce your health by its strength. If using a weapon, reduce the damage you take by the strength of the weapon. Then, play the monster next to the weapon. You cannot slay another monster with the same weapon unless its strength is the same or lower.

Once three cards have been played, deal three new cards from the talon to replace them to set up the next room.

You win if you manage to completely clear the dungeon by discarding all the cards before you run out of health.

History

Scoundrel was invented by Zach Gage and Kurt Bieg in a game jam in 2011. It became popular in the mid 2020s.

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General rules

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