How to Play Scoundrel

Scoundrel is a solo tactical card game — part roguelike, part solitaire. Survive a dungeon represented by a 44-card deck. Clear every card without dying to win.

The Deck

Start with 20 HP. A standard deck with the red face cards and red Aces removed — 44 cards total.

  • ⚔️ Monsters — Spades & Clubs: Strength equals rank (2–10, J=11, Q=12, K=13, A=14).
  • 🛡️ Weapons — Diamonds: Equip to reduce combat damage.
  • 🧪 Potions — Hearts: Heal up to your 20 HP cap.

The Room

Four cards are dealt face-up each turn — your Room. You must interact with at least three of the four. The fourth carries over into the next room.

Rules of Play

1

Combat — Bare-handed

Tap a monster to fight bare-handed. You take the monster's full rank value as HP damage.

2

Combat — With a Weapon

Equip a Diamond card as your weapon. When fighting, you take only the difference between the monster's value and your weapon's value (minimum 0).

Durability: Your weapon can only be used against a monster strictly weaker than its last kill. If it last killed an 8, it cannot fight an 8 or higher.

3

Potions

Tap a Heart card to drink a potion and restore HP up to your 20 HP maximum. Only the first potion used in a room heals you — a second one in the same room is wasted.

4

Fleeing

If a room looks fatal you may flee — all four cards are shuffled to the bottom of the deck. You cannot flee two rooms in a row; the very next room must be faced.

Strategy Tips

  • Preserve weapon durability. Don't waste a powerful weapon on weak early monsters — save it for the high-value monsters ahead.
  • Equip early. An empty weapon slot means every monster costs full HP. Prioritise any Diamond you find.
  • Save potions for emergencies. Don't drink them near full health — they cap at 20 HP.
  • Flee sparingly. Fleeing is a safety valve but you can only flee every other room.
  • Think about carry-overs. The one card you leave behind enters the next room — choose wisely.

About Scoundrel

Scoundrel was designed by Zach Gage and Kurt Bieg as a print-and-play card game. It distills the tension of a roguelike dungeon crawler into a single standard deck of cards — no board, no dice, no special components required.

The genius of the design is the weapon durability rule: your weapon gets weaker every time you use it, forcing constant tactical decisions about when to fight, when to switch weapons, and when to run.