How to Play Scoundrel

Complete rules for the single-player roguelike card game by Zach Gage and Kurt Bieg (2011)

Scoundrel is a solo card game where you fight your way through a dungeon with whatever weapons you find along the way. Created by Zach Gage and Kurt Bieg in 2011, it plays in about 10 minutes with just a standard deck of playing cards. The rules are simple but the decisions get tough fast: when to fight, when to run, and when to gamble on the next flip.

What You Need

• A standard 52-card deck of playing cards (with Jokers)
• Paper and pen to track your health (or a good memory)

Setup

1. Remove 8 cards from the deck and set them aside. They are not used:
   • Both Jokers
   • All red face cards (Jack, Queen, King of Hearts and Diamonds)
   • Both red Aces (Ace of Hearts and Ace of Diamonds)
2. Shuffle the remaining 44 cards and place them face down. This is the Dungeon.
3. Write down 20 on your paper. This is your starting Health.

Card Types

Every card in the Dungeon has a specific role:

Monster Values

Number cards are worth their face value. Face cards and Aces follow this scale:

Gameplay

Entering a Room

On each turn, flip cards one at a time from the top of the Dungeon until you have 4 cards face up. These 4 cards form a Room.

On your first turn, all 4 cards come from the Dungeon. On later turns, the 1 leftover card from your previous Room stays face up, and you flip 3 new cards to complete the set of 4.

Avoiding a Room

Before resolving any cards, you may choose to avoid the Room. Scoop up all 4 cards and place them at the bottom of the Dungeon. You may avoid as many Rooms as you want, but you cannot avoid two Rooms in a row. After skipping, you must face the next Room.

Facing a Room

If you don't avoid the Room, you must resolve 3 of the 4 cards, one at a time, in any order you choose. The 4th card remains face up and becomes part of your next Room.

Choosing which card to leave behind is one of the most important decisions in the game.

Resolving Cards

Weapons (Diamonds)

When you take a Weapon, you must equip it. Place it face up in front of you. If you already had a weapon equipped, the old weapon and any monsters stacked on it go to the discard pile. Weapons are binding. You cannot choose to keep your old weapon when a new one appears. You must equip whatever weapon you pick up.

Health Potions (Hearts)

Add the potion's value to your Health, then discard it. Two restrictions:

• You may only use one Health Potion per turn. If you take a second potion in the same Room, it is discarded with no effect.
• Your Health cannot exceed 20.

Monsters (Clubs & Spades)

When you face a Monster, you choose how to fight it:

Fight barehanded: Subtract the Monster's full value from your Health. The Monster goes to the discard pile.

Fight with your weapon: Subtract the Weapon's value from the Monster's value. Any remaining damage is subtracted from your Health. Place the Monster face up on top of your Weapon, staggered so the Weapon's number stays visible.

The Weapon Degradation Rule

This is the most important rule in Scoundrel: once a Weapon has been used on a Monster, it can only fight Monsters with a value less than or equal to the last Monster it defeated.

Your weapon is not discarded. It stays equipped, but its usefulness decreases with each kill.

Winning and Losing

The game ends when either:

• Your Health reaches 0. You've been slain.
• You clear the entire Dungeon. You win.

Scoring

• If you survive: Your score is your remaining Health. A perfect game is 20.
• If you die: Find all remaining Monsters in the Dungeon and subtract their values from your (already 0 or negative) Health. This negative number is your score.
• Bonus: If you end with 20 Health and your last card was a Health Potion, add that potion's value to your score.

Quick Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Know the rules? Check out the Scoundrel Strategy Guide for tips on weapon management, room avoidance, and scoring high.