Fool's Hand

FOOL'S HAND (Beta)

A poker roguelike deckbuilder set on a Vietnamese lacquer stage. Play poker hands, gather patrons from Vietnamese folklore, and outscore eight acts of ever-higher targets.

How it plays

• Build poker hands from a 52-card deck. Each hand scores Beats × Hype: Beats add up from the hand and the cards it scores; Hype multiplies them at the end.
• Each act has three tables: a small table, a high table and a boss. Reach the target with the hands and discards you have, then spend your winnings at the market.
• Clear all eight acts to win the run, then keep going in an encore if you dare.

What you collect

• 200 patrons: people, animals and objects from Vietnamese tales. Each one bends the rules in its own way, and some pairs form bonds that make both stronger.
• 50 charms, including Forbidden charms with a price, plus scrolls that level up your hands.
• Boons in the five elements, omens to read when you skip a table, and rare Legends that only a summoning can bring.

The five elements Every patron and every boss belongs to an element: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal or Water. Each table is ruled by one of them. Patrons in harmony with the ruler thrive, patrons against it wane, and patrons that overcome a boss's element weaken its target.

Bosses 20 bosses and 4 final bosses from folklore, each with a rule of its own that changes how you play that table.

Also, in the beta

• Four troupes to start a run with, and five difficulty tiers.
• A daily challenge, and seed codes to play the exact same run as a friend.
• Kho Tích, an almanac that fills in as you discover patrons, charms and bosses.
• Run history, with a playbill of every run you finish.
• English and Vietnamese, switchable at any time.
• Plays on desktop and on phones held sideways. Your run saves automatically in your browser; use Back up in Settings to move it to another device.

About this beta This is a work in progress. The pictures in this beta are placeholder art made with AI image tools and will be replaced by hand-drawn pixel art. Numbers and content may change between updates. Feedback is very welcome in the comments.