Rise Up

Rise Up is a single player card game using a standard playing deck. It's inspired by roguelikes. I designed it for the bi-weekly constraints challenges we do over at Bromberry Games (please check it out here).

I recommend the video where I show the setup and explain the rules, just so you can imagine what it looks like while reading these rules. However, I have changed it a bit so this page will always be the most current version.

Setup (for the first stage):

1. Remove all jokers and Aces from your deck
2. Shuffle your deck and draw 17 cards.
   
3. Add a random Ace to the 17 cards and shuffle the pile.
4. Then place the cards face down in a 3x3 grid, these are the "rooms". The first row has one card per room, the second row two cards, and the third should have three cards per room.
5. Now draw three cards and put them face up anywhere you find convenient: these are your "abilities."
6. Do this only on the very first setup: add a random ace to your abilities.
7. Place your joker below the first row.

Goal:

• You win a stage when you find the ace in one of the rooms. Then repeat the setup process but add 9 cards when you draw (so in the second stage you draw 26; draw 35 in the third). Of course, place 1 more card in each room (e.g., in the second stage you place 2 cards in the first row, 3 in the second, and 4 in the third row.) You also get an additional ability each stage.
• You win the game when you find all the aces.

How to play:

• You move into rooms by investing  the strength (the number) on your abilities to beat them. You succeed if you have an equal or higher value number.
• Repeat until you either lose (have less strength) or until you find the ace.

Abilities:
The number and suit on each of your abilities are independent. This means that if you have, for example, the 5 of hearts, its strength is 5, and its ability is hearts.

• HEARTS = let's you draw a card from the unused pile.
• DIAMONDS = let's you reveal a face down card.
• SPADES = let's you remove a card from play. 
• CLUBS = let's you move a card to another room.

You can use a suit's ability only once per card. To use a suit's ability you must rotate it to show that you have used it. However, once you use an ability it loses 1 strength. For example, 5 of hearts, would now count like a 4.

Rules:

• Your joker can move up/down or left/right. No diagonal movements.
• The strength of the cards goes from Ace (1) to King (13).
• You have to decide before moving into a room how many cards you are "investing."
• If you beat a room, you lose the cards you invested and receive the cards that were in the room. 
• When you beat a stage you receive the ace as a special ability. You can use it once per game(!), not every stage, user beware.

Failure:

• The room you moved into has a strength higher than yours.
• You removed the Ace with the spade ability.