All you need is a deck of cards, grid paper, and a pencil.
In an effort to pry my brain away from my phone and other electronic devices, I recently challenged myself to create a game while on vacation. I was inspired by Book of Dungeon by Gunpowder Studios, but wanted something more free-form, rogue-like, and well… free for anyone to play.
I wanted the game to be:
- a solo rogue-like dungeon crawler adventure
- intuitive/easily understood
- lore-agnostic (can be plugged into any universe)
- simple (can be played with things easily obtained)
Thus, “Escape from Dzamadu” was born
Midway through the journey of your life, you found yourself in a forest dark, having lost the straightforward path. In a moment of carelessness, you lost your footing and fell what seemed like a great distance into a pit. You wake up surrounded by the skeletal remains of those that didn’t survive the fall. You have stumbled into what looks to be the ancient prison Dzamadu. You remember hearing stories as a child of it and the many traps within. The pit is far too steep to climb; you’re only hope is to find a exit somewhere deep in the prison. You recall all the reports of people who have gone missing in the surrounding area, and it all starts to make sense that perhaps they too ended up here. Who knows who (or what) else survived the fall and still walks the rooms of the prison. You ready your weapon and push forward likely encounter beasts, brigands, or other poor souls trapped in the endless twisting labyrinth of the prison Dzamadu.
Here’s what you need:
- a deck of standard playing cards with the jokers included
- grid paper (any size)
- a pencil & eraser
Creating your hero
Shuffle the deck with the jokers included. Start drawing cards, the first card you draw of each suit determines:
♥ your starting and maximum health
♠ Your starting weapon damage
♣ your starting and maximum wit
♦ the amount of money you start with
Write these stats on a separate page in pencil (you’ll be updating them often).
Entering the prison Dzamadu
Draw a “geometry card” from the top of the deck. This will determine the size of the starting room, the number of doors, and the location of the doors. Draw the room in the centre of the sheet of a fresh piece of grid paper.
Interpreting the Geometry Card
Geometry cards are used to determine the size of a room you are entering as well as the number and location of the doors. It’s pretty straight forward: the rank of the card determines the size of the room (i.e. 2 squares all the way up to an Ace which is 14 squares). The suit determines the number of doors and where they are located.
♥ 1 door located on the south side of the room
♠ 2 doors located on the north and south side of the room
♣ 3 doors located west, north, and east side of the room
♦ 4 doors located on the east, north, west, and south side of the room.
A couple notes about geometry cards
The shape of the room is up to you as long as it equals the rank of the card.
An adjacent room can create a new door on a previously drawn room if the geometry card specifies that a door should be on that side (think of this as a secret door that hadn’t been found when the first room was drawn).
A room can have a maximum of 4 doors (one on each side).
A block can only have one door. If you draw a room with more doors than blocks (2 of diamonds as an example) the first door will be on the direction indicated by the suit (in the case of diamonds, this would be the east side). The remaining doors continue counter-clockwise in priority (so a 2 of diamonds would have a door on the east side and south side of the room).
If a room or door crosses the edge of the sheet, it wraps to the other side of the sheet.
Moving into a room
- Pick a door you wish to move through.
- If the room you’re moving into is unmapped, draw a geometry card to determine it’s size and doors. Otherwise skip to step 3. If you reach the edge of the sheet of paper, continue from the opposite edge of the page.
- Draw a Room Type Card to determine what is in the room
- Draw a line showing the path of your character from one room to the next
Note: once you’ve interacted with a room, you may backtrack to any room you’ve previously interacted with without having to redraw a room type card. Any items left in rooms may be picked up. Reentering a room with an enemy that was left alive or trap that remains armed means you must interact with the enemy or trap again before moving on.
Interpreting the Room Type card
Every room you move into has a type that is determined by the Room Type card’s suit:
♥ The room contains an NPC
♠ The room contains an enemy
♣ The room contains a trap
♦ The room contains an item
Joker: This is the exit (you’ve won)
Once the room type is determined, you must interact with the room using the rules below before moving to the next room.
Interacting with an NPC Room
After entering an NPC Room, draw an NPC Type card:
♥ The NPC tells where a health is
♠ The NPC tells where a weapon is
♣ The NPC is a trader (see below)
♦ The NPC tells where money is
Joker: Tells you where the exit is
If the NPC is a trader draw 6 cards are arrange in this formation:
▮▮▮ The top row dictates the item (See Item Types)
▮▮▮ The bottom row dictates the price in money from 2 to 14 (ace)
You can buy any number of the three items (or none) before proceeding to the next room.
Note: the trader does not remain in the room after you’ve left.
If the NPC is a ♥, ♠, ♦, or joker
Draw 2 direction cards, the suit determines the direction, and the rank determines the distance in squares.
♥ South ⬇
♠ North ⬆
♣ West ⬅
♦ East ➡
Count the number of squares from where your character entered the room in the direction and distance dictated by each card and mark the square on the map where the item is.
If you navigate to a room that includes this square, you can pick up the item after interacting with the room. Draw a card to determine potency of the item.
Interacting with an Enemy Room
Upon entering an Enemy Room, draw an Enemy Type card. The suit determines what they will drop upon death, and the rank determines their weapon damage and potency of their drop. (See Item Types)
Draw another card to determine the enemy’s health.
You may now choose to fight or flee.
Fighting
Draw an enemy hit card, then draw a player hit card.
Add the rank of the enemy’s hit card to their weapon damage.
Add the rank of the player’s hit card to your weapon damage.
The difference dictates the damage done to the enemy or player. Example of a single volley:
| Enemy (Weapon 5) | Player (Weapon 4) |
| Hit card 7 | Hit card Queen (12) |
| 7 + 5 = 12 | 4 + 12 = 16 |
| Enemy is hit for 4 |
Continue drawing hit cards until the player or the enemy reaches a health of zero.
Jokers drawn during a volley is an instant kill for whichever side draws it.
Fleeing
At the beginning of a battle or before each volley in a battle, you may chose to try to flee. If you’d like to try to flee:
Draw the player’s flee chance, then draw the enemy’s flee chance.
If the enemy’s card is a higher rank, subtract half of the enemy’s weapon strength from the players health. Player may continue battle or try to flee again.
If the player’s card is higher, the flee is successful and you may flee to an adjacent room. The enemy remains in the room (mark the enemy’s location, weapon damage, and health on the map).
If the cards match in rank, the flee fails without damage to the player. Player may continue battle or try to flee again.
If a joker is drawn, the side that drew the joker instantly kills their opponent.
Interacting with a Trap Room
Upon entering a trap room, draw a trap type card. The suit determines what the trap will hit (if you spring the trap), or drop (if you disarm the trap). The rank determines the potency of the trap/drop (how much to subtract or add) to your stats.
♥ Health
If sprung, subtract potency from health stat
If Disarmed, add health to health stat up to maximum (if you were already at max health when entering the room, add 1 to maximum health).
♠ Weapon
If sprung, subtract potency from weapon stat
If Disarmed, player is free to replace weapon with the dropped weapon.
♣ Wit
If sprung, subtract potency from Wit stat
If Disarmed, add Wit to Wit stat up to maximum (if you were already at max Wit when entering the room, add 1 to maximum Wit).
♦ Money
If sprung, subtract potency from money stat
If Disarmed, add potency to money stat
Joker: An exit
If sprung, exit is sealed shut
If Disarmed, Exit is opened (you win)
Draw a card to determine the wit required to disarm the trap. If your wit is lower then the wit to disarm, the trap strikes you, if it is higher the trap is disarmed, and if it matches the trap remains in the room (draw a new wit to disarm if you reenter the room).
Interacting with an item room
Upon entering an item room, draw and Item Type card. The suit determines the type of item, and the rank determines the potency. It is your choice if you wish to pick up the item or leave it behind.
♥ Health potion
If picked up adds health to health stat up to maximum (if you were already at max health when entering the room, picking up the item adds 1 to maximum health).
♠ Weapon
You are is free to replace your current weapon with the weapon in the room.
♣ Wit potion
If picked up adds Wit to Wit stat up to maximum (if you were already at max Wit when entering the room, picking up the item adds 1 to maximum Wit).
♦ Money
If picked up, adds money to the money stat.
Joker: Wildcard potion
You may chose the type of item (Health, Weapon, Wit, or Money) before drawing a potency card.
If you choose to leave an item behind, mark its type, location, and potency on the map before continuing to the next room.
Artifacts
If you draw an Ace as an item type, you have found an artifact. You may keep the card and it grants you a permanent buff:
♥ Breastplate of righteousness: +15 to Max Health (but only when not fleeing)
♠ The Ultimate Weapon (Weapon with 15 potency)
♣ Immunity to Traps
♦ “Your money is no good here” (free items from traders)
Dying
Upon dying, the game ends. The map can be replayed with a newly created character. To reset the map, erase all items, enemies, traps, and exits as well as the line indicating the players path. Any items outside of the known rooms (from NPCs) may remain. The newly created player enters at the same point in the map (the centre) and draws a room type card for each known room they enter.
Winning
You win the game by successfully exiting the prison Dzamadu. Upon winning the game, find your score by counting the number of unique rooms your character entered during the game and adding the remaining stats your character finished with together. Example:
[# of rooms] + [health] + [weapon damage] + [Wit] + [Money]
= Score
Upon exiting the prison Dzamadu, the exit is sealed behind you. The map may be reset. To reset the map, erase all items, enemies, traps, and exits as well as the line indicating the players path. Any items outside of the known rooms (from NPCs) may remain.
Quick Reference
| ♥ Hearts | ♠ Spades | ♣ Clubs | ♦ Diamonds | |
| Direction | South ⬇ | North ⬆ | West ⬅ | East ➡ |
| Doors | One (S) | Two (N,S) | Three (W,N,E) | Four (E,S,W,N) |
| Room Type | NPC | Enemy | Trap | Item |
| Item Type | Health | Weapon | Wit | Money |
| NPC Type | Tells where Max Health is | Tells where weapon is | Trader/store | Tells where gold is |