---
title: "Spelljack"
subtitle: "Another blackjack revision"
author: Seth
publish_date: 2024-12-01 08:00
date: 2024-12-01 08:00
hero_classes: text-light title-h1h2 overlay-dark-gradient hero-large parallax
hero_image: playing-cards-1600x800.webp
show_sidebar: true
show_breadcrumbs: true
show_pagination: true
taxonomy:
category: gaming
tag: [gaming, tools]
---
I decided that during 2024, I'd make one game every month.
I thought it appropriate to finish it off in the way it began.
This month, I've created **Spelljack**, another extreme remix of Blackjack.
One of my previous blackjack remixes had magic-like powers granted to players pretty much at random.
You only got to cast a spell in [Magickjack](
http://mixedsignals.ml/blog/games/game_blackjack-magic) when you drew the highest card value.
When you cast the spell, its effect was determined randomly by a dice roll.
A big part of a spellcasting game like **Magic: The Gathering** (MTG) or **Potion Explosion** is the decision process providing players with an illusion of control over their own fate.
For **Spelljack**, I've decided to give players more control over their resources.
Initially, I had the idea of a Blackjack-style game played with separate decks,
which I hoped would mimic the deck building aspect of MTG.
The problem with that idea is that the cards don't indicate what spell they enable.
A cheat sheet could work, with maybe 26 different effects with a value and suit assigned to some number of spell effects, but that seems unwieldy for players.
It's hard enough to sort through 52 cards, much less to cross-reference a spell chart at the same time.
## Spell list
Instead of trying to recreate the complexity of **Magic: The Gathering** with a deck of playing cards, I decided that 9 effects was plenty, and theoretically memorable with enough repetition.
* **Diamonds:** Tap or untap 1 card in your hand. A tapped card doesn't count toward your hand total.
* **Clubs:** Take 1 card from your hand and add it to one opponent's hand.
* **Hearts:** Swap any number of heart cards in your hand with an equal number of heart cards in 1 opponent's hand.
* **Spades:** You may sacrifice (move to the bottom of your draw deck) this card to move 1 card from 1 opponent's hand to the bottom of their draw deck.
* **Queen:** Off with their heads! Exile (place in a discard pile) 1 card from your own hand.
* **King:** The Mad King! Exile (place in a discard pile) 1 card from an
opponent's hand.
* **Jack:** Swap all cards matching this card's colour with the same colour cards in 1 opponent's hand.
* **Joker:** Look at the top X cards of your draw deck, where X is the number of active players in the game.. Place the cards anywhere back in the deck.
* **Ace:** Add a +X counter to 1 opponent's hand, where X is the number of Aces in your current hand. Alternately, remove a counter from a card in your own hand.
## Gameplay
Give 1 deck of standard playing cards to each player.
Select 26 cards from your deck.
This is your draw deck.
On your turn, take a card from your draw deck.
Immediately upon drawing a card, you can cast its associated spell.
Once a card's spell is used, the card is "mundane" and is worth its value (face cards count as 10 points).
The first player with a hand worth exactly 21 points (at the end of their turn) wins.
## End game
Once any player's draw deck is depleted, the game is over.
The player closest to 21 wins.
## Lessons
Added spell options make for a more interesting game.
Building your own deck is a great way to feel ownership of your gaming experience.
Resource control is important, but also difficult to do simply.
Limiting spells to trigger only when initially drawn is a simple way of limiting the player power, but it comes at the cost of some player agency.
<div class="mxs_attribution"><p>
Header photo by <a href="
https://unsplash.com/@amandagraphc?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Amanda Jones</a> on <a href="
https://unsplash.com/photos/P787-xixGio?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>.</p></div>
