Sultan's Game

Release Date: March 31, 2025

RPG, fantasy, 2D, card games, elements of strategy, adventure elements, indie games, singleplayer

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A narrative card game with RPG and strategy elements. In Sultan's Game we must satisfy the whims of the titular sultan and pariticipate in a life and death game, waging our life and lives of others. The ruler plays various cards, forcing us to perform difficult or even cruel deeds for him.

Gameplay
Story

Sultan's Game is a narrative card game with RPG and strategic elements, in which we try to survive as long as possible at the court of the titular sultan. The game was developed by the independent studio Double Cross, while its release was handled by the company 2P Games.

Gameplay

The basis of Sultan's Game is the titular game, in which our sultan plays with us. The game takes place on boards. They depict maps of locations (where we place characters that are kind of "pawns" in this game), as well as cards we play and descriptions of heroes, places or situations.

A deadly game

The ruler draws one random card from his deck every week and gives us 7 days to trigger the event associated with it. The card of corporeality was associated with physical pleasures, extravagance - with spending money, conquest - with organizing military expeditions, while bloodshed - with depriving people of life.

The issue is complicated by the fact that they have also been differentiated in terms of value. Depending on whether we draw a gold or silver card, we need to find a target of the same social value. For example, killing a beggar will not be enough to satisfy the sultan after he plays the golden card of bloodshed. In such a case it will be necessary to find a victim at his court.

The satisfaction of the sultan plays a key role here, because if we fail in this task, then he will have our heads cut off.

Wide range of possibilities

Playing the Sultan's game requires us to interact with characters and win their sympathy and trust, as well as participate in various events. Individual characters were differentiated not only in terms of their attitude towards us, but also their personalities and statistics such as wisdom or reputation. These last ones have great significance in terms of how they will cope in situations in which we put them. They also make their loss exceptionally painful (for example, if we are forced to kill someone who spied for us at the court).

Initially the next cards put pressure on us, but over time we manage better and learn how to use them to our advantage. For example, we can use the blood spill cards to get rid of one of our enemies, while the carnality card can serve as a perfect excuse to continue a forbidden romance.

Skilled resource management and increasing our influence ensures us a higher position at the court. At some point, we may even feel confident enough to kill the ruler and try to take the sultan's place. On the other hand, we can become the most loyal among the ruler's collaborators. The game even allows us to appeal to dark gods to destroy the entire world around us.

Story

Sultan's Game transports us to a fantasy world inspired by the book One Thousand and One Nights, specifically - to a kingdom ruled by a mad sultan. During the game, we take on the role of a minister, and our task is to fulfill the whims of the ruler who is playing a cruel game with us, in which our life is at stake.

Videos and Screens

[0:54] Sultan's Game - Trailer #1