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i made a card game


- 14 Jan 2026

* Solo21:

* It's a Solitaire-type game, inspired by Blackjack.

restart game / play BGM made with MS Music Producer


* The rules:

* The game is played with a 54-cards deck (including 2 wild cards).
* The goal of each hand is to get a card total higher than the opponent card total without exceeding 21.
* Card values:

0 2-10 11 12 13 14

* Each hand begins by revealing the first card and the first opponent card;
For each subsequent hand card a choice has to be made, either to reveal the card or skip it.
Afterwards, the corresponding opponent card is revealed;
The last opponent card is not revealed if the opponent card total is 17 or higher.

* The hand is won if:

- the card total hits 21;
- the card total is higher than the opponent card total;
- the opponent card total is higher than 21.

* The hand is lost if:

- the opponent card total hits 21;
- the card total is lower than or equal to the opponent card total;
- the card total is higher than 21.

* When a hand is won, all revealed (face-up) cards are taken as Points; the rest are discarded.
If a hand is won with a card total of 21, all 6 cards in play are taken as Points.
* Game ends when the whole deck is exhausted (after 9 hands).


* Some thoughts:

* I came up with this simple card game around September/October.
I decided I wanted to share it on this website, but I thought just writing down the rules wouldn't be enough.
So I made an interactive digital version with JavaScript. This way you can try it without having to grab a deck of cards and fully understand how it works.


* Coding it has been a fun experiment!
Back in October I had started making it on Scratch, but I quickly lost motivation to continue when I encountered some issues I couldn't figure out how to fix.
Some weeks later I decided to attempt coding it in JavaScript, did most of it in early November, then took a break.
The break lasted until early January, when I finally implemented the code that checks if you've won or lost.


* The sprites of the cards are mostly from Bicycle Solitaire/Poker for Windows;
- the Ace of Spades has a custom design made by me based on a real card I own;
- the Joker cards are based on the one from Ginga for the NEC PC-8801;
- the back of the cards are custom, based on the back of Napoletane Dal Negro cards.

* I think my high score is 37 Points. I wonder what the highest possible score is... Is it possible to get all 54 cards as Points?
Expect more card-related blog entries at a later date.