CRYBT is a solitaire roguelike with cribbage-esque rules. Watch the
explainer, read the
online rules, print a playing card sized
mini-booklet, or just
play online (recommended if your cribbage scoring is rusty.)
Tales from the CRYBT
3(1 player)
CRYBT is a solitaire roguelike with cribbage-esque rules. Watch the
explainer, read the
online rules, print a playing card sized
mini-booklet, or just
play online (recommended if your cribbage scoring is rusty.)
CRYBT (a portmanteau of Crib + Crypt) is based on
cribbage with some additions, notably you have to keep track of 20 Life points, the Crawl (round) number, and probably some rewards. (A cribbage board would serve for the first two.)
Play consists of a series of Crawls, divided up into four Encounters:
- Draw 5 cards, put one aside as an Offering, face up. This is equivalent to the crib, but isn't scored until after each Crawl.
- Draw another card (the Hero.) You may sacrifice the Hero (place face down in the Offering pile) and use a Graveyard card instead, if you have any.
- Draw another card (the Monster.) This is has a value equal to its cribbage value (e.g., face cards are 10) plus the Crawl number. Face cards have additional effects.
- Score your five card hand as in cribbage. If you're over the Monster value, you get points. If under, you lose Life.
- Your hand is put in the Discard pile. If you lost Life to the Monster it is put in the Discard, otherwise it is put in the Graveyard.
After four encounters the Crawl ends and you score your Offering. You should have four face-up cards (and possibly some face-down.)
- Draw another card (the Sacrifice) to your hand.
- Score your five card hand as in cribbage.
- If you have any face-down cards (sacrificed Heroes) subtract one point for each.
- If you have any cards in your Graveyard add one point for each.
- Note: this is omitted from some versions of the rules, but present in the mini-book and the video explainer. (Version numbering would be useful.)
You can now use points to restore your Life (up to the 20 you start with) and/or purchase "Boons" for the next Crawl (any previous Boons expire.) Play repeats; your score is the Crawl number in which you die.
This is a fun game, once you get the hang of it. It's a unique take on cribbage as a solitaire game (
previously) and the only rougelike one that I'm aware of. It would really benefit from a playmat, which is
even mentioned in the rules, so I'm a bit puzzled as to why there isn't one. The mini-booklet does have a useful spread that allows you to track which Boons you purchased and has the Face Card and Joker effects on the opposite page. I'd prefer if the Boons had their effects listed, instead of the cute graphics (you can flip to another page to find them.)
CRYBT was created by
TechDweeb. (The online version was coded by
vonhoon.) TechDweeb normally covers retro games and handheld video game systems on
his YouTube channel, but he has released several analog games now. His first was...
SOLATRO
This is a solitaire game inspired by the online can't-be-played-with-real-cards "card" game
Balatro. This one
can be played with real cards, ideally (but optionally) a pack with two jokers.
The
rules as written (
mini-book) are pretty simple, but a little confusing; e.g., he uses "play" and "hand" interchangeably. There's an
explainer video, but it's from an earlier version of the game and there have been some changes since. This is my understanding of the current rules:
You play in increments of
Rounds, each consisting of three
Hands of poker. For each Hand you
- Draw eight cards
- Discard up to five, and draw back up to eight
- Make the best five card poker hand that you can from your cards
The tricky bit is that the Discard steps can be moved within the Round. On your first Hand of the Round you could use all three Discards, or defer your Discard to use later.
Jokers are set aside from your hand (draw back up to eight) but otherwise behave as normal wild cards, with the twist that encountering a second Joker negates both.
If you fail to make enough points to reach the target (initially 25 points) by the end of the round, you lose. Otherwise, you can spend the
difference in points between the target and your total at the Shoppe for one-time-use items. The HAND SCORES/SHOPPE spread in the mini-book is useful here. Any leftover points are discarded, the target is incremented by 25 points, and play continues. I'm not sure if his love of retro games informs his death-is-inevitable game design sensibilities, or if it's the other way around.
I bounced of
Balatro when I tried it because of the insane numbers of wildcards, so this was interesting. However, it feels like it goes too far in the other direction to be interesting to
Balatro fans, and not quite far enough for standard deckers. I do like the negating jokers rule, and I played several hands with a deck with
four Jokers, which changed the game since the appearance of another Joker was much more likely.
TechDweeb's latest game is...
HERO-ish
This is a solo adventure meets
Texas Holdem dice game. As per usual, there are
online rules, a
printable version, and an
explainer video. They're... OK, but they at once assume an understanding of Texas Holdem, and don't emphasize the differences. The game was only released a couple weeks ago, so clarifications/changes can be expected.
You'll need seven six-sided dice and a bunch of tokens for coins (I think about 30, but chances are good you won't need them all.) A notepad can substitute for the coin tokens, and let you get by with just six dice in a pinch.
You'll also need a map of the land. The supplied one is a nice bit of flavor, but it's really quite symmetrical. Simplified:
THE
BEAR(1)---------TOWN-------BANDIT(1)
1 pair 1 pair
/ \ / \
WOLVES(1) GHOST(1)--------OGRE(1) GOBLIN(1)
2 pair 3 of kind 3 of kind 2 pair
| | | |
TROLL(2) W.WOLF(2) VAMP(2) WITCH(2)
low strt full house 4 of kind low strt
| |
KRAKEN(3) GIANT(3)
high strt 5 of kind
\ /
THE DRAGON(4)
5 sixes
The economics of this world are brutal. You start with ten coins. Moving to each location costs one coin, on the way out
and the way back. Fighting a monster requires three times its combat value (in parentheses.) So, just venturing out to attack the bear next door will cost 5 coins: 2 for travel and 3x(1) for combat. If victorious, you get double your wagers back (6 coins)
but half that money isn't available to you until you get back to town (and sell your loot.) More powerful/lucrative monsters are further away and increasingly require hiring additional heros, both of which add to your expenses.
If you run out of money, you starve to death. A common fate is to be stuck in town without enough money to even set out on another adventure. Then your only choice is to gamble at the Tavern until you have enough money... or none, in which case you starve to death. You're probably going to starve to death.
To understand how combat works, it helps to know the basics of Texas Holdem. It is a poker game in which each player tries to make the best five-card poker hand out of seven cards. Two "hole cards" are dealt to each player and are only useable by them, and then five "community cards" are dealt face up in three additional stages (three cards, one card, and one card.) Betting and/or folding takes place after each of the four stages.
In
HERO-ish combat is decided in a similar fashion with the dice substituting for cards. TechDweeb mentions the dice can be regular six sided (d6) or
poker dice, but the rules are written for d6. Poker dice come in packs of five, so even if you have some you likely will need to add some regular d6s and convert between them. Here's the hero table with the poker dice equivalents included.
| d6 | Pkr | Hero | Ability (Cost) |
|----|-----|--------|----------------------|
| 1 | A | Farmer | +1 c. on victory (0) |
| 6 | K | Wizard | Change a die (1) |
| 5 | Q | Knight | ±1 a die (1) |
| 4 | J | Barbar | Replace a die (1) |
| 3 | 10 | Rogue | Reroll a die (1) |
| 2 | 9 | Ranger | Preview a die (1) |
Note: I have the table ordered Ace-high, poker dice style.
The key thing is
Heroes = Hole Cards and you have to purchase them in Town. The first costs 2 coin to hire, the second an additional 4 coin. They don't require additional expense
unless you use their ability. You roll the die after you hire them. If you roll a 5 (or a Queen on a poker die) you now have a 5 as your hole card until you return to Town or lose/flee a fight (at which points all your hired heroes leave.)
Combat occurs when you enter an area with an undefeated monster. Each monster has a combat value (in parentheses) and a hand needed to defeat them. TechDweeb calls the latter a "required hand" and it's not clear if you need to make that hand
exactly, or make that hand
or better. I'm assuming it's the latter, given the Holdem inspiration, but there's no table of hands. Here's a ranking based on the odds in poker dice, highest first.
| Name | d6 example | pkr dice | Note |
|-----------------|------------|------------|-------------------|
| Five of a Kind | 1-1-1-1-1 | A-A-A-A-A | |
| Four of a Kind | 1-1-1-1-? | A-A-A-A-? | ? = Any other die |
| Full House | 2-2-2-4-4 | 9-9-9-J-J | |
| High Straight | 1-6-5-4-3 | A-K-Q-J-10 | Ace High |
| Low Straight | 6-5-4-3-2 | K-Q-J-10-9 | King High |
| Three of a Kind | 1-1-1-?-? | A-A-A-?-? | ? = Any other die |
| Two Pair | 2-2-4-4-? | 9-9-J-J-? | ? = Any other die |
| One Pair | 5-5-?-?-? | Q-Q-?-?-? | ? = Any other die |
Note: TechDweeb uses card terms that don't exactly translate to dice. I've been interpreting his "Small Straight" as "Low Straight," etc.
Combat is done in a Holdem style pattern, but grouped into "Steps."
- Step One
- Review your Hero dice, if any.
- Step Two
- Player wagers the combat value of the opponent
- Three dice are rolled
- Step Three
- Player wagers the combat value of the opponent
- A fourth die is rolled
- Player wagers the combat value of the opponent
- The fifth die is rolled
- Step Four
- Player makes best hand and compares it to the required hand
- A loss forfeits the wagers and your Heroes abandon you
- A win returns your wagers to you, and puts an equal amount aside that you can access once you're back in Town.
- Note: this is based on the video explainer; the online rules just say you 'gain rewards.'
Hero abilities can be used, by paying their cost, once per Step (when it makes sense, e.g., only a Ranger can use theirs in Step One.) You can fold/flee at any point, but your Heroes will abandon you.
This is an intriguing game. I like the fight mechanics, but I kind of hate them too. I keep coming back to the hero dice; it might be possible to split their function as hole cards and bonus abilities, but I'm not sure how. At any rate, this is one worth trying out. It's theoretically winnable!