Regipelago

Regipelago is a single-player puzzle game focused around building a 5x5 grid of playing cards to score points by creating poker hands. Beat the target score each round and unlock powerful enhancements to boost your score! However, the required score increases each round. How far can you go?

About:

The name "Regipelago" is a combination of the prefix "Reg-" meaning royalty, and the word "Archipelago", a group of islands. It gets its name after the game Ryukyu, which is what this game is modeled after.

Basic Rules:

To begin, the cards (52 standing playing cards plus one wild joker) are dealt into four columns. The player can only see a limited number of cards in each column, and may only select the bottom card in any column. Press Left and Right to change columns, and Enter to pick up.

When a card is selected,  it must be dropped into one of five columns (or the discard column, if available).  Use Left and Right to change which column the card will be dropped into, and Enter to decide. Cards will fall to the lowest available position in each column until they're full.

If any card enhancements are available, they will be shown in the blue region above the grid. Press Up to switch to your available enhancements, then Left or Right to choose, and finally Enter to select one. It will be applied to the current card, then you can select a column to drop it into as normal.

Points are awarded as you complete five-card hands. The point values for each poker hand are listed in the table in the bottom right corner, along with how many you have scored so far in that round. Hands formed on the diagonals are worth double!

If you fail to reach the quota in a round, you can retry the same round- all the cards will be dealt the same- or start your entire run over from round 1.

Enhancements:

After each successful round, you are awarded a base number of coins, plus a bonus for each multiple you exceeded the score quota by. These coins are spent in the shop between rounds, where you can tweak the rules of the game to achieve higher scores.

A blue diamond on a card means it will increase the value of the poker hand it's part of by 100 points.

A yellow rectangle ("Gem") awards the number of points listed on the scoreboard in addition to the poker hand. Blue diamonds also increase the value of Gems!

A red looping icon on a card means the poker hand, blue diamonds, and yellow Gems are scored an additional time.

Other enhancements are available in the shop with descriptions provided in-game.

When the next round starts, you choose the difficulty. Opt for a higher score quota and you'll receive a bigger reward to use at the next shop!

Goal:

Number go up. Repeat 15 times. Keep going if you want.

Future Work:

• Better graphics, maybe 3D-ish effects? More sound effects
• "Island Map" mechanic where you sail between islands, and each island is a round of the game, where you challenge the Kings of the Islands (get it?) and they give you rewards and allow you to trade with them (i.e. The Shop)
  • Emphasize the "ultimate goal" of a run is to reach a specific island to find a lost treasure (i.e. complete a specific number of rounds)
• Include a game mode containing the original Ryukyu