Epic of 21

Epic of 21 is a blackjack game where you play for the authorship of a story one thousand years old.

Controls:

Mouse: drag and drop cards and chips

Press SPACE to skip cinematics

Left click to finish the typing in the cinematics

EARLY PLAYTEST PROTOTYPE 

The Game

This is an early vertical slice of the game. The core mechanics are functional, but some of  the math is wild, the synergies are a bit unhinged, and I need your help to test the balance and break the game! I promise I will keep the fun broken things broken - but I need a few dozens of new eyes to look at the game. Well, the eyes aren't enough, you gotta tell me about it in the comments too. But you get the idea.

Play your cards (or discard them for 1 Farr [i.e. roughly "God's Grace" in the Shahnama , i.e. the currency of the game]), place chips on your cards midhand, or forge them for a permanent effect! The choice is yours. Reach 21 without busting and beat The Deev to gain the right to authorship.

The characters of the story will ask and it is up to you to grant them their wishes or not. Just don’t expect to interfere with the divine plan. 

Act 1, five chapters, roughly 45 minutes to an hour of gameplay. I think!

About the Story and the Art

This demo is a retelling of the story of  Sohrab - the son of legendary Persian paladin, Rostam, and  his quest to find his father.

I have translated and adapted the story from the Book of Kings, or the Shahnama, written by Ferdowsi, at around the year 1000 AD. There is a lot to say about this book and the stories in it; but the most dazzling achievement of this book containing 60k couplets is that it more or less single handedly, revived the Persian language after the Islamic conquest of Persia.

The stories of Shahnama have been told and retold throughout the years, but it has rarely ever been present in the world of games. And now, I want to bring parts of the book into today's modern world and let you bend the details of it the way you wish.

I have also personally gone through multiple cc0 copies of the book most of them 300-500 years old, uploaded by among others Metropolitan Museum of Art- to cut out characters, environments and other visual elements to create new collages that help tell the story visually. 

Despite hundreds of hours spent on this work, there is still much more to do. That is why, I would like to ask you earnestly to help me by playing this game, and sharing it with your friends if possible. The project is not funded as of now, and your engagement means everything to me as it encourages me to continue working double to make an enjoyable game, that brings something from the past to today's world, and not only entertain us, but also give us new yet old perspectives on life and human relations.

KEYFEATURES:

Redefine the Rules of 21: Play beyond the standard deck with six suits and many power-ups.

Rewrite the fate of Persian Legends: A tragedy is told, and you are only going to make it worse.

Break the Engine: Discover hidden synergies. Stack abilities, and watch the table explode across the screen in a shower of sparks and ribbons and whatnot!

Because this is an early build, your feedback is crucial. Did you find an insanely overpowered combo? Did a specific encounter feel unfair? Did a mechanic confuse you?

Please drop your thoughts, screenshots of your most broken builds, and feedback in the comments below or on social media!

AI Disclosure:

I have used AI to co-develop this game. The face-cards' artworks are placeholders generated by AI - but I am hoping to either create card sets myself, or find someone with expertise in this style to help me out. All the music and sound FX are cc0 work by real and generous artists.