Clear the Dungeon: A Solo Card Game

Invented by Mark S. Ball

Mark S. Ball has a growing reputation for designing amazing games that use a classic deck of playing cards, many of which are solo card games. Ball grew up playing Euchre and Rummy and now focuses on developing games that feel fresh yet traditional. He is the chief editor of Riffle Shuffle & Roll as well as the content creator behind Skip Solo on YouTube.

In Clear the Dungeon, you play as a monster exterminator hired by the King to rid his castle of dangerous creatures. As you move through dark dungeon cells, monsters will appear. Defeat them with a powerful attack and exploit their weaknesses. Your goal is to clear all monsters before running out of power.

Game Objective

Destroy all of the dungeon monsters to win the game.

Players

1 Player

Materials

54-card deck (Ace – King, two Jokers)

Ranking

(Low) Ace – King (High), Jokers are wild

In Clear the Dungeon, you play as a monster exterminator hired by the King to rid his castle of dangerous creatures. As you move through dark dungeon cells, monsters will appear. Defeat them with a powerful attack and exploit their weaknesses. Your goal is to clear all monsters before running out of power.

Setup

1. Separate all face cards (J, Q, K) from the deck. These 12 cards form the dungeon monster deck.
2. The remaining cards (A-10 plus the two Jokers) make up your power deck.
3. Shuffle the dungeon monster deck and deal four columns, face down, with three cards in each column.
4. Flip the topmost card of each column over to reveal the first set of monsters.
5. Shuffle the power deck and place it face down in front of you.

Photo Source: Riffle Shuffle and Roll

Gameplay

Each turn consists of three phases: Draw, Attack, and Discard.

Draw Phase

• Draw three cards from the power deck. These cards form your hand.
• You must play or discard all three cards before drawing again.

Attack Phase

• Each monster has a power level:
  • Jacks: 11
  • Queens: 12
  • Kings: 13
• Choose a monster to attack and place your cards on it.
• Use two cards whose total equals or exceeds the monster’s power level.
• The third card must match the monster’s suit. This is called the ‘trigger card’ and triggers the monster’s defeat.
• When the third card is played, the monster is defeated. Remove the monster and attack cards to the Discard pile. Cards in the Discard Pile may never be used again.

Example Attack

Attacking the Jack of Hearts (11 power):

• First two cards must total at least 11.
• The third card, the trigger, must be a heart (rank does not matter).
• Once placed, the Jack of Hearts is defeated. Pick it up and all cards on top of it and place on the Discard Pile.

Jokers

• Jokers have a power of up to 10. You choose the power.
• They can also be any suit needed.

Damage Pile

• Any unplayable or unplayed cards must be discarded.
• These discarded cards form your Damage pile.
• If the Damage pile reaches seven cards, you lose the game immediately.

Reserve Card (Optional Rule)

• The top card of the Damage pile acts as a Reserve card.
• It can be played as if it were in your hand.
• Playing with the reserve card increases your chances of winning.

Winning

• If you defeat all dungeon monsters before running out of power deck cards, or before your damage adds up to seven, you win.

Scoring

• Your final score is the number of cards remaining in the power deck.
• Cards in your hand do not count toward the score.
• Increase difficulty by removing Jokers and/or disabling the reserve card rule.

And that’s it! Have fun clearing your dungeon of monsters and when you think you’re getting pretty good at the game, you can move on to Clear the Dungeon Advanced. Printed rules below.

Additional Resources

Printed Rules for Clear the Dungeon Classic

Printed Rules for Clear the Dungeon Advanced

Videos

• Clear the Dungeon Classic tutorial on Youtube
• Clear the Dungeon Advanced tutorial
• Classic Playthrough
• Royal Card Clash App Playthrough
• Sir Thecos Playthrough (YouTube)
• Como que Joga Playthrough (Portuguese)

Online Play

• Play Clear the Dungeon Classic at playcardgames.io
• Classic rules on PySol Collection
• Royal Card Clash App by Gearhead Games

For inquiries, contact Mark S. Ball via the Riffle Shuffle & Roll youtube channel.

Clear the Dungeon Classic v1.1.0
Last Updated: 10/23/2024
Originally Published: 7/30/2022

Clear the Dungeon Advanced v1.2.0
Last Updated: 10/23/2024
Originally Published: 7/30/2022

This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.