Play TRICKSHOT BLACKJACK FOR YOUR SOUL as you expertly improvise and execute intricate attacks to escape Gamblor's neon claws! 

Ace, floundering musician, is on the verge of being lost to history as a one hit wonder when he offers up his soul in a deal with the devil - but only Gamblor, head of Hell's casino, is around to answer the call. The house of Hell's rules say that for blackjack, you only get one hit - but by tossing around your trusty microphone, you're able to slay just the right number of demons to add their lifeforce to the card you're dealt! Aim for that 21!

Watch the trailer: 

Made for UDC Game Jam #27 (Theme: "One Hit")

Controls and rules

Win hands of blackjack by getting as close as you can to 21 without going over. Hit enemies and pink walls to add points to the card you're dealt when you choose "HIT". For example, if you get dealt 17, hitting 3 goblins and 1 pink wall in your throw gives you a card with 3 + 1 = 4 points, so you build a hand worth 21 points. 

If you're dealt a low value hand or want to increase reward for some risk, try using boost (press space right before the mic hits something) to give the mic a boost of speed!

(Designed for keyboard and mouse, but also playable with trackpad.)

• H - show/hide help screen
• Left click and drag / A / D - aim throw
• Space - enter throwing stance 
• Space (in throwing stance) - throw at displayed power level
• S (in throwing stance) - cancel throwing stance
• Space (right before mic touches enemy or wall) - boost (gives mic a surge of speed)
• Mouse scroll - zoom in/out
• Space (during dialogue) - advance dialogue

Points given by enemies

• Goblins: 1
• Flying Eyeballs: 2
• Demons: 3
• Red Demons: -1

Bonuses

• 1 boost: +10% of bet
• 2 boosts: +25% of bet
• 3+ boosts: +50% of bet
• Hand value is exactly 21: +50% of bet

Blackjack

There are tons of guides on the rules of blackjack out there, but all you really need to know is that the standard rules of blackjack are used - but doubling down and splits are not an option in Hell's casino. Although, critically, you're only allowed to hit once in this game. 

Basically, you want to get as close to 21 as possible without going over 21. So the best value your hand can have is exactly 21. While you can't control what Gamblor's hand comes to, you can choose your own preferred risk/reward - will you try to score exactly 21 and risk going bust? Or play it a bit safer, aiming for something lower than 21, but giving Gamblor more wiggle room?

The deck is shuffled after every hand.

Tips

• The green trajectory prediction line shows where your mic will end up if you throw at full power. Due to some quirks with collision, less-than-100%-power throws might end up in very different places...
• Use boost! Apart from getting more distance, if you win a hand after a successful boost you get a nice bonus. If your hand is rather low, you can try and bet it all on mashing out some boosts!
• Use boost by pressing space right before a mic hits an enemy or surface. There's no penalty for mistiming boost, other than being locked out of it for about half a second.
• Aim for each successive SP milestone and don't get discouraged by losing hands or the big 100,000 SP goal set at the start. Each SP milestone gets you to a new level, and with it, a checkpoint in case you lose all your SP.
• When in doubt, just go for the max bet, mash boost and hope for the best. 
• Always try to go for exactly 21 if you're able to. That's a sweet +50% bonus if you get it and win the hand!

Credits

• Zenryoku (Game director, Game design, Programming, Music)
• NelsonAM (Portrait art, Pixel art, Title screen art, Character design)
• Stathis (SFX Design)

Made using these wonderful assets

• Monsters Creatures Fantasy by LuizMelo https://luizmelo.itch.io/monsters-creatures-fantasy 
• Imp & Axe Demon Pixel Art Character by Sanctum Pixel https://sanctumpixel.itch.io/imp-axe-demon-pixel-art-character 
• Pixel Playing Cards Pack by George Blackwell https://georgeblackwell.itch.io/playing-cards-sprite-pack  
• Top-Down Dungeon Tileset by enjl https://enjl.itch.io/tileset-top-down-dungeon
• RPG Essentials SFX - Free! by Leohpaz https://leohpaz.itch.io/rpg-essentials-sfx-free