Challenge Mode#
Challenge Mode offers 20 official Challenge Decks, each with a rule-changing “Custom Rules” modifier that ranges from starting setups to blanket restrictions. White Stake means there is no interference from Eternal, Perishable, or Rental stickers: all of the difficulty comes from the rules themselves.
In theory every stage has a fixed optimal solution, and challenge difficulty is stacked entirely by the rule modifiers rather than by Stakes.
Challenges can only be played on White Stake, and you cannot unlock achievements or Collection content while playing a challenge.
Challenge Mechanics at a Glance#
| Mechanic | Description |
|---|---|
| White Stake only | Every challenge is locked to White Stake difficulty — the difficulty is stacked entirely by rule modifiers |
| No achievements | Achievements and Deck/Joker unlocks cannot be earned in challenges (the Rule Bender and Rule Breaker achievements themselves are the exception) |
| Stats still update | Consumable use counts, highest hand, highest Ante and other stats still update as normal |
| No seeds | A challenge cannot be started with a chosen seed, but the seed it generates can be copied into a normal run |
Unlock Chain#
| Step | Unlock |
|---|---|
| Win a run with 5 different Decks | Challenges 1-5 |
| Win a run with a new Challenge Deck | Unlocks the next challenge |
| Win a run with 15 Challenge Decks | All 20 unlocked |
All 20 Official Challenges#
| # | Challenge | Official rule |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Omelette | Blinds give no money; played hands earn no money; no interest at end of round; start with 5 Eggs; interest Vouchers and Jokers banned |
| 2 | 15 Minute City | Start with Eternal Ride the Bus and Shortcut; the Deck has two face cards of each rank and no A/2/3 |
| 3 | Rich get Richer | Start with $100 plus Seed Money and Money Tree; chips cannot exceed your current money |
| 4 | On a Knife’s Edge | Start with an Eternal and Pinned Ceremonial Dagger (permanently in the leftmost slot) |
| 5 | X-ray Vision | 1 out of every 4 cards is drawn face down |
| 6 | Mad World | Start with Eternal Negative Blueprint and Eternal Business Card; the Deck is only 2-9 for 32 cards; the Plant Boss banned |
| 7 | Luxury Tax | Hand size 10; hand size -1 for every $5 you hold |
| 8 | Non-Perishable | All Jokers become Eternal (cannot be sold); consumable Jokers such as Banana and Ice Cream banned; Verdant Leaf banned |
| 9 | Medusa | Start with Eternal Marble Joker; every face card among the 52 cards is a Stone Card |
| 10 | Double or Nothing | All 52 cards carry a Red Seal; every played card is debuffed after scoring |
| 11 | Typecast | After beating the Ante 4 Boss: all Jokers become Eternal and Joker slots are set to zero |
| 12 | Inflation | Start with Credit Card; every purchase price permanently +$1; clearance Vouchers banned |
| 13 | Bram Poker | Jokers no longer appear in the shop; start with Eternal Vampire plus Emperor/Empress and Magic Trick/Illusion |
| 14 | Fragile | Start with 2 Eternal Negative Oops! All 6s; all 52 cards are Glass Cards; everything that adds non-Glass cards or removes Glass enhancements is banned |
| 15 | Monolith | Start with Eternal Obelisk and Eternal Negative Marble Joker |
| 16 | Blast Off | 2 hands, 2 discards and 4 Joker slots per round; start with Eternal Constellation plus Rocket and Planet Merchant/Tycoon; Vouchers and Jokers that grant hands banned |
| 17 | Five-Card Draw | 6 discards, 5 hand size and 7 Joker slots per round; start with Card Sharp and Joker |
| 18 | Golden Needle | 1 hand and 6 discards per round; each discard costs $1; start with $10 plus Credit Card; Vouchers and Jokers that grant hands banned |
| 19 | Cruelty | Both the Small Blind and the Big Blind give no money; 3 Joker slots |
| 20 | Jokerless | 0 Joker slots and no Jokers in the shop; Jokers can only be obtained from Judgement Tarot, Soul/Wraith Spectral cards and various Tags |
Key Challenge Walkthroughs#
The Omelette: A Pure-Spending Run With No Income#
All three economy rules are completely locked down — Blinds, played hands and interest all give nothing. The only money comes from the 5 starting Eggs (each gains $3 in sell value after every round) and from selling Jokers.
The game plan is extremely simple: use the Eggs to roll out early capital, survive the mid game on Investment-style Tags and selling Jokers, then relax for good once your Jokers come together in the late game.
Jokerless: The Limit of 0 Joker Slots#
The shop has no Jokers and you have zero slots — but Judgement Tarot, Soul/Wraith and Joker Tags still give Jokers, and Negative Jokers do not take a slot.
Route: push your Collection until Judgement is visible, then fish repeatedly with Tarot packs; pair it with Negative Tags to get Jokers outside your slots for free. Hand levels and Enhanced cards are the main source of score.
Fragile: The Gamble of an All-Glass Deck#
All 52 cards are Glass — every scoring card has a 1/4 chance of being destroyed, so the Deck shrinks the more you play it.
The two Eternal Negative Oops! All 6s (probability-doubling Jokers) are the core of the solution: lucky triggers double and Glass breaking doubles as well — you have to roll out enough score before the Deck runs dry. The rule against replenishing the Deck means your margin for error shrinks every round, and finishing fast is the only strategy.
Golden Needle: Resource Management in a Single-Hand Run#
You only get 1 hand per round and discards cost money — the $10 start cannot survive wasteful play. Discard fees buy hand quality, but $1 at a time adds up extremely fast.
It suits “one card decides everything” hand types such as High Card builds or Pair builds, with hand levels pushed up by Planet cards.
Typecast: The Shift After Ante 4#
The moment you beat the Ante 4 Boss, every Joker becomes permanent and your slots drop to zero — meaning that before Ante 4 you either buy no Jokers at all, or you are ready to continue with 0 slots.
The optimal solution is to play the first 4 Antes bare (relying on hand levels and Enhanced cards) and convert the entire economy into Planet cards.
Bram Poker and Double or Nothing: The Shop-Starved Builds#
Both cut off normal acquisition: the former has no Jokers in the shop (you rely on the starting Vampire plus the Tarot system), while in the latter every card is debuffed after scoring (Red Seal retriggers are the only Mult amplifier).
The shared idea: push the “fixed assets given at the start” to their absolute limit.
Frequently Asked Questions#
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do challenges have difficulty tiers? | No — there is only the 1-20 unlock order, but the real difficulty curve is very steep (Jokerless is far harder than The Omelette) |
| Can you earn achievements in challenges? | No — except Rule Bender (complete any challenge) and Rule Breaker (complete all challenges) |
| Can the Stake of a challenge be changed? | No — every challenge is locked to White Stake |
| Do Jokers/Decks unlocked inside a challenge count? | No — challenge runs do not advance any unlock or Collection discovery |
| Can Jokerless still get Jokers? | Yes — Judgement Tarot, Soul/Wraith Spectral cards and Joker Tags all give Jokers, and Negative takes no slot |
| Can challenge seeds be used? | You cannot start with a chosen seed, but the seed a challenge generates can be reproduced in a normal run |
Summary#
| Key point | One-line advice |
|---|---|
| Getting started | The Omelette and 15 Minute City have loose rules — build your feel first |
| Core idea | Challenges take away your usual resources — push the “free starting assets” to their limit |
| Locked-economy runs | Egg appreciation, selling Jokers and Tags are the three replacement incomes |
| Locked-Joker runs | Judgement Tarot plus Negative Tags are the lifeline of a Jokerless run |
| Endgame | Rule Breaker requires clearing all 20 — Jokerless is waiting for you at the finish |