Challenged to a supernatural game by the sultan, you have to fulfill the conditions of a mystical game that demands you commit dreadful sins: Carnality, Bloodshed, Conquest, and Extravagance.
You'll have to desperately scheme, manage your limited resources, and explore the depths and heights of society to win a stay of execution—and to survive the consequences of the horrible things you did to win.
Sultan's Game is a really cool narrative card game, a kind of bleak, terrible world where your poor character must sink to lowest lows in a desperate bid to survive a kind of gruesome One Thousand and One Nights fantasy world of mystics and madmen.
The game's not only very pretty, but it strikes a balance between resource management and surprising narrative events. It's a little pop-up dark fantasy story generator that you're in charge of keeping running.
PC Gamer's Robin Valentine got a look at it earlier this year and said that it'd "turn you into a desperate sociopath… uh, in a fun way."
"[It's] a game not just about doing bad things to excess, but having to work really hard at it. Success requires sustained manipulation, scheming, murder, and… well, a pretty in-depth knowledge of the local brothel. You're essentially being forced to be a monstrous, decadent sociopath against your will and beyond your means," he said.
A few days after launch, the publisher and developer announced that Sultan's Game has sold more than 100,000 copies, and it has Very Positive reviews on Steam as of press time.
Developer Double Cross is working on updates including Steam Workshop support, automation for repetitive events, better card organization, more music and sound effects, and sensitive content filters for some of the darker storylines.
You can find Sultan's Game on Steam for $25, though it's 10% off until April 10.
