Ouroboros Solitaire: How to Play the Endless Deck-Building Card Game

About Ouroboros Solitaire, from BoardGameGeek:

Ouroboros Solitaire Official Rules This is an "endless deck-building" card game where you manage limited resources (your hand) while continually challenging enemies that grow infinitely stronger. 1. Setup Requirements: Standard 52-card deck + 1 Joker Divide the cards into the following 3 groups to set up the play area: 1. Threat Deck (Enemies): All 26 [Spades] and [Clubs]. Shuffle well and place face down. 2. Player Deck (Your Forces): A total of 10 cards: "A, 2, 3, 4, 5" of [Hearts] and [Diamonds]. Shuffle and place face down. 3. Market (Shop): The remaining [Hearts] and [Diamonds] (6 to K) and the [Joker]. Place all of them face down and shuffle well. 4. Discard Pile: The place for your played cards. Initially empty. (* In addition to these, allocate one space in your play area for a "Stock" slot.) 2. Card Rank (Values) • A: 1 • 2-10: Face value • J: 11 / Q: 12 / K: 13 • Joker: A "Wildcard" that guarantees an unconditional win regardless of the target's value. However, it cannot be combined with other cards and must be played alone. It is always returned to the Market after use (a powerful, single-use trump card). 3. Core Rules Players must always follow these rules: • Life: Players start with "3" Life (max 3). Losing all life results in Game Over. • Drawing Cards: Always draw so your hand has a "maximum of 5 cards". • Stock: You can choose 1 card from your hand and place it face up in your "Stock" slot (max 1 card). Stock cards do not count toward the 5-card hand limit and can be included in any encounter at any time. • Play Limit: You can play "1 to 3 cards" per encounter (freely combining cards from your hand and Stock). • Open Information: You may check the contents of your Deck (draw pile) at any time. However, you must not change the order of the cards. 4. Game Flow The game repeats the following 4 steps (phases): Step 1: Draw (Refill) Draw cards from your Player Deck until your hand has 5 cards. • If your Deck is empty, shuffle all cards in the Discard Pile to create a new Deck. Step 2: Encounter (Reveal) Reveal the top card from the Threat Deck. This is your Target (Enemy) for this encounter. The current target value is displayed directly below the Target card. The number of consecutive encounters required for each Target changes based on the current "Loop Level" (see below). Step 3: Play (Confront) Choose 1 to 3 cards from your hand and Stock to play, then press the Play button. Win conditions are determined as follows: • Match (Success): If the "Total Value" of your played cards matches the Target's value (1-13), you win. • Cyclic Arithmetic: If your total value exceeds 13, subtract 13 from it (e.g., Total 14 = 1). • Mismatch (Failure): If the total value does not match the Target, you lose 1 Life as a penalty. At this point, the total value of your played cards is revealed on screen. • If you still have Life, you consume the cards and proceed to the next Target (or the next encounter in the Sequence). Step 4: Swap and Sequence Only if you win the encounter (Match), perform the following: • Chaos Market (Swap): You must choose exactly 1 card from those you just played and swap it with a random face-down card from the Market. Place the new card in your "Discard Pile" and shuffle your chosen card back into the Market face down. • The Ouroboros Sequence: Depending on your Loop Level, you must defeat the target consecutively. If the sequence continues, the Target's value increases by "+1", and you return to Step 1 for the next encounter. • Life Recovery: Every time you defeat all 26 cards in the Threat Deck and complete a loop, you recover 1 Life (up to 3). 5. Endless Loop When you defeat the entire Threat Deck (26 cards), shuffle the 26 cards and start the next "Loop". From Loop 2 onwards, target values do not inflate. Instead, the number of consecutive breakthroughs required for a single target card equals the current Loop Level. • Consecutive Encounters per Target = Current Loop Level Loop 1: Defeat the target once (e.g., Target 8 -> Create an "8" to clear). Loop 2: After defeating the target, face a consecutive encounter with the Target value "+1" (e.g., Target 8 -> Create an "8", then create a "9" to clear). ... The number of consecutive encounters will increase indefinitely until the player faces defeat (Game Over). 6. Score (Survival Record) Your final score is the "cumulative number of Threat Cards defeated" before you reach Game Over. Aim to survive as long as possible and defeat as many enemies as you can in this endless loop of despair.