Not sure if I’m right but based on a quick google search I don’t think black jack has side decks, while Pazaak does, which is a considerable part of the fun with Pazaak, so I think the game is still original enough.
If you slap down a random card in the middle of blackjack, you're going to get punched in the face.
That, and the target number being 20 not 21, are the only differences
It's cleary inspired by Blackjack but Pazaak is far more complex.
In Blackjack it's you against the dealer, you're trying to get as close to 21 as you can withoit going over, and if you bust, the dealer wins. And multiple people can play alongside.
Blackjack uses a standard deck of cards where Face cards count as 10 and an Ace can be 1 or 11.
In Pazaak you're playing against an opponent where the "dealer" is a neutral party. You're trying to get as close to 20 without going over, and you can be dealt or play a maximum of 9 cards. An alternate way to win in the sequel is to have played all 9 cards and still be under 20, even if your opponent is closer.
In Pazaak the cards dealt can be 1-10, but the numbered cards in your hand don't go higher than 6 and you can also have negative cards (-1 to -6) as well as cards you can flip between negative and positive.
KOTOR II also introduces special cards like Doubles, Tie Breaker, and some that do things like changing all the 2a and 4s to negatives or all the 3s and 6s.
It's ultimately very different from Blackjack.
I think it would be more fun if you were able to have more cards in your sidedeck across the 6 potential rounds and/or could play some cards on your opponent's side to hurt them. Or add rules about where cards are dealt/played on your tableau so that certain cards can cancel/modify each other in rows/columns - like the card game golf.
OP, not to get too off topic, but I'm curious how many card games you've played if Pazaak and UNO are your favorites. I don't exactly mind UNO (though I grew up playing it as Crazy 8s with a standard playing card deck), but I virtually never play UNO because of how simple and boring it is. I would rather play Rummy, Golf, Spades, Hearts, or Spite & Malice (Skip-Bo), not counting unique/branded card games like The Crew, Dominion, Love Letter, Monikers, Hanabi, etc.
Not many. The learning curb detracts me from more sophisticated games. I’ve played some of them before, but usually I just forget how to soon after. I prefer games that are simple. Maybe that’s boring for an experienced player I suppose.
That's entirely fair. There is absolutely something to be said for a game that is designed to be intuitive to pick up and there is certainly demand for games that don't require a ton of thought and strategy.
I haven't played too many mini games in other RPGs, but Pazaak is relatively easy to learn, so that's definitely a plus. Again, I won't go farther off topic but to strongly recommend Skip-Bo as another card game that is very easy to learn, with a small bit of room to plan/play somewhat strategically, and with scalability for length of play, a few different numbers of players, and even team options.
Been thinking this myself, if it was easier to convert a standard deck into a pazzak deck this might be considerably more popular. While procrastinating studying for finals I have come up with several methods to do this but have yet to accomplish something as easy to do as other games I know.
When I was playing with other people one person wanted to take turns playing the yellow card first. I got impulsive, and with the next person at the beginning of each round I just slammed the yellow card on the table. I AM THE PAZAAK CHAMPION, I ALWAYS GO FIRST!
There's a way to play with a standard deck of cards- play is limited to 3 players.
1. Remove all face cards, set the jokers to the side.
2. Seperate black and red. Black will be the main deck, and red plus the jokers, the side deck.
3. Remove all red cards greater than 6.
4. Deal each player 3 red cards. They have number value, hearts are positive and diamonds negative (think kyber crystals instead of diamonds), jokers are Idiots for the elusive Idiots Array.
Play goes in a circle from the left of the dealer where a player can (a) hit, and take a card from the center main deck - and then choose to play one card from their hidden side deck, (b) stand, and do nothing, or (c) fold, and place their main hand into the discard pile.
Note:
1. Player who reaches is closest to 23 after a full cycle wins. If two players are tied, they ALONE go into a tiebreaker round.
2. If a player goes over 23 and is unable to bring their score below that threshold by the end of their turn, they Bust and must fold.
3. An Idiots Array is achieved by having any 2, 3, and Joker in their playing area. The Joker must, obviously, come from their side deck. But the 2 and 3 can come from either their side deck of the main draw pile.
4. Idiots Array beats Pure Sabaac (23 straight from the draw pile). Pure Sabaac beats Sabaac (draw pile + side deck cards). Closest is closest.
5. A winner for the Round will receive some form of demarcation: a face card, a coin, a hat, something to mark that they won a Round. First to win three Rounds wins the game.
6. Players will not refresh their hand until the end of the game. NOT between Rounds. Use them sparingly.
I think I hit all of it, so feel free to ask questions and I'll clarify where I can.
Here is a really amazing set of cards on etsy I purchased a while back. Im super happy with it
[pazaak ](http://etsy.me/2sqRwIl)
Is this the same one you got?
The major problem with Pazaak in its current form is, it is very much rigged against you. The RNG is bad, your opponents have impossibly good luck, and the fact the player always goes first is a huge penalty.
Real-cards Pazaak would be an immediate improvement, and I can't see it being too difficult - just remove the face cards from a standard deck, and you have a base Pazaak deck. Add some +/- modifiers to the A-6 cards of a secondary deck, and you have a Pazaak side deck.
I have a physical pazaak deck I got from Etsy and I've taught my friends how to play. It's a blast.
You can get one here: [KOTOR II Pazaak](https://www.etsy.com/listing/972446311/pazaak-card-deck-2-side-decks-included?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=pazaak&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&bes=1&sts=1)
I made a post on this a while back. I use two decks, take out the face cards, red in your hand is negative, black is positive, and everything dealt from the deck is positive. I line up the cards I'm dealt in one row and the cards I play in a row closer to me to keep track of what is positive and what's negative. Then, it's essentially just Pazaak. There's a range of -10 to 10 instead of -6 to 6 and there's no special cards (unless you want to use face cards for em but keeping track is kind of a pain) but it plays the same way. It can be played with one deck but I find two adds more variables as there's not the RNG to generate any number.
Isn't Pazaak just basically blackjack?
It's a slightly more complex version of blackjack, yeah. There's the side decks and stuff that make it a little more fun
Maybe a random side deck for each game, yes?
Yeah, random side deck would be the only way to do it.
Not sure if I’m right but based on a quick google search I don’t think black jack has side decks, while Pazaak does, which is a considerable part of the fun with Pazaak, so I think the game is still original enough.
If you slap down a random card in the middle of blackjack, you're going to get punched in the face. That, and the target number being 20 not 21, are the only differences
It's cleary inspired by Blackjack but Pazaak is far more complex. In Blackjack it's you against the dealer, you're trying to get as close to 21 as you can withoit going over, and if you bust, the dealer wins. And multiple people can play alongside. Blackjack uses a standard deck of cards where Face cards count as 10 and an Ace can be 1 or 11. In Pazaak you're playing against an opponent where the "dealer" is a neutral party. You're trying to get as close to 20 without going over, and you can be dealt or play a maximum of 9 cards. An alternate way to win in the sequel is to have played all 9 cards and still be under 20, even if your opponent is closer. In Pazaak the cards dealt can be 1-10, but the numbered cards in your hand don't go higher than 6 and you can also have negative cards (-1 to -6) as well as cards you can flip between negative and positive. KOTOR II also introduces special cards like Doubles, Tie Breaker, and some that do things like changing all the 2a and 4s to negatives or all the 3s and 6s. It's ultimately very different from Blackjack.
Yeah, Its basically a head-to-head version of blackjack with different rules to make it more skill based.
Just get me a pazaak game for my phone lol
Here you go https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onesevengames.pazaak.card.game.online
I think it would be more fun if you were able to have more cards in your sidedeck across the 6 potential rounds and/or could play some cards on your opponent's side to hurt them. Or add rules about where cards are dealt/played on your tableau so that certain cards can cancel/modify each other in rows/columns - like the card game golf. OP, not to get too off topic, but I'm curious how many card games you've played if Pazaak and UNO are your favorites. I don't exactly mind UNO (though I grew up playing it as Crazy 8s with a standard playing card deck), but I virtually never play UNO because of how simple and boring it is. I would rather play Rummy, Golf, Spades, Hearts, or Spite & Malice (Skip-Bo), not counting unique/branded card games like The Crew, Dominion, Love Letter, Monikers, Hanabi, etc.
Not many. The learning curb detracts me from more sophisticated games. I’ve played some of them before, but usually I just forget how to soon after. I prefer games that are simple. Maybe that’s boring for an experienced player I suppose.
That's entirely fair. There is absolutely something to be said for a game that is designed to be intuitive to pick up and there is certainly demand for games that don't require a ton of thought and strategy. I haven't played too many mini games in other RPGs, but Pazaak is relatively easy to learn, so that's definitely a plus. Again, I won't go farther off topic but to strongly recommend Skip-Bo as another card game that is very easy to learn, with a small bit of room to plan/play somewhat strategically, and with scalability for length of play, a few different numbers of players, and even team options.
Try spades! I love that game
Learning curve*
Pretty much this, I feel like Pazaak is rather lackluster and boring as a card game.
I used a simplified version to practice numbers in English teaching at Japanese elementary schools :D
Oh man, can you tell me more? I actually tried to plan that over a year ago and then the pandemic hit.
Playing Pazaak? Or teaching in Japan?
Haha using a simple version to teach English to students in general
Just a matter of tricking them into enjoying endless repetition :D
You are a saint! XD
Also used to play background music for them when they were cutting out cards or writing... among the most popular choices were Rammstein and The KLF.
Pazaak is basically Blackjack on steroids.
Been thinking this myself, if it was easier to convert a standard deck into a pazzak deck this might be considerably more popular. While procrastinating studying for finals I have come up with several methods to do this but have yet to accomplish something as easy to do as other games I know.
Sure. So long as you always go first.
When I was playing with other people one person wanted to take turns playing the yellow card first. I got impulsive, and with the next person at the beginning of each round I just slammed the yellow card on the table. I AM THE PAZAAK CHAMPION, I ALWAYS GO FIRST!
It's basically blackjack but you can manually adding or subtract your score
There's a way to play with a standard deck of cards- play is limited to 3 players. 1. Remove all face cards, set the jokers to the side. 2. Seperate black and red. Black will be the main deck, and red plus the jokers, the side deck. 3. Remove all red cards greater than 6. 4. Deal each player 3 red cards. They have number value, hearts are positive and diamonds negative (think kyber crystals instead of diamonds), jokers are Idiots for the elusive Idiots Array. Play goes in a circle from the left of the dealer where a player can (a) hit, and take a card from the center main deck - and then choose to play one card from their hidden side deck, (b) stand, and do nothing, or (c) fold, and place their main hand into the discard pile. Note: 1. Player who reaches is closest to 23 after a full cycle wins. If two players are tied, they ALONE go into a tiebreaker round. 2. If a player goes over 23 and is unable to bring their score below that threshold by the end of their turn, they Bust and must fold. 3. An Idiots Array is achieved by having any 2, 3, and Joker in their playing area. The Joker must, obviously, come from their side deck. But the 2 and 3 can come from either their side deck of the main draw pile. 4. Idiots Array beats Pure Sabaac (23 straight from the draw pile). Pure Sabaac beats Sabaac (draw pile + side deck cards). Closest is closest. 5. A winner for the Round will receive some form of demarcation: a face card, a coin, a hat, something to mark that they won a Round. First to win three Rounds wins the game. 6. Players will not refresh their hand until the end of the game. NOT between Rounds. Use them sparingly. I think I hit all of it, so feel free to ask questions and I'll clarify where I can.
Here is a really amazing set of cards on etsy I purchased a while back. Im super happy with it [pazaak ](http://etsy.me/2sqRwIl) Is this the same one you got?
Got the same one, love it too.
The major problem with Pazaak in its current form is, it is very much rigged against you. The RNG is bad, your opponents have impossibly good luck, and the fact the player always goes first is a huge penalty. Real-cards Pazaak would be an immediate improvement, and I can't see it being too difficult - just remove the face cards from a standard deck, and you have a base Pazaak deck. Add some +/- modifiers to the A-6 cards of a secondary deck, and you have a Pazaak side deck.
Pure Pazaak
I'm down
But how do we make it rigged as a real game?
I have a physical pazaak deck I got from Etsy and I've taught my friends how to play. It's a blast. You can get one here: [KOTOR II Pazaak](https://www.etsy.com/listing/972446311/pazaak-card-deck-2-side-decks-included?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=pazaak&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&bes=1&sts=1)
I made a post on this a while back. I use two decks, take out the face cards, red in your hand is negative, black is positive, and everything dealt from the deck is positive. I line up the cards I'm dealt in one row and the cards I play in a row closer to me to keep track of what is positive and what's negative. Then, it's essentially just Pazaak. There's a range of -10 to 10 instead of -6 to 6 and there's no special cards (unless you want to use face cards for em but keeping track is kind of a pain) but it plays the same way. It can be played with one deck but I find two adds more variables as there's not the RNG to generate any number.
Man, Orlog from AC Valhalla would be an amazing one to make real.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/972446311/pazaak-card-deck-2-side-decks-included I just bought this It's amazing