The object of this game is to remove Blackjack hands from the rows and columns of the 5 x 5 grid. When you've removed all the cards you can, click the deck to consolidate the tableau and deal new cards to the empty spaces. If you manage to create more Blackjack hands than there are cards remaining on the table, you get to keep playing, thru seven ever-more difficult rounds.

Getting Started

The game is begun with a shuffled deck of 52 cards. Twenty-five cards are then dealt to the tableau, which is arranged as a square with five rows of five cards each.

Object

The object of the game is to create and remove Blackjack hands.

Creating A Hand

Hands are created by selecting cards. A card is selected by simply clicking on it. When it is selected, it will be shown with a gray overlay. Select from two to five cards to create a Blackjack hand. When the point total of the cards reaches 21, the hand will be removed from the table (cashed in).

If You Get Stuck

If there are no more hands that can be made within the tableau (or if you don't like the available hands), click the deck. The tableau will then be consolidated. Basically, this means that spaces will be filled, starting at the first tableau, with cards from the last tableaus. For example, if the first tableau position is empty, and the last position is filled, the card from the last tableau will be moved to the first tableau. When the tableau has been consolidated, cards are dealt from the deck into the empty tableau positions.

Ending A Round

When the deck has been exhausted, and no more Blackjack hands can be created, end the round (and move on to the next) by clicking the "Next" button on the toolbar.

Rounds

This game is arranged as a series of "rounds", each progressively more difficult than the last. In order to advance from one round to the next, you must cash in more Blackjack hands than cards left on the table. For example, if you've cashed in fifteen hands, and there are 7 cards left, you may continue. If you do not reach this threshold, the game is over.

Each round is progressively more difficult. The difficulty is increased by "locking" a tableau position - one for each round past the first. A tableau position that is locked may not be selected, or included as part of a hand. Note that it is the tableau position, and not the card in the tableau position, that is locked. After consolidation, you may well end up with another card in the locked position.

The tableau positions remain locked as long as the deck contains cards. As soon as you remove the last card from the deck, the tableau positions are unlocked, and the cards may be selected and used in Blackjack hands.

Scoring

Each Blackjack hand you create earns you one point. In addition, you may earn a bonus. If there are three cards left at the end of a round, you earn a bonus of 2 points; if there are two cards left at the end of a round, you earn a bonus of 3 points; and if there is one card left at the end of a round, you earn a bonus of 4 points. It's not possible to remove all cards.

The number of hands cashed in, plus your bonus, is multiplied by the round number to get a score for that round. The total score is the sum of all the round scores.

The rules to this game are copyright Randy Rasa, and neither the rules nor the game they describe may be reproduced without written permission.