Paper Cut

One room. Two seats. One shared deck.

Paper Cut is a dark, tactical roguelite that turns rock-paper-scissors into a high-stakes game of deduction, card-counting, and nerve. You sit opposite a half-seen dealer, fighting your way down through nine tables where victory isn't about luck—it's about math, timing, and reading your opponent.

• Zero Secret Information: Twelve cards are revealed face-up at the start of every table, then sealed dark. Both seats draw from the exact same pool. What he is holding is simply whatever you aren't.
• The Dealer Never Cheats: On any difficulty, the opponent never looks at face-down cards. He operates under the exact same rules you do. When he beats you, it’s because he out-calculated you.

• Open Discards: The discard pile sits on the felt at all times. Victory isn't a memory test—it’s about reading public information and acting before the dealer does.
• High-Stakes Betting: Commit your card, raise the stakes to double the damage, or fold. Conceding isn't free—flinching hands over initiative and causes damage multipliers to compound exponentially.

• Nine Distinct Dealers: Face nine unique rivals across a run. Each weighs risk, psychological depth, and bluffing differently without ever breaking the rules.

• Double-Edged Upgrades: Spend what you bleed between rounds on supplies, or take paid mutations that permanently lower your health ceiling to load powerful cards into the deck. But remember: the deck is shared. Every weapon you buy is just as likely to draw into his hand as yours.

The information is on the felt. The work is deciding what it means before he does.