Trick Pages

Trick Pages is a solitaire game in book form that challenges you to defeat monsters via trick-taking. Initially the 25 cards in your hand have no effects — only their value as cards. The enemy monster plays cards automatically based on die rolls and a specified system. Win enough single-card tricks, and you defeat the enemy...then you have to fight the next monster with the cards remaining in your hand. If you run out of cards before defeating all eight monsters, you die, at which point all of the cards return to your hand, all of the monsters respawn, and you return to the beginning of the book. However, by defeating monsters you earn money, and you can use that money to purchase card effects, ideally allowing you to defeat monsters with fewer cards. Effects apply only to cards in hand, so if you've played strong cards already, you might have to wait until your next life to apply magic to them. Monsters have different abilities, not just more life to defeat, so you need to develop tactics to defeat them, possibly by taking detours in the book dungeon to earn money through side quests. In the end, you must defeat eight enemies to win.