Endlock
Build a branching chain by alternating card colors and adjacent ranks. Outsmart the computer and empty your seven-card hand first.
Overview
Endlock is an original card game built around constraint-based placement — a puzzle-like battle of tactics against the computer. Starting from a Joker anchor in the centre, both players build a branching chain outward, and the empty slots around the layout open and close as cards are ‘locked’ into place. The first player to empty their seven-card hand wins, so every placement is about keeping your own options open while closing off your opponent’s.Dominoes and solitaire, married
Well, I have done Chess, I have done Ludo. I have so many card games made already.
Let me make Dominoes. But wait — there are so many great apps for that game out there, so should I just leave it? I made people play Ludo with cards, and even Chess. Why not Dominoes?
I had just finished making a Solitaire pack for Android and iOS. So why not take that FreeCell and Klondike mechanic, think it through, and turn it into a competitive spatial domination game?
So my standard 52 card deck becomes my dominoes. I don’t want users to purchase any custom made cards from me to play it in the real world, in their living rooms. I just needed a mechanic that does what dominoes do and what solitaire does, at the same time.
What came out
A Joker sits in the centre as the anchor, and both players build a branching chain outward from it — that is the dominoes half. But you cannot place just anything: your card has to be exactly one rank above or below the card you are placing against, and it has to alternate red with black — that is the solitaire half. Every card you lock into place opens some slots and closes others. First to empty a seven card hand wins.
And thus the Endlock game was born. The mechanics are definitely inspired by dominoes and solitaire games, as if they married to produce this new baby.
As for the name — the ends lock, so it is what it is. But I say you need to experience it to decide, and you may even suggest a better one if you loved it, by contacting me.
About the game
Endlock is an original two-player card game played on an expanding layout. Every card you place creates new possible branches while other gaps close as the board grows.
The browser edition offers Easy and Hard matches against the computer.
How to play
- Select a card from your hand.
- Choose a highlighted open position beside one placed card.
- Match a rank exactly one step higher or lower and alternate red with black.
- If no card can be played, draw until a playable card appears.
- Place every card in your hand before the computer.
Easy and Hard modes
Easy: a Joker begins in the center, so any rank may start each initial branch. The computer chooses from its available moves more casually.
Hard: the card after the opening deal becomes the center anchor, and the computer evaluates its available moves more carefully.
Placement rules
- Red cards connect only to black cards, and black only to red.
- Ranks must differ by one; Ace connects to Two and King.
- A Joker may be placed in any open position and accepts any rank beside it.
- A gap is open only while it touches exactly one placed card; touching two cards closes it.
Drawing and winning
When your hand has no legal move, use the draw pile. Unplayable draws move to the discard pile until a playable card is found. If the stock empties, the discard pile is shuffled and reused.
The first player to empty their hand wins immediately.
Tips and strategy
- Preserve cards that can extend more than one branch.
- Use Jokers to escape awkward hands or open flexible routes.
- Watch which ranks and colors the computer is placing.
- In Hard mode, avoid creating easy continuations for your opponent.