Sultan's Game is a dark fantasy resource management RPG built around a single cruel loop. Every week a card is drawn, Carnality, Extravagance, Conquest or Bloodshed, and you have seven days to satisfy its demand or meet the executioner. The game ships with more than fifty endings, and most of them are bad.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Weekly card draw
Each week hands you one of four decrees. You do not choose it, and refusing to satisfy it ends the run, so your preparation has to cover all four possibilities rather than the one you prefer.
Seven day deadline
Every card gives you seven in game days. Actions consume days, so the real puzzle is sequencing tasks that fit inside the window rather than finding the theoretically best action.
Ally deployment
Allies are assigned to tasks and are unavailable while working. Sending your strongest character on a long errand at the wrong moment is how otherwise safe weeks turn fatal.
Resource and secret management
Wealth, influence and secrets are all spendable. Secrets in particular act as a hold over people, and holding one back is often worth more than cashing it in early.
Branching endings
Choices compound into more than fifty endings. Runs diverge early, so a decision made in the first month frequently decides which endings are still reachable in the last.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Sultan's Game combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conquest specialist | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Bloodshed enforcer | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Extravagance financier | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Carnality socialite | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Generalist survivor | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Sultan's Game builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Dirty secrets | A hold over specific characters that opens options no amount of money will buy. | Weeks where an ally refuses a task or a faction blocks your only route to the card. |
| Coin | The most flexible resource in the game, and the one Extravagance weeks devour fastest. | Extravagance decrees and buying your way out of a deadline you cannot meet on time. |
| Loyal retainers | Allies with high loyalty who accept dangerous tasks without demanding payment or defecting. | Bloodshed and Conquest weeks that would burn through unreliable helpers. |
| Poison | A quiet solution to problems that would otherwise cost you soldiers, reputation or time. | Bloodshed decrees where an open confrontation would draw the wrong attention. |
| Military commission | Formal authority over troops, converting your household into something that can answer a Conquest card directly. | Conquest weeks and any run that intends to end in open war rather than intrigue |
Dirty secrets: A hold over specific characters that opens options no amount of money will buy.
Coin: The most flexible resource in the game, and the one Extravagance weeks devour fastest.
Loyal retainers: Allies with high loyalty who accept dangerous tasks without demanding payment or defecting.
Poison: A quiet solution to problems that would otherwise cost you soldiers, reputation or time.
Military commission: Formal authority over troops, converting your household into something that can answer a Conquest card directly.
Full breakdowns in our Sultan's Game weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Your estate | Whole game | Ally recovery, storage, planning |
| The Sultan's court | Early onward | Influence, political favours |
| The market district | Whole game | Wealth, luxury goods |
| The barracks | Mid game | Troops, martial options |
| The underground | Mid to late game | Secrets, illicit tools |
Your estate: Home base where allies rest, resources accumulate and weekly planning happens. Upgrades here raise the ceiling on everything else.
The Sultan's court: Where influence is won and lost. Court standing decides which favours are available when a card demands something you cannot supply yourself.
The market district: Converts coin into goods and goods into coin. Extravagance weeks live and die on how well you have positioned here beforehand.
The barracks: Source of armed support for Conquest and Bloodshed cards. Maintaining soldiers costs upkeep even in quiet weeks.
The underground: Where secrets, poisons and deniable help are traded. Expensive in reputation but the fastest answer to an impossible deadline.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Build a household that can answer any of the four decrees at a basic level rather than one that answers a single decree brilliantly. The draw is not yours to control, and a specialist run dies the first week its card does not come up.
- Always finish the week with at least one ally unassigned. Cards frequently open follow up options mid week, and having nobody free to take them is how a survivable decree turns into an execution.
- Secrets appreciate. A secret held for ten weeks often unlocks a route that money cannot, while spending it early usually buys something you could have bought with coin.
- Read the day cost of a task before you commit an ally to it. A five day errand started on day four does not complete, and the game will not warn you before the deadline lands.
- Extravagance is the decree most players underprepare for because it demands liquid wealth rather than capability. Keep a cash reserve you never touch for anything else.
- Reputation gates entire branches. Burning it for a quick solution can close off the endings you were actually playing toward, so treat it as a currency with a long payback period.
- Allies have their own agendas and loyalty values. A capable ally with low loyalty is a liability on Bloodshed weeks, where failure has consequences beyond the task itself.
- The first month sets the shape of the run. Decisions there decide which factions will still deal with you later, so play the opening weeks conservatively while you learn the systems.
- Track which endings you have seen. The game rewards deliberate experimentation, and a run steered toward an unseen ending teaches you more than a run steered toward survival.
- When a week looks unwinnable, look for the option that fails cheaply rather than the option that might succeed. Surviving a bad card with resources intact beats a coin flip that ends the run.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Building a household specialised for one decree, then drawing a different card.
- Assigning every ally on day one and having nobody free when the week develops.
- Spending secrets as though they were currency rather than as a hold over people.
- Starting a long task too late in the week for it to finish before the deadline.
- Treating reputation as free, then finding the endings you wanted are closed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the four cards in Sultan's Game?
Carnality, Extravagance, Conquest and Bloodshed. One is drawn each week and you have seven days to satisfy its demand, with execution as the penalty for failing.
Can you refuse the Sultan's card?
Not without consequence. The decree has to be answered inside the seven day window, so the strategy is preparing a household flexible enough to handle whichever card appears.
How many endings does Sultan's Game have?
More than fifty, ranging from dying as a loyal servant of the court to outcomes far stranger. Which ones remain reachable depends heavily on choices made in the opening weeks.
What is the best early strategy?
Spread your capability across all four decree types and keep a cash reserve plus one free ally at all times. Specialising early feels efficient and is the most common cause of an early execution.
Are secrets worth holding onto?
Usually yes. Secrets open routes that coin cannot buy, and their value tends to rise as the political situation develops, so cashing them in during the first month wastes their pull.
More Sultan's Game Guides
- Sultan's Game Best Builds
- Sultan's Game Tier List
- Sultan's Game Walkthrough
- Sultan's Game Beginner's Guide
- Sultan's Game Tips & Tricks
- Sultan's Game Weapons Guide
- Sultan's Game Combat Guide
- Sultan's Game Boss Guide
- Sultan's Game Maps & Locations
- Sultan's Game Crafting Guide
- Sultan's Game Classes & Characters
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