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.
Starting Sultan's Game can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Sultan's Game is a card-game game built around Weekly card draw and Seven day deadline. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Conquest specialist | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Bloodshed enforcer | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Extravagance financier | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Carnality socialite | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Generalist survivor | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Bloodshed enforcer. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Generalist survivor as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn 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.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Weekly card draw works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to Your estate
Home base where allies rest, resources accumulate and weekly planning happens. Upgrades here raise the ceiling on everything else.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Coin: it's the most accessible early upgrade. The most flexible resource in the game, and the one Extravagance weeks devour fastest.
Step 4: Understand 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.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to 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.
Essential Mechanics Explained
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.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Building a household specialised for one decree, then drawing a different card
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
2. Assigning every ally on day one and having nobody free when the week develops
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
3. Spending secrets as though they were currency rather than as a hold over people
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
4. Starting a long task too late in the week for it to finish before the deadline
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
5. Treating reputation as free, then finding the endings you wanted are closed
This is a common trap that costs new players significant time.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Weekly card draw and Seven day deadline
- Choose Bloodshed enforcer as starting build
- Clear Your estate main content
- Acquire Coin or equivalent upgrade
- Reach The Sultan's court
- 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.
Tips for New Players
- 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.
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 Sultan's Game Overview
- Sultan's Game Best Builds
- Sultan's Game Tier List
- Sultan's Game Walkthrough
- 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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