Granny's Gambit
A Victorian grandma with a deck of cards and no patience.
Granny's Gambit is a Victorian gothic deckbuilder roguelike where Ashwood Manor has been overrun by cursed servants, possessed furniture, and things that go bump in the night — and the manor's owner, a stubborn grandmother armed with knitting needles and a doily shield, has decided to take it back room by room. Slay the Spire meets British determination, with a mercy system because Granny doesn't believe in unfair fights.
How it plays
A run takes you up a branching map of the manor floor by floor. Each node is a combat, a shop, a rest stop, an event, or a boss — your choice of route is the strategic core, and the layout is different every run. You build your deck along the way from a pool of 13 unique cards (each with original art), facing 12 enemy types and 2 boss encounters across the climb. Make it past the final floor and you face the Manor Master himself.
The combat is where the game distinguishes itself from typical Slay the Spire derivatives. Enemies don't just queue one action per turn — they attack and block, buff themselves and hit you, plan multi-step combos that punish autopilot play. You can't just count incoming damage and react; you have to read intent and prioritize. When things go sideways, you can try to Run Away. It might work. It might not.
Granny doesn't play fair, but she does play kind. The Emergency Tea Stash gives you a single-use heal in a pinch. Passive healing trickles in between fights. The mercy system ensures you're never softlocked, even when a run goes badly — there's always a path forward, even if it's not the one you wanted.
Where to play
Granny's Gambit is available now on itch.io — name your own price, including free. The download is a 400MB Windows executable; no installer, no account required, just unzip and play. Save & quit support means you can put a run down mid-floor and pick it back up later. Original soundtrack, original sound design, original art across the whole deck.
What's it like
If you came up through Slay the Spire, Monster Train, or Inscryption, the deckbuilding rhythm will feel familiar. What's different here is the texture: the Victorian setting gives the cards and enemies a personality that Spire-likes typically skip. Doilies, tea, knitting needles, and possessed furniture make for a deck that feels handmade rather than abstract — which is the entire point. Granny isn't a chosen one. She's just someone whose house was invaded, and she's not asking nicely for it back.
Granny's Gambit is developed by SB Choost, Choost Games' solo experimental label.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Granny's Gambit free?
Yes — it's pay-what-you-want on itch.io, with $0 as a valid price. If you find yourself coming back for more runs, the game accepts whatever you want to throw at it, but there's no minimum. The download is a 400MB Windows executable, no installer or account required.
How long is a Granny's Gambit run?
A full run from the manor's entrance to the Manor Master takes about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how many shop stops and rest events you take. The Save & Quit feature means you can put a run down mid-floor and come back later — runs don't have to be done in one sitting.
How is Granny's Gambit different from Slay the Spire?
Granny's Gambit follows the Slay the Spire template (branching map, deck-building, run-based progression) but layers on multi-action enemy AI — enemies attack and block in the same turn, buff themselves while hitting you, plan multi-step combos. You can't just count incoming damage and react. There's also a Run Away mechanic, an Emergency Tea Stash for desperate moments, and a mercy system that prevents true softlocks. The Victorian gothic setting gives the cards and enemies personality that abstract deckbuilders skip.
How many cards are in Granny's Gambit?
13 unique cards, each with original art. The deck size stays small enough that every card matters — you're not drowning in 50-card pools where most picks are filler. The 12 enemies and 2 bosses you'll face require genuinely different deck strategies to handle.
What platform is Granny's Gambit on?
Windows desktop only. Available on itch.io as a free/pay-what-you-want download. No Steam release planned for Gambit at this time — it lives on itch as the studio's free entry point.
Is Granny's Gambit suitable for someone new to deckbuilders?
Yes. The mercy system specifically exists so you're never truly stuck — you can always make forward progress even when a run goes badly. The 13-card pool means you learn the synergies fast, and the Run Away option lets you bail on fights that aren't going your way. It's friendlier than Slay the Spire on Ascension difficulties without being trivially easy.