13 Bones
You are an unnamed skeleton soldier, a minion among many.
Play 13 BONES (spicy black-jack, with cursed cards) to earn your freedom.
The cursed cards make you go BUST instantly if you play 3 of the same cursed symbol.
Initially created for the minijam 200 - original version playable HERE
Beta version for the upcoming version NOT AVAILABLE AT THE MOMENT
Controls:
Mouse only. Click on elements to interact with them.
hover (symbols, cards, decks, and enemies) to get more information.
Credits:
Art by Fscibe
Music by KOBOLD, courtesy by Heimat der Katastrophe
Placeholder icons: Flaticon
Updates:
16/01/2026 - Update 4
* End of game recap, with th capability to share your build with the discord server
10/01/2026 - Update 3.2
* Hotfix: Remove all postprocessing on low quality (for Mac users)
* Balancing: swap The Sword and The Headless, nerf The Master
09/01/2026 - Update 3
* Add: new enemies, chapter types, and branching paths
* Change: damage now is separated from card value
05/01/2026 - Update 2
* Fixes, including : reduce quality by default for mac
* replace part of the placeholder art
* Telemetry
30/12/2025 - Post jam update : polish, settings, save, and music
Day 1: show the rules by default, add a note to the skull explaining how to reroll
Development log
- 13 Bones - Update 4: Run Recap & Discord !5 days ago
- 13 Bones: Update 3 is live !12 days ago
- 13 Bones - Post jam update22 days ago



Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
This was really fun! I had to retry the boss twice to win but I ended up getting it first run!!! I do have to say it probably massively comes down to rng cause I felt like I wasn't strategising so much as just trying to get the combo number higher and deck fixing out all high cards lmao.
I'm pretty sure this is a glitch but I can't see any of the numbers or descriptions of cards? I can only see it when I hover over them but I don't think that's intended.
Ok one more bug found. My max handsize was 16 because I had plus one handsize on both four and five and I drew a six making it 14 and it told me I had busted?
Edit: Ok no I'm actually just stupid I had three curse cards lmao
Hey! That's not intended :D. Are you playing on a Mac?
Boss fight seemed to come down to complete RNG. Was fun up until then 6/10.
Played a ton of Slay the spire (which, I have to say, wasn't as pretty as 13 bones) back in the days and this gives me huuuuge vibes coupled with that eerie Inscryption feeling. I loved your game and can't wait for new mechanics. Do you wan't to share a bit of what is ahead?
In other hand I don't think that it is unfair, for the recod i beat it second try, but the discard mechanics should defienitly be put upfront as this is so game changer
Best of luck!!!
The game is pretty cool! I just wonder when the option of downloading (instead of solely playing in the browser) will be available!
Swag game,, 10/10
balatro vibe
that's the LSD music 100%
peak, wish this was longe
First of all. This is a great game! The art is just brilliant and UI is super punchy.
QQ though. I can't figure out how combos work? Could somaone please explain? I don't understand where the multiplier comes from
Hey! thanks a lot!
We need to do a tutorial, but:
* you get +1 Combo if you perfect
* you get +1 Combo if your enemy bust
* some symbols increase your combo (notably for enemies, check the tooltip of their skills)
Really cool game, but the last boss feels unfairly unbalanced, even if you get an amazing deck, just one wrong roll and you lose. If I play like 20 times I'll eventually beat it, but it's so relying on RNG that's not even fun or worth the grind, it's a matter of just getting lucky. Maybe the max for the boss should be 14, or get me an upgrade to get to max 14 (I don't think there is, is there?)
Other than that, great game, I wish it had more balanced content like more paths to explore, more buffs/debuffs, more enemies but with a more balanced math.
Hey, thanks for the feedback!
Currently you can increase your max by playing cards with 'bone' symbol.
We are working on more content :).
Yeah after a few more tries I beat the boss. And as a reward I had to imagine the ending, lol.
I think I did it with a combination of attack, defense and heal. I tried bones but they're unreliable.
Huge fan of this game. It's extremely addicting and well made, i keep find myself opening in between work and getting lost in it.
really fun game!
Super good game, really like the unique art style, but I had a couple of issues in playing this on my Chromebook:
The right and top-most parts of my screen were cut off, not too much of a big deal, but I couldn't see some of the hints while playing :d
Second issue: My cursor in-game was offset slightly upwards than what my mouse actually was, and this made the game a bit annoying to play, especially because I could barely click the End button!
Apart from those issues, I think you've made an absolutely fun and amazing game. I think that the next step would be to add some more content, but I am aware that you're still fixing bugs and generally making the game better :D
Really good work, keep it up!
Nice game, but i liked more how it was before the update, mostly because of the new damage and armor system
Es un juego increíble! El estilo de arte es muy lindo, ojala tuviera modo infinito, es muy adictivo :)
Gracias amigo!
Lo vamos construyendo de a poco, con un poco de suerte llegamos a hacerlo roguelike.
Me encantó, quisiera que fuera mas largo, ya me envicié alv
Very fun game! Love the style and art so much
This was so fun!!! Even at the relatively small scale it feels like there's a lot of room for player expression. For example, I did a run where I had cursed double reroll threes and deleted all my sixes and fives, so I had really strong probability manipulation.
If you're interested in expanding this, I'd definitely be interested in playing A LOT more.
Other than one minor visual bug (reported it) the ONLY major complaint is how unfair the final boss is.
--------------------
too long; didn't read: Either nerf him, buff the player, allow armour to reduce attacks to 0, give power ups that allow you to bust your enemy by adding attack or allow hand size to be increased again (don't know if it was bad rng or you removed that ability but only got a card that reduced handsize)
--------------------
Granted beat the update in one run but had to lose all the lives and beat the boss on the final one. It feels disproportionately more difficult and feels more rng than the previous enemies despite being a card game with luck.
The only major strategy for newer players to give is to only upgrade health and damage but to never die and loss a life until the final boss. Even still, on death you basically redo the level or choose to restart the entire run opposed to continuing the fight with progress saved.
Like one time got a perfect 13 only to be pelted with 15ish damage because the boss got a perfect 15. The only saving grace is when he busts (usually never) or deal the same card attack to make a draw.
Other than that, it is a fine game.
i keep seeing achievements pop up. any way to see them in full?
Hey! They are not achievements, just the song name.
(I am very happy with KOBOLD allowing us to use their music, it really makes the game)
Yayah! I just wiped the smirk off the Master’s face on both enemy paths. Take that.
After getting my ass kicked by the final boss twice pretty badly it felt so perfect to absolutely steamroll it with 3 perfect hands and overkill it by like 10 damage lol
Really fun concept, and definetly one that has potential to be expanded! The final boss can absolutely go fuck itself though.
AWESOMEEEEE
Oh, this is frustrating. See, the armor upgrade fails to reduce damage to 0 under any circumstance, but does not tell me this, so I have what should by rights be an invincible build (3 armor) to slowly chip the Master down, but I simply don't have the bust limit to beat her in the game as actually implemented. I would have made different build choices if I'd known.
oh hell yeah, this is awesome
Yeah this is great. Will be keeping my eye on your account
This is such a great game! I love it!
You adapted the rules of blackjack brilliantly and the aesthetic is just the right amount of off putting. Keep up the great work. I am going to download the beta.
Some notes:
The way the +X to maximum before bust is poorly explained. Does it apply to the current turn or the next turn?
Would love some keyboard controls. It makes sense to have the hit/stay on opposite sides of the interface, but I find it gets in the way of the flow of the game to use the mouse.
I suggest implementing A for hit, F for stay at least.
For accessibility points, tab/arrow to cycle through elements on the screen.
Thank you for the feedback!
Tutorial and keyboard/gamepad control are the 2 most important tasks that I have been procastinating until we are stabilize the layout.
The beta is currently behind the current version. I will probably put a new version around Thursday-Friday with the current WIP.
WHAT A GAME.
So awesome
me atrapaste, si es GOTY
Just curious, in the final version will we actually get a nice cinematic of the skeleton going to the beach?
We would love to, but we need to do the rest of the game first
Yes ofc I was just wondering lol
omg thats perfect
i didn't really get why everyone was so into this game, but since the update I started to understand. Just managed to make a build where I beat the master without taking damage and it was great.
this game so good, the only way to improve it at this point is more content
s+ great job keep this going!
Absolutely loving it. I've been playing it on repeat, and after seeing the new update I'm totally stoked. At first i was surprised and a little nervous with all the changes, but omg its awesome what you've done with it. I appreciate the opponents' curse cards and the varying paths you can take. well done!!! :)
hi will this be a downloadable game in the future?
The idea is to continue working on it for a while.
For now, with web is easier to get the player feedback.
i can see this game being popular
me too, its SO good
can 4s get a skull curse?
yes, they can.
Nice game, I love the art style.
that final boss was hard but I managed to win by destroying my 4 & 5 cards & upgrading my 1, 2 & 3 cards to have infinite rerolls.
It didn't mattered what the boss pulled because I always got 13 >:D (I still lost 2 times xd)
Why I can't get past the initial screen of flashing lights warnings? Clicking on I understood does nothing. I'm using a mac and Chrome browser to play.
Hi, sorry to hear that.
There is a known issue with Mac users, is it an M3?
I will work on a fix next week.
FWIW I am having the same issue on iPad mini6 on Safari. GL with troubleshooting
Mac on safri too
You can play the version from the gamejam the link is on the page near the top (labed HERE)
Thank you, that helps a lot
I pushed a hotfix. Could you tell me if the new version still has the issue?
Yes! The current one works for me. Thrilled to help!
I really love the art style of this game and the mechanics and the art, all of it is incredible! I have yet to beat the boss, but seeing some of the comments say it is possible just fuels my desire to achieve it myself!
I came close a couple of times but I finally beat the boss! Truly in love with this game, thank you!
Very glad you like it !