Bubblejack

A simple twist on Blackjack, but instead of placing bets, you make use of bubbles.

This game was designed for the 2025 Global Game Jam. While researching the viral phenomenon of Balatro, the theme reveal got me thinking about ways to combine "bubbles" with traditional playing cards.

With the help of Mauricio Rodríguez (designer and art director at Frik-in), we came up with custom iconography for the cards and an extra suit of bubbles.

Game Details

Players: 2
Playing Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Age: 9+
Format: Print & Play

Description

Bubblejack shares it's main objective with regular Blackjack: your goal is to reach exactly "21" without going over (also called "bust"). To achieve this, the croupier will deal you two cards, and you will decide wether to stand or ask for another card (also called "hit"). However, instead of placing bets, you will earn bubble cards from a secondary deck every time you win a hand. Those bubble cards will help you avoid going bust, and will help you reach 21 if you use them strategically.

Some standard rules apply to the croupier, who can also go bust and use bubble cards. In fact, they start with one "0" of bubbles, since the house always has the advantage! The first to obtain 10 bubble cards, wins the game.

Components

• 1 standard deck of 52 playing cards, with the four traditional suits: clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades.
• 1 deck with an additional bubble suit, consisting of the following cards:
  • One card of each, numbered "2" through "10".
  • One card of each, "J", "Q", "K" and "A".
  • 10 cards numbered "0".

Setup

1. By any means you prefer, decide who will be the croupier.
2. The croupier thoroughly shuffles the standard deck and places it to their right.
3. The croupier takes a "0" of bubbles from the deck of bubble cards and places it face-up in their reserve.
4. The croupier thoroughly shuffles the deck of bubble cards and places it to their left.

Game Rules

Card Values

For the purpose of this game, cards in both decks have the following values:

• Cards numbered "2" through "10" are worth the number printed on them.
• "J", "Q" and "K" cards are worth 10 points each.
• The "A" cards are worth either 1 or 11 points, depending on what is best for the current hand. Just like regular Blackjack!
• "0" cards are worth no points, so they don't add value to a hand.
• To determine which cards are worth less than others, this is the hierarchy that should be followed: K > Q > J > 10 > 9 > 8 > 7 > 6 > 5 > 4 > 3 > 2 > A

The last bullet point is helpful only when determining the outcome of using bubble cards (see the "Using Bubble Cards" section for clarification).

Hands

The game is played in "hands" (rounds), which will go on indefinitely until one of the participants obtains a total of 10 bubble cards. Both the cards in their reserve and their discard pile count towards that total.

Hands can be won by the player or the croupier, but they can also end in a tie.

To begin a hand, the croupier deals cards from the standard deck in the following order:

1. 1 card to player, face-up.
2. 1 card to himself, face-up.
3. 1 card to the player, face-up.
4. 1 card to himself, face-down.

The croupier can peek at his face-down card at any time during a hand.

The participants take turns for their following actions, but the player must always go first. See the "Player Decisions" and "Croupier Actions" to understand each participants available actions.

Once a participant goes bust (goes over 21) without the possibility of using bubble cards, the hand ends and the opposite participant wins (see the "Going Bust" section for further clarification).

If none of the two participants go bust and cannot or do not want to draw additional cards, the player with the higher sum of cards wins.

All cards from the current hand get sent to the corresponding discard pile: one for standard cards and one for each player's used up bubble cards. Each player's discard pile for their bubble cards must be arranged face-up, separate from their reserve and in a way that the opposite participant can tell how many bubble cards they've discarded.

The winner then takes a card from the deck of bubble cards and places it face-up in their reserve. And finally, a new hand begins. 

At any point during the game, if there are no more cards left in the standard deck, the croupier must shuffle the discard pile of standard cards.

Player Decisions

Once the cards are dealt, it'll be the player's turn to decide what to ask of the croupier:

Stand:
Take no more cards, and hope to win the hand with his current sum of cards.

Hit:
Take another card, and risk going bust. As long as the player doesn't go bust, they can keep asking for additional cards.

Going Bust

Whenever a participant's sum of cards goes over 21, they are at risk of going bust and have the option to make use of their bubble cards. The player can decide wether to use them, or save them for later. But the croupier must use any bubble cards they have, if this action would help them avoid going bust and / or reach 21 (see the "Croupier Actions" section for clarification and additional rules).

The participants can use any number of bubble cards during a hand, but they can only use them when they are at risk of going bust. Additionally, participants cannot avoid going bust in the following cases:

• When they have no remaining bubble cards in their reserve.
• If they used a bubble card which value would still make them go bust, even if they follow the rules in the "Using Bubble Cards" section.

Using Bubble Cards

When a participant uses a bubble card from their reserve to avoid going bust, the following events take place in strict order:

1. The card that made them go bust is discarded, without any further consequences.
2. If any of the standard cards in the participant's hand is of lower rank than the bubble card they used, they can decide to also discard one of said cards. Do note that you cannot discard previously played bubble cards in this way.
3. The value of the bubble card played gets added to the sum of points in the participant's hand.

At this point, the participant can still go bust, depending on their ensuing sum of cards, in which case they would lose the hand. 

However, if they haven't reached 21 yet, they are able to draw additional cards and risk going bust again. In which case they can continue to use bubble cards to prevent that.

A player is never forced to use bubble cards when facing the risk of going bust. For example, if the player foresees that their remaining bubble cards would make them go bust no matter what, they can choose to lose the hand in order to save them for later. They can also choose to save them for strategic reasons, in order to help them win a subsequent hand.

Croupier Actions

The croupier operates under a strict set of standardized actions, instead of making decisions. And while this role might seem boring at first, it takes great concentration and sharpness to be able to play correctly. So we recommend that an experienced participant takes on the role of croupier. Having played Blackjack previously helps!

After dealing a hand, the croupier must first wait for the player to take their turn. If the player goes bust, the hand ends and the croupier must reveal their initial hand. This means the croupier wins by default (after all, the house always wins!).

However, if the player reaches 21 or decides to stand, the croupier must take their turn by following these conditionals:

• If their sum of cards amounts to 16 or less, they must draw a additional cards.
• If their sum of cards amounts to 17 or more, they must stand.

If the croupier draws additional cards and faces the risk of going bust, they must try to prevent it under the following conditionals:

• If they have available bubble cards in their reserve and:
• One of them would prevent them from going bust.
• One of them would prevent them from going bust AND help them reach or get closer to 21 (see the "Using Bubble Cards" section).

After using a bubble card, the croupier must follow the previous conditionals in order to stand or draw additional cards.

Bubblejack Rule

If any of the participants' hand includes the "Jack of Bubbles" ("J" of bubbles), and they win the hand, the game automatically ends and they are declared the overall winner.