Sultan's Game: The Dark Card Game That Quietly Sold a Million
Draw a card, obey the Sultan, survive seven days. A morally brutal role-playing game from a small Chinese team became one of 2025's surprise million-sellers. Here is why players could not look away.
Imagine a ruler who is bored. He hands you a card. On it is a task, perhaps a feast, perhaps a battle, perhaps something far worse. You have seven days to carry it out. Fail, and you will not get another chance. Succeed, and he hands you another card.
That is the cruel premise of Sultan's Game, a role-playing game from Chinese developer Double Cross, published by 2P Games. It launched on Steam for Windows on 30 March 2025, sold 100,000 copies in its first 48 hours and passed 1 million copies by July 2025. Critics gave it a Metacritic score of 83.
The rules of the Sultan
You play a courtier forced to entertain the Sultan with a card-drawing game. Each card commands an act that must be completed within seven days. Cards come in four types: Carnality, Extravagance, Conquest and Bloodshed. Each also has a rank: Gold, Silver, Bronze or Stone, and the higher the rank, the harder and more extreme the task.
To complete your orders, you gather allies, spend resources and make choices that often hurt other people. The game does not hide what it is asking of you. Survival means doing terrible things, and the writing makes you feel the weight of each decision.
Why reviewers praised it
RPGFan highlighted the Arabic-inspired art and music and described the game as brimming with imaginative writing and scenarios. GamerSky gave it 8.5 out of 10, praising its roguelike-style progression, which encourages you to replay and try different paths. Softpedia admired the dark, beautiful visuals, while warning that some content edges toward adult territory.
The structure helps. Each playthrough is built around a limited number of days and a deck of unpredictable demands, so no two runs unfold quite the same way. That makes it a game people discuss, compare and share stories about.
By the numbers
- 30 March 2025: launch on Steam
- 100,000: copies sold within 48 hours
- 1 million: copies sold by July 2025
- 83: Metacritic score on PC
- 4: card types (Carnality, Extravagance, Conquest, Bloodshed)
- 7: days you have to complete each command
Why it caught fire
A premise that sticks. "A bored king forces you to play a deadly card game" is easy to explain and hard to forget. It reads like a dark folk tale.
Moral tension. Many games let you be a hero. Sultan's Game asks how far you would go to survive, and players love debating their answers.
A Chinese indie on the global stage. Sultan's Game is part of a growing wave of Chinese-made indies, alongside hits like Escape from Duckov, that are finding big audiences worldwide. Its success shows how strong narrative writing can travel across languages.
Is it for you?
Sultan's Game deals with violence, cruelty and adult themes. It is not a game to play with children in the room. But if you enjoy narrative games that make you uncomfortable in a meaningful way, or deck-based games where every card tells a story, it is one of the most original releases of 2025.
WGC's take: Sultan's Game proves that a dark, text-heavy card game can sell a million copies when its central idea is strong enough. For another Chinese indie that made waves in 2025, read our feature on Escape from Duckov (Escape from Duckov).