Cascade: Dice & Card Duel

The die decides what scores. You decide how far to push.

Cascade: Dice & Card Duel is on the App Store — free, with no ads, no coins, and no account. It’s the first of the six small games I’ve been building this year to make it through App Review, and it sets the pattern for the rest: a game I actually want to play, a tip jar behind a heart, and nothing else between you and the felt.

How it plays

Every round opens with a die roll, and the roll sets the scoring rule: Runs, Sets, Flush, or Wild — whichever of the three pays you the most. Then it’s you and the river: five cards face up. Take what fits, dodge what doesn’t, or flip the top of the deck blind if you’re feeling lucky.

Bigger tableaus are worth far more — the count is squared, so a run of 4 scores 16 and a run of 5 scores 25. But cards that don’t fit the rule are misfits, and three misfits bust your hand: you keep only half your points for the round. Bank before you overreach. Five rounds, highest total wins.

Nobody attacks anybody. You and your opponent each draft from a river of your own — you’re both just building, and all the tension lives in the die and the deck. Out of the box you play Skyler, named for a friend of mine. Tap the name fields and play as yourself, against anyone you’d like to beat.

The leaderboard remembers

Every finished game lands on the leaderboard under the names it was played with — best games ranked on top, sweeps flagged, and the round-by-round story of each win a tap away. Scores live on your iPhone. Nothing leaves the device.

Cascade is free on the App Store. If you enjoy it, there’s a tip jar behind the heart — and no, tips won’t change what the river brings.