I enjoy a good card game of Pazaak, from Knights of the Old Republic. It's loosely like a PvP Blackjack. Link to an article explaining the rules in-depth here: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Pazaak/Legends
Something I think works well for Pazaak in Kotor is how the side deck acts as collectables. It doesn’t make sense within the ruleset to provide a full side deck to select from and allows for a fun tie in with the main game. This also got me wondering if any new editions of Pazaak outside of Kotor could be any good.
Pazaak (Oleksii Kompaniyets)
This version is pretty minimal which I appreciate for a card game. The visuals are clean and simple, great for a smaller screen. There’s a selection of different AI opponents to play against, I can’t tell what the difference is but I assume some are more difficult. You get to choose off the bat from a full stack of +- for the side deck. I don’t know why you wouldn’t fill as much as you can with them. You’re supposed to not go over 20, which is even stated in the store's description but it’s actually programmed to be 21.
Pazaak Den (Legendary Software)
Again a minimal take on the game. This one chooses a vertical layout more comfortable for playing in a relaxed grip. The retro styled graphics sort of annoy me compared to the first game. Choosing your side deck is done in a separate menu and starting a new game will start you with the default if you haven’t changed it. It’s easier to ignore the fully available side deck but they're still there from the start. This version plays pretty well and even has multiplayer. I neglected to mention one thing that every mobile version has which is probably obvious and that's ads. Pazaak Den absolutely assaults you with a full screen ad at the end of every match.
Pazaak Cantina (One Seven Games)
Cantina is the beefiest, most ambitious version I looked at. It mixes the original look of the cards with the typical disgusting mobile visual style. It also finally implements side deck progression. Winning games earn xp and credits that go towards new cards. Two modes are available, a sort of instant play and a campaign mode that takes you to various planets to play cards.
Browser
Pazaakonline.com
There’s only a quickmatch and the side deck is just a randomized 4 cards. Side deck +- and double cards look like they have been removed to focus on quicker style matches. There are two difficulties in which the AI makes decent decisions. This plays pretty well but the game is smooshed into a small portion of the screen.
Itch.io Variants
There are five variants on Itch, some of them are similar to the mobile editions. Pazaak by Z_Doctor is probably the best version on Itch and possibly in general. All the cards are there and randomized, the AI is difficult, the graphics aren’t great but looks similar enough to the original. Couple of the other variants have multiplayer.
Desktop
Pazaak Clone (arnoldout)
Minimal quick match type. Again +- and double cards have been removed in favor of randomizing the 4 card draw for quick play. Notable for being absolutely horrendous to look at. Its ugliness is sort of endearing to me.
