Fate's Hand 64 (Commodore 64)

Build your deck. Choose your path. Face the Arch-Lich.

The dungeon is waiting. Bring a good deck.

Fate's Hand 64 is a fantasy deck-building adventure for the Commodore 64, where a clever combination can turn a desperate battle into a glorious victory. Build your deck as you play, choose your path, and battle through 40 stages to reach the Dark Temple of Arch-Lich Malakor. You'll need more than a sharp sword to survive this journey. You'll need a plan—and the cards to pull it off.

If you like this game, be sure to check out my other C64 game: Black Cave (https://vcastro99.itch.io/black-cave-commodore-64)

Your journey

Your adventure begins on the outskirts of the dungeon, where Bone Rats and Boglins are ready to give you a very unfriendly welcome. Survive the outskirts, descend into the dungeon itself, and finally enter the Dark Temple, where Arch-Lich Malakor and his minions await.

But those first foes are only the beginning. Stranger creatures and formidable guardians lurk deeper within, each with new tricks to uncover. Some enemies fight alone; others join forces in dangerous combinations that put your carefully built deck to the test. You'll have to venture further to discover what stands between you and Malakor.

Every card is a decision. Add a tempting reward to your deck, or skip it to keep your best combinations close at hand. Upgrade your favorites, purge cards that hold you back, pile on Poison, raise your Block, and use Weak, Vulnerable, and Strength to swing the battle your way. Enemy intents let you see what's coming: prepare for a heavy hit, or strike before your foe can carry out its plan.

Every run is different. The battles you face, the mysteries you encounter, and the cards you discover change each time you play. Each new adventure gives you different choices, new combinations to try, and another chance to find a winning strategy against Malakor.

Mysterious encounters and the merchant

An ancient tome. A forgotten altar. A strange fountain in a place where nothing should be trusted. 18 mysterious encounters tempt you with discoveries, unexpected visitors, and bargains that may be too good to be true. You might walk away with a powerful relic or an upgrade, or wish you'd kept walking. Some surprises have teeth.

Then there's the merchant: a welcome sight when your pockets are full and your HP isn't. Spend your hard-earned Gold on new cards, pay to purge an unwanted card, or buy some much-needed healing. That perfect card might be on offer, but spending everything now could leave you short when the next bargain comes along.

Rest, recover, and save at a campsite

Even a determined adventurer needs a breather. At a campsite, rest to recover HP and regain your strength for the dangers ahead. Campsites are also where you save your progress, giving you a checkpoint to return to with Continue Run. Take a break, catch your breath, and head back into the darkness when you're ready.

What's inside

• 40 combat stages across the dungeon outskirts, dungeon, and Dark Temple.
• A different adventure every run, with varying battles, mystery encounters, and card rewards to keep you adapting your strategy.
• 42 unique cards: 38 playable attacks, skills, and powers, plus four curses. Upgrade your playable cards to make your deck stronger.
• 13 relics with effects that can change how you approach a run.
• 18 mystery events with choices, rewards, risks, and surprises.
• Battles against up to three enemies, including mixed groups, Elite Combos, and bosses.
• Merchants, card upgrades, and deck purging to help shape your deck.
• Campsites where you can rest, recover HP, and save your progress.
• Built-in card descriptions, relic information, and a glossary to help you learn the game.
• SID music, pixel artwork, and support for both PAL and NTSC.

Why I made it

Fate's Hand 64 grew out of my love of fantasy adventures, Dungeons & Dragons, and games built around cards and strategy.

Many years ago, Magic: The Gathering got me hooked on building decks. I loved finding cards that worked together, discovering an unexpected combination, and finally watching a plan come to life. There was always one more idea to try and one more deck to build.

For a long time, I thought the Commodore 64 couldn’t offer the kind of deck-building game I wanted to play. With just 64 KB of memory and the challenges of disk loading, it seemed like too much to ask of the machine. Years later, games such as Slay the Spire rekindled my love of the genre. That left me with a question I couldn’t shake: what would it take to bring that kind of adventure to the C64?

Eventually, I had to find out. I devised a strategy that worked from disk on a plain, unexpanded Commodore 64. Seeing that first version come together turned an unlikely idea into Fate's Hand 64.

From there, I explored REU support to reduce repeated disk loading and keep the music playing through cached transitions. I then added an EasyFlash edition, providing much smoother loading on an unexpanded C64 through compatible cartridge hardware or a cartridge-image-capable emulator.

I wanted to make the kind of game I would have loved to discover on the C64: a dungeon to explore, a deck to tinker with, and that irresistible feeling of wanting to see what waits around the next corner.

Choose your edition

Disk edition — D64 Play on a standard Commodore 64 with a 1541-compatible disk setup, or in an emulator. No memory expansion is required. Music pauses during physical disk access.

Disk edition with REU The same D64 detects an REU of at least 128 KB and preloads game data. This greatly reduces repeated disk access and lets music continue during cached transfers. Saving still briefly pauses playback.

EasyFlash edition — CRT Play from compatible EasyFlash cartridge hardware or an emulator that supports EasyFlash images. No disk drive or REU is required. Game data loads from cartridge, allowing much more fluid play, with music continuing during reads. Camp saves and high scores are stored in the cartridge's flash memory.

All editions contain the same adventure, cards, artwork, and music.

Compatibility

Fate's Hand 64 supports PAL and NTSC and has been tested on:

• VICE emulator.
• Ultimate 64, in both PAL and NTSC modes.
• An original Commodore 64.

The game is also expected to work on THEC64 Mini, THEC64 (full-size), and other Commodore 64-compatible hardware that supports 1541 disk emulation or EasyFlash cartridges.

Getting started

• Use a joystick in port 2 to navigate and play cards.
• On disk, enter LOAD"*",8,1. The game starts automatically; no RUN is needed.
• For EasyFlash, attach the CRT in your emulator or use compatible cartridge hardware. In VICE, enable Save EasyFlash CRT on detach and close the emulator normally to retain cartridge saves and high scores.
• Open How To Play from the main menu for the full guide.
• Press M during gameplay to switch music off or on.
• Rest at a campsite to recover HP and save your progress. Use Continue Run to resume that checkpoint. RUN/STOP returns to the main menu during a run.

Malakor is waiting. Shuffle your courage, choose your path, and play your hand.