Sumward guide: hand chart, scoring and relic strategy

Sumward is a roguelite deckbuilder played with number cards. Play hands that form patterns, multiply chips by mult, and build a deck and relic set strong enough to clear eight rounds.

How to play Sumward

The deck

36 cards: the numbers 1 to 9 in four colours, EMBER ◆, TIDE ●, MOSS ▲ and DUSK ■.

Hands and swaps

You hold eight cards and play up to five at a time. Each round gives you four hands and three swaps. A swap trades cards away without using a hand.

Beat the target

Reach the round's target score before your hands run out. Targets climb steeply each round. Fall short and the run ends.

Eight rounds

Clear round 8 to win the run. Between rounds you spend coins in the Exchange on relics and deck changes.

Sumward hand chart: chips and mult

A hand's score is chips × mult. Start from the pattern's base chips and mult, add the face value of every card played to chips, then apply card enhancements and relics.

Hand	Rule	Chips	Mult
SINGLE	One card	5	1
PAIR	Two of the same number	10	2
SUM TO TEN	2 to 5 cards adding up to exactly 10	25	3
RUN OF 3	Three numbers in a row	30	3
TRIPLE	Three of the same number	35	4
RUN OF 4	Four numbers in a row	45	4
SPECTRUM	Five cards of one colour	60	5
RUN OF 5	Five numbers in a row	70	5
QUAD	All four of one number	60	7
PURE RUN	Five in a row, all one colour	100	9

Cards that form no pattern are JUNK: 0 chips and ×1 mult before cards and relics. When a hand fits more than one pattern, the higher-scoring one counts. A 5 and a 5 are both a PAIR and a SUM TO TEN, so they score as whichever is worth more, normally SUM TO TEN.

Strategy tips

01
Mult beats chips.Chips add, but mult multiplies everything. A +8 mult HOLO card or a ×2 relic usually does more than a handful of extra chips, especially on a hand that already has a high base.
02
SUM TO TEN is the flexible hand.Any two to five cards totalling ten qualify: 1+9, 2+3+5, 1+2+3+4. Pick combinations that use more cards, since each card's value also adds chips.
03
Pick a lane and shape the deck.SPECTRUM and PURE RUN need colour; QUAD and TRIPLE need repeated numbers. Use Number Packs to add cards that feed your lane and the Shredder to remove ones that don't. A 36-card deck thins quickly.
04
Swap before you settle.Swaps don't cost a hand. Use them to dig for the fourth card of a run or the fifth of a colour before you play a weaker hand.
05
Finish early and bank coins.Clearing a round pays 4 coins, plus 1 for each unused hand, plus interest of 1 coin per 5 you hold, up to 5. Beating the target with hands to spare funds a stronger Exchange.

Boss rounds

Rounds 1 and 2 are warm-ups. From round 3 to round 8, every round changes a rule.

Round	Boss	Rule change
3	DROUGHT	One fewer swap
4	STATIC FIELD	No swaps
5	THE TAXMAN	Half the round-clear coins
6	THE CEILING	At most four cards per hand
7	THE PURIST	Junk hands and hands under three cards score 0
8	THE AUDITOR	Junk hands score 0

Plan for THE CEILING before you get there: a deck built only around five-card hands (SPECTRUM, RUN OF 5, PURE RUN) needs a four-card fallback such as QUAD or RUN OF 4. In Infinite Mode the cycle repeats every eight rounds, and rounds 9 and 10 of each cycle have no boss.

The Exchange and relics

After each round you shop in the Exchange with coins earned in the run. It offers two of 22 relics each visit, with common relics more likely than rare ones, and a reroll that costs a little more each time. You hold up to five relics, or eight in Infinite Mode.

Number Pack

Choose one of three offered cards to add to your deck.

Foil, Holo, Gild

Enhance one of three cards. FOIL adds +15 chips when played, HOLO adds +8 mult, and GILD pays +2 coins.

Shredder

Remove one of three cards from your deck.

Relics to know

TENFOLD gives SUM TO TEN ×3 mult. STRAIGHT EDGE doubles run mult. JACKPOT gives QUAD, RUN OF 5 and PURE RUN ×4. BLUEPRINT copies your leftmost relic. GLASS CANNON gives ×3 mult but one fewer hand a round.

Relic order matters for BLUEPRINT, which copies the chips and mult of whichever relic sits leftmost. COMPOUND adds +1 permanent mult for every hand you play, so take it early. HOARDER adds +1 mult per coin held, which pairs well with saving for interest.

Daily run, Infinite Mode and Marathon

The Daily deals everyone the same cards and round targets, and a new deal arrives at 00:00 UTC. You get one ranked attempt per day, the same on Free and Pro. Rankings go by the round you reach, with your best hand breaking ties.

With Pro, winning round 8 lets you carry the same build into Infinite Mode, with room for eight relics, until you lose. Starting it takes that run off the Daily board. The Marathon board is Pro too: replay today's Daily deck as often as you like, off your ranked attempt, and rank how far past round 8 you get.

Sumward Free vs Pro

No ads on either tier. Every relic and every boss is in the free game.

Feature	Free	Pro
Ranked Daily	1 a day	1 a day
Casual runs	First 5, then 3 a day	Unlimited
Relics and bosses	All	All
Infinite Mode and Marathon	Not included	Included
Table themes	NIGHT PARADE	Adds MINT MATINEE, SKY BLUEPRINT, VIOLET FINALE
The Ledger	Not included	Lifetime stats and your latest 30 runs

The daily casual count resets at midnight UTC, and the ranked Daily never uses it up. To go Pro, choose Unlock Sumward, the one-time Full Game Unlock, or the StackForge Play Pass, monthly or annual.

FAQ

What is the best hand in Sumward?

PURE RUN: five numbers in a row, all one colour, at 100 chips and ×9 mult before cards and relics.

How is a hand scored?

Chips × mult. The pattern sets the base, each card's number adds chips, and enhancements and relics add chips, add mult or multiply it.

What does SUM TO TEN need?

Two to five cards whose numbers add up to exactly 10, in any colours.

Are relics locked behind Pro?

No. All 22 relics can appear in the Exchange on Free. Pro adds unlimited runs, Infinite Mode, Marathon, themes and the Ledger.

When does the Sumward Daily reset?

At 00:00 UTC, with the same deal for every player.

Get Sumward