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Village Card Stack is a free online card stacking game where every villager, tree, berry and wolf on the table is a card, and a card only does something as part of a stack. Drop a villager on a tree and, while the two stay stacked, a bar fills and a wood card pops out beside them. Stack wood, wood and stone under a villager and they build a house; put two villagers on the house and a third one arrives. Each moon lasts 45 seconds and ends with supper, when every worker eats two food or starves, so somebody always has to be picking berries or tending a garden. Six scenarios ask for different things — a first house, a bigger family, meals cooked from the meat of wolves you fight in pairs, a full larder, a pile of coins from spears sold at the market, and a bear that only a group of hunters can bring down. You can pause at any moment and still move cards, and three-star times were measured with computer players rather than guessed. It runs in the browser with no download, with a mouse, a finger or the keyboard.
How to play Village Card Stack
- Press Play. The table opens paused, so read the goal at the top and the cards in front of you before pressing ▶ or Space to start the clock.
- Drag a card onto another card to stack them. Whatever you pick up takes every card above it in its stack with it, and the clock waits while a card is in your hand.
- Stacks work only while they hold exactly the right cards. A villager on a tree, a rock or a berry bush fills a bar and makes wood, stone or a berry; the tree, rock or bush is used up after three.
- Build by stacking the ingredients first and then adding a villager: wood, wood and stone make a house; wood and wood a campfire; wood, stone and stone a garden; wood and stone a spear. Open Recipes for the full list.
- Watch the moon bar. When it fills, every villager and hunter eats two food — berries, raw meat or cooked meals. Anyone who cannot eat starves, and the run is over if nobody is left.
- Put two villagers on a house to raise a third, a spear on a villager to make a hunter, and raw meat on a campfire to cook a meal worth twice as much.
- When a wolf or a bear walks in, it heads for the nearest worker and starts a fight. Drag more workers onto it to join in; drag one out to pull them back.
- Drop spare cards on the Sell slot for coins, and three coins on the Pack slot for three new cards. Meet the goal before the last moon ends; the faster you finish, the more stars.
Tips
- Pause whenever you need to think. The clock stops but the cards still move, so you can set up three stacks at once and start them together.
- Take a villager off a tree once you have the wood you need. Every harvest takes the same ten seconds whether you need it or not.
- Stack ingredients before the villager. Wood and stone under a villager is a spear, so adding the second wood last turns half a house into the wrong recipe.
- Never send one villager at a wolf. A wolf has six health and hits for one, so a villager alone falls first; two together win and both walk away.
- A garden is the only food that never runs out. Build one early whenever the berry bushes are running low.
- Raw meat is two food, but a cooked meal is four — a campfire doubles every wolf you fight.
- Watch the supper counter under the moon bar: it turns red when the food on the table is less than the village will eat.
- Made cards pile up on a nearby pile of the same thing, so leave a little space beside a working stack.
FAQ
Is Village Card Stack free to play?
Yes. It is free in your browser with no download, no account and nothing to buy, on a computer, tablet or phone.
How do you make things in Village Card Stack?
By stacking cards. A stack that holds exactly the cards of a recipe starts a timer, and when it fills the stack makes something: a villager on a tree makes wood, a villager on wood, wood and stone makes a house, and raw meat on a campfire makes a meal. Add or remove any card and the timer stops.
Why did my villagers starve?
At the end of every moon, which lasts 45 seconds, each villager and hunter eats two food. If the berries, meat and meals on the table add up to less than that, whoever cannot be fed starves. Keep one pair of hands on a berry bush or a garden, and watch the supper counter under the moon bar.
How do I beat a wolf or a bear?
Send enough workers at it at once. A wolf has 6 health and hits for 1, so a single villager with 5 health loses but two villagers win and both survive. A bear has 20 health and hits for 2: arm villagers with spears first, since a hunter hits twice as hard, and meet it as a group.
How are the stars decided?
By how quickly you meet the scenario goal in game time — the clock stops while you pause. The three-star and two-star times were cut between computer players that play the same plan at different speeds, over twenty different packs each: a quick, tidy player gets three stars on every scenario, and a player who never takes a villager off a job before it is finished gets two.
How many scenarios are there?
Six, each unlocked by finishing the one before: build a house, raise a third villager, cook three meals from wolf meat, hold 14 food at once, hold 12 coins, and slay a bear.
Can I play it on a phone or with a keyboard?
Yes. Drag cards with a finger on a phone or tablet, where the table fills the width of the screen. With a keyboard, the arrow keys choose a card, Up and Down choose how deep in a stack to pick, Enter picks it up and puts it down, G puts it on bare table, and Space pauses.
Is this like Stacklands?
It is the same kind of game, where you build a village by stacking cards on each other, and it is not affiliated with that game. The recipes, scenarios and card layouts here were made for this site; the pictures on the cards are the emoji of your own device.