Hand size

Hand Size refers to the number of cards that can normally be drawn into your hand at the beginning of a Round or after playing a Hand or Discard. It also determines the number of cards that are drawn when opening an Arcana or Spectral Pack. The default hand size is 8.

If the number of cards in hand meets or exceeds your Hand Size, you will not draw any cards after playing a Hand or Discard unless and until the number of cards in hand is fewer than your Hand Size. Whenever the number of cards held in hand falls below Hand Size after playing a Hand or Discard, cards will be drawn into your hand from your Deck until the number of cards in hand matches your Hand Size. The only exceptions are when the number of cards remaining in your Deck is insufficient, in which case you will simply draw all the remaining cards in your Deck, or when facing The Serpent Boss Blind, where exactly 3 cards are drawn after every played Hand or Discard, ignoring Hand Size.

Having a Hand Size of zero or below results in an instant game over when entering a blind. This is not preventable with jokers that add cards to hand like Certificate (When round begins, add a random {{hl|orange|playing card}} with a random [[Seal|{{hl|orange|seal}}]] to your hand Have a [[Gold_Cards|Gold playing card]] with a [[Gold_Seal|{{hl|orange|Gold Seal}}]] Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Certificate.png), or preventable with Mr. Bones (Prevents Death if chips scored are at least {{hl|orange|25%}} of required chips <br> {{hl|red|self destructs}} Lose {{hl|orange|5}} runs Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Mr. Bones.png). It is possible to change the Hand Size to be zero during a blind and survive until the next blind starts, as long as the player is still holding cards and can beat the current blind without drawing more cards.

A smaller Hand Size can be beneficial with e.g. Blackboard ({{xmult|3}} if all cards held in hand are {{suit|Spades}} or {{suit|Clubs}} Uncommon Multiplicative Mult Independent Blackboard.png), since its effect is triggered when there are no (non-wild)  Diamonds,  Hearts, or Stone Cards ({{chips|+50}}<br>no rank or suit Stone Card.png) left in hand after playing a Hand, which is easier to achieve with a smaller Hand Size.

However, in all other situations, a larger Hand Size is more beneficial since it allows more options and flexibility when playing hands or discarding and allows for the possibility of triggering more card held in hand abilities. Furthermore, it allows more options when opening Spectral and Arcana Packs by providing more card options to apply the effects to, and in the case of Sigil (Converts all cards in hand to a single random [[Card Suits|{{hl|orange|suit}}]] Available from start. Spectral Sigil.png) and Ouija (Converts all cards in hand to a single random [[Card Ranks|{{hl|orange|rank}}]]<br>{{hl|red|-1}} hand size Available from start. Spectral Ouija.png), where the effects apply to every card in hand, having a larger Hand Size increase the impact of those cards.

Hand size can be increased or decreased by Vouchers, Jokers, Spectral Cards, or Boss Blinds.

• Painted Deck ( {{hl|orange|+2}} hand size, <br> {{hl|red|-1}} Joker slot Win a run with any [[Decks|deck]] on the {{Stake|Green}} difficulty or harder Painted Deck.png) starts with +2 Hand Size, increasing the starting Hand Size to 10.

• The Paint Brush ({{hl|orange|+1}} hand size Base Paint Brush.png) and Palette ({{hl|orange|+1}} hand size Reduce your hand size down to five cards. Upgraded Palette.png) Vouchers each add +1 Hand Size.

• Turtle Bean ({{hl|orange|+5}} hand size, reduces by {{hl|red|1}} each round Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Turtle Bean.png) adds +5 Hand Size, but reduces by 1 each round.
• Troubadour ({{hl|orange|+2}} hand size, <br> {{hl|blue|-1}} hand each round Win {{hl|orange|5}} consecutive rounds by <abbr title="Discards are OK to use.">playing only 1 hand</abbr> Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Troubadour.png) adds +2 Hand Size, at the cost of -1 Hand each round.
• Juggler ({{hl|orange|+1}} hand size Common Effect N/A (Passive) Juggler.png) adds +1 Hand Size.

• Juggle Tag ( Juggle tag.png) adds +3 Hand Size for 1 round.
  • Double Tag ( Double tag.png) can increase the amount of Juggle Tags the player has, further increasing Hand Size, albeit temporarily.

• Luxury Tax ( ) starts with +2 Hand Size for a total of 10, but subtracts 1 Hand Size for every $5 the player has.
  • If the player has less than $10, Hand Size will increase above the standard 8, and each Credit Card (Go up to {{hl|red|-$20}} in debt Common Economy N/A (Passive) Credit Card.png) the player gets can increase hand size by another 4.
• Five-Card Draw ( ) starts with -3 Hand Size for a total of 5, and bans all Jokers that increase Hand Size.

• Merry Andy ({{hl|red|+3}} discards each round, <br>{{hl|red|-1}} hand size Win a run in {{hl|orange|12}} or fewer rounds Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Merry_Andy.png) reduces Hand Size by -1.
• Stuntman ({{Chips|+250}},<br>{{hl|orange|-2}} hand size Earn at least 100 million (100,000,000) Chips in a single hand. Rare Chips Independent Stuntman.png) reduces Hand Size by -2.

Unlike jokers that increase Hand Size, when these jokers get sold in a round, the Hand Size will immediately recover, and the missing cards will be drawn.

• The Spectral Cards Ectoplasm (Add [[Card Modifiers#Editions|{{hl|edition|Negative}}]] to a random {{hl|orange|Joker,}} {{hl|red|-1}} hand size Available from start. Spectral Ectoplasm.png)^[1] and Ouija (Converts all cards in hand to a single random [[Card Ranks|{{hl|orange|rank}}]]<br>{{hl|red|-1}} hand size Available from start. Spectral Ouija.png) permanently reduce Hand Size by -1.

• The Boss Blind The Manacle ( Boss The Manacle.png) temporarily reduces Hand Size by -1.

It is possible to hold more or less cards than your Hand Size in certain situations. This can happen in multiple ways:

• This can be done using Familiar (Destroy {{hl|orange|1}} random card in your hand, add {{hl|orange|3}} random [[Card Modifiers#Enhancements|{{hl|orange|Enhanced}}]] [[Card Ranks#Face cards|{{hl|orange|face cards}}]] to your hand Available from start. Spectral Familiar.png), Grim (Destroy {{hl|orange|1}} random card in your hand, add {{hl|orange|2}} random [[Card Modifiers#Enhancements|{{hl|orange|Enhanced}}]] [[Card Ranks#Aces|{{hl|orange|Aces}}]] to your hand Available from start. Spectral Grim.png), Incantation (Destroy {{hl|orange|1}} random card in your hand, add {{hl|orange|4}} random [[Card_Modifiers#Enhancements|{{hl|orange|Enhanced}}]] [[Card Ranks#Number cards|{{hl|orange|numbered cards}}]] to your hand Available from start. Spectral Incantation.png), or Cryptid (Create {{hl|orange|2}} copies of {{hl|orange|1}} selected card in your hand Available from start. Spectral Cryptid.png).
• Some Jokers, namely DNA (If {{hl|orange|first hand}} of round has only {{hl|orange|1}} card, add a permanent copy to deck and draw it to {{hl|orange|hand}} Rare Effect On Played DNA.png)^[2] and Certificate (When round begins, add a random {{hl|orange|playing card}} with a random [[Seal|{{hl|orange|seal}}]] to your hand Have a [[Gold_Cards|Gold playing card]] with a [[Gold_Seal|{{hl|orange|Gold Seal}}]] Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Certificate.png), can force cards into your hand.
• Selling any Joker that increases hand size will also leave the extra cards in hand until they are played or discarded.
• During Boss Blind The Manacle ( Boss The Manacle.png), selling Luchador (Sell this card to disable the current [[Blinds|{{hl|orange|Boss Blind}}]] Uncommon Effect N/A (Passive) Luchador.png) to disable it will result in an additional card drawn, which may be a bug.
• The boss blind The Serpent ( Boss The Serpent.png) can also let you hold more/less cards than your hand size.
• Running out of cards in the deck will leave the player with less cards than their hand size.