This guide explains how the Face Card Puzzles work in Black Jacket and shows the correct interaction paths for each set: The Royals, The Vice, The Shame, and The Family. I cover which cards need to be played together, what transformations happen during each puzzle, and how to unlock the related achievements and artifacts without relying on trial and error.
Face Card Puzzles
In this Black Jacket Face Card Puzzle guide, I explain how each Face Card set works, which card interactions lead to the correct puzzle path, and what achievements or artifacts you can unlock by completing them properly.
How Face Card Puzzles Work
At the start of any run, I select a set of Face Cards to add to my deck. At first, only The Royals are available, but more sets can be unlocked by defeating each boss a certain number of times.
The boss-related sets are:
- Morgan | The Vice
- Ivel | The Shame
- Better | The Family
Each set includes three Face Cards, and each set has its own puzzle. To solve these puzzles, I need to play the Face Cards together in a specific order during the run. The puzzles are somewhat intuitive, but following the correct path saves a lot of trial and error.
Completing these puzzles correctly usually gives the cards the best permanent improvements. It also unlocks an artifact named after that Face Card set, which can be bought in future runs to add those cards to the deck.
Puzzle Clues and Interaction Rules:
If I want to figure out the Face Card Puzzles on my own, the game gives small visual hints. Cards that interact with each other usually show a small change in their art when I place them next to each other. This can be a different expression or an interaction with something they are holding.
The order of placement does not matter for direct interactions. For example, playing the King next to the Queen gives the same result as playing the Queen next to the King.
The Royals Face Card Puzzle
The Face Cards in The Royals are:
- Queen
- King
- Jack
To follow the correct path, I play Jack together with either of the other two monarchs. When I do this, Jack cuts that monarch in half and kills them. The killed monarch becomes 10/0, Hollow, and visually distinct.
After doing this, Jack transforms into The Murderer, becoming blood-soaked and visually different.
Next, I play the remaining living monarch next to The Murderer. This causes the monarch to execute him, transforming him into the Hanged Jack. The Hanged Jack becomes Hollow and gains a second and third score of 5 and 0.
Executing The Murderer unlocks the achievement and artifact named The Royals.
Other Interactions
If I play both living monarchs together, the Queen permanently gives the King 1 more score and turns him golden. This effect stays even if the King is murdered later, making him 11/1 instead of 10/0.
The Royals effects are not as flashy as some of the other sets, but their visual changes make them easy to identify among other diamond cards.
The Vice Face Card Puzzle
The Face Cards in The Vice are:
- Morgan
- Virtue
- Vice
To follow the correct path, I first play Morgan and Vice together. This makes them toast and gives Morgan the effect:
“Demand a card valued 8 or higher.”
After that, I play Virtue and Morgan together. Morgan kills Virtue, turning Virtue into a 10/0 Hollow card with:
“Fill your other slots with -1 of hearts.”
Morgan then transforms into Mania, becoming 11/0 with:
“Raise 1. Fill your slots with 1/0 of Diamonds.”
Mania is also visually distinct because of the blood.
Killing Virtue unlocks the achievement and artifact named The Vice.
Other Interactions
If I play initial Morgan and Virtue together, Morgan loses 1 point of score and gains an Insight 2 effect. This also makes Morgan sad.
This does not stop Morgan from becoming Mania later, so one valid way to complete the correct path is to play all three Face Cards on the same turn, if I can manage it.
If I play Virtue and Vice together, Vice kills Virtue. Vice does not really change except for becoming bloody. Morgan can still be played next to dead Virtue to become Mania, so the main difference is that this route does not unlock the achievement and artifact in the correct way.
The Shame Face Card Puzzle
The Face Cards in The Shame are:
- Ivel
- Ward
- Crowd
To follow the correct path, I first play Ward and Crowd together. This transforms Ward into Outcast, a 10/0 card with:
“Shuffle 1 permanent Shame card into your deck.”
Crowd also transforms into a new version of Crowd, becoming 10/0 with:
“Purge: Shame. Claim 2 per card purged.”
Next, I play Ivel with Crowd. This fills Ivel with regret and transforms him into a 10/0 card with:
“Decrease each broken card by 2.”
After that, I play Ivel with Outcast. This causes Outcast to run away, permanently replacing him with Gone, a -8 card with:
“Swap with the opposing slot.”
When Gone swaps with an opposing slot, it temporarily transforms into Vagabond, a -8 card with no extra effect.
Finding The Vagabond unlocks the achievement and artifact named The Shame.
Other Interactions
If I play Ivel and Ward together without following the correct path, Ivel shames Ward. This gives the same result as if the Crowd had shamed Ward.
If both Ivel and Crowd shame Ward, Ward becomes even more depressed and generates two Shame instead of one.
The Family Face Card Puzzle
The Face Cards in The Family are:
- Elisabeth
- Niv
- The Black Jacket
To follow the correct path, I play The Black Jacket together with Elisabeth or Niv.
When The Black Jacket breaks Elisabeth, she transforms into Broken, a -10 card with:
“Break the opposing and its adjacent cards.”
When The Black Jacket breaks Niv, Niv transforms into Abandoned, a -10 card with:
“Shuffle two Languish cards into their deck.”
Next, I play Broken and Abandoned together. This transforms them into two versions of Intervention.
One Intervention becomes 10/0 with:
“Decrease the opposing and its adjacent cards by 2.”
The other Intervention becomes 10/1 with:
“Put a Languish card on top of their deck.”
Finally, I play both Interventions around The Black Jacket at the same time. This causes all three cards to combine into The Family, a 21/10/1 card.
Reuniting The Family unlocks the achievement and artifact named The Family.
Other Interactions
If I play Elisabeth and Niv together, Niv transforms into Playtime!, a 10 card with:
“Rotate all cards clockwise 2 spaces.”
This does not prevent the correct path, because Playtime! can still be broken by The Black Jacket in the same way as Niv.