Want to master the art of haunting, building, and strategically scaring humans senseless? Deck of Haunts combines base-building and deck-building in a spooky simulation where you play as the haunted house itself. This Deck of Haunts Beginner guide will walk you through your early nights, room layouts, damage types, and what to prioritize so your creepy mansion thrives (and survives) the full 28-night run.
Deck of Haunts Beginner’s Guide (Up to v1.03)
General Overview: What is Deck of Haunts?
Deck of Haunts casts you as a living, evolving haunted house—think Dungeon Keeper with ghosts. Your objective is simple: eliminate or drive insane the unfortunate humans who dare enter your halls. Their life essence fuels your expansion. Each run spans 28 nights, broken into two phases:
Visitation Phase – Humans arrive and explore your mansion. Your job? Terrify, torment, and terminate.
Construction Phase – Use harvested essence to build new rooms or choose new cards for your deck.
Every room and card you select impacts your strategy, so making early choices wisely is key.
Playstyles & Damage Types Explained
There are two major playstyles in Deck of Haunts—each defined by the type of damage you deal:
1. Damage (Physical)
Reduces HP.
Kills Humans outright.
Grants 30 Essence per kill.
2. Drain (Sanity)
Depletes sanity.
Leaves Humans gibbering in place.
Grants 25 Essence per insane victim.
Recommendation for Beginners: Stick to Damage on your first couple of runs. It’s more straightforward and doesn’t rely heavily on card combos or specific setups.
As of v1.03, Drain has been improved significantly (especially regarding Priests—formerly a nightmare for Drain builds). Drain now holds its own, but it requires different planning. Unlike dead humans, the insane stick around. This can be useful (more essence potential), but it can also block rooms or trap routes.
Night One: Your First Visitation
Every run begins with the same mansion layout. Night One is more or less a tutorial—there’s only one visitor.
Tip: Kill them however you like. This night is about getting used to card placement and room effects.
Once you’ve ended their curiosity (and existence), you’ll move into your first Construction Phase.
Construction: Nights One through Five (Step-by-Step)
Let’s build a mansion that gives you a strong early game. Follow this reliable starter layout to minimize risk and set up your long-term strategy.
Night 1 – Build Phase
Place a Kitchen and a Guest Room in the slots provided by your starter layout.
Essence will be limited, so prioritize basics.
Night 2 – Build Phase
You’ll always have a Belltower room in your starter deck. Place it centrally, where it can influence many surrounding rooms.
Move your Guest Room to a more defensive position.
Why the Belltower in the center? A ghost spawns in it and patrols nearby rooms. Center placement gives it maximum influence and later synergy with Belltower-specific cards like Endless Tolling.
Night 3 – Build Phase
Add two Living Rooms:
One should be near the Entrance Hall.
The second can be placed further down the path to elongate your mansion.
Night 4–5 – Final Early Layout
Move the original Guest Room again to reinforce your now ‘hooked’ layout—forming an upside-down “?” shape.
This makes your mansion harder to navigate, reducing the risk of guests pathing straight to your Heart Room.
This early setup gives you one clear entry point and lots of space to trap or delay intruders. From here, you can start adapting based on your card draws and rooms.
Strategies & Thoughts
On Drain: Now Viable!
Thanks to v1.03, Drain builds are much more viable.
Priests used to be a pain, as they were immune to Drain. Now, rooms like Mirror Hall make Priests easier to isolate and neutralize.
Favorite Room for Drain Decks: Echo Chamber (Music Room) – any effect cast on it is mirrored to all adjoining rooms. Perfect for mass sanity loss.
Pro Tip: Combine Echo Chamber with Floating Body Trap or Mass Psychosis for terrifying efficiency.
On Damage: Easy to Learn, Hard to Master
Most beginners will find Damage more intuitive.
Kill enemies in dead-end rooms so bodies act as fear deterrents.
Avoid cards that only affect Solo Humans – they’re generally underwhelming.
Great Damage Combos:
Engulf in Flames – AoE damage, great for crowd control (costs 2 discards).
Reclaiming Roots – High damage, costs less as you discard more cards.
Weapon Room – Doubles all Damage dealt in the room.
Upgrade both Engulf and Reclaiming for major late-game firepower.