Unplayable.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Hand, take 2 damage.

Unplayable

Card property

Unplayable cards cannot be played.

An Unplayable card cannot be played from your Hand, no matter how much Energy you have.

Skipped: effects that play cards automatically skip it. A Sly discard or a random-play effect sends it to its result pile without resolving anything.
Still works: it can be drawn, discarded, Exhausted, retained, Transformed or removed, and many Unplayable cards punish you for holding them at end of turn.
Enchantments: cannot be applied to an Unplayable card in your Deck, and afflictions skip them unless the affliction says otherwise.
Families: Curses, Statuses and Quest cards are the three that carry it.

Cards with Unplayable

Ascender's Bane

Ethereal.
Unplayable.
Eternal.

Unplayable.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Hand, lose 13 HP.
Eternal.

Unplayable.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Hand, take 2 damage.

Unplayable.
Can be hatched at a Rest Site.

Ethereal.
Unplayable.

Curse of the Bell

Unplayable.
Eternal.

Ethereal.
Unplayable.

Unplayable.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Hand, lose 10 Gold.

Unplayable.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Hand, take 2 damage.

Unplayable.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Hand, gain 1 Weak.

Unplayable.
After entering 5 more ? rooms, transforms into an Abundance.

Ethereal.
Innate.
Unplayable.
Eternal.

Unplayable.
Eternal.

Unplayable.
Removed from your Deck after 5 combats.

Unplayable.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Hand, take 3 damage.

Unplayable.
Unlocks a special event in the next Act.

Unplayable.
You cannot play more than 3 cards this turn.

Retain.
Unplayable.

Unplayable.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Hand, lose 1 HP for each card in your Hand.

Unplayable.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Hand, gain 1 Frail.

Unplayable.
Marks a site of 600 extra Gold in the next Act.

Ethereal.
Unplayable.
Whenever you draw this card, lose .

Unplayable.
At the end of your turn, if this is in your Hand, take 3 damage.

Innate.
Unplayable.

Notes

Statuses: Wound and Soot just clog, Burn deals 2 at end of turn, Infection and Wither deal 3, Dazed is Ethereal, Void drains 1 Energy when drawn.
Curses: Injury, Decay, Doubt, Shame, Regret, Debt, Normality, Guilty, Writhe and the Eternal ones.
Quest cards: Byrdonis Egg, Lantern Key and Spoils Map are Unplayable but pay off outside combat.
Clearing them: Compact turns Statuses in your Hand into Fuel, and Purity Exhausts up to 3 cards to clear them.

Changes by version

13 Nov 2025InterfaceSlyInternal playtest
Sly cards no longer glow gold in discard selection screens when they're Unplayable or Bound
2 Oct 2025ChangePoor Sleep RetainInternal playtest
Changed Arrhythmia (now Poor Sleep) card: now an Unplayable curse with Retain
25 Sep 2025Bug fixInternal playtest
Scrutinized and Galvanized afflictions can no longer afflict Unplayable cards
Bug fixResonanceInternal playtest
Resonance card can no longer give Replay to Unplayable cards

All 10 patch notes7 older

18 Sep 2025ChangeSlyInternal playtest
Unplayable cards with Sly can no longer be played by being discarded
BuffReflexInternal playtest
Buffed Reflex card: no longer Unplayable, now costs 2 Energy
BuffTacticianInternal playtest
Buffed Tactician card: no longer Unplayable, now costs 3 Energy
TextInternal playtest
Unplayable keyword's wording has been updated to reflect that Unplayable cards cannot be played from anywhere
21 Aug 2025TextInternal playtest
Updated wording
7 Aug 2025Bug fixUproarInternal playtest
Uproar card now properly moves the chosen card to the discard pile if it's Unplayable
27 Feb 2025Bug fixTransfigureInternal playtest
Transfigure card now properly allows you to add Replay to Unplayable cards
13 Sep 2024TextInternal playtest
Unplayable Curses and Statuses with end-of-turn effects now include "if this is in your Hand" in their descriptions
17 Feb 2023Bug fixInternal playtest
Unplayable cards show cost again
9 Feb 2023Known issueInternal playtest
Unplayable and zero cost cards are rendering for some reason. purely a visual bug though

Internal playtest notes are from before the Early Access release. Names and numbers in them can differ from the game today.

Eternal Ethereal Exhaust Innate Retain Sly

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