Some ideas are so earth-shatteringly obvious that you wonder why nobody had come up with it sooner. Solitairica by Righteous Hammer Games is a perfect example; they took the most modern popular indie genre, the rogue-like and applied it’s mechanics and tropes to the record-holder for best-selling game of all time, Solitaire.
Game Name: Solitairica
Platform(s): Android, iOS, PC (Reviewed on Android)
Publisher(s): Righteous Hammer Games
Developer(s): Righteous Hammer Games
Release Date:May 31st, 2016 (PC, Mac)
August 25, 2016 (iOS)
December 8th, 2016 (Google Play)
Price: $9.99 (PC, Mac)
$3.99 (iOS, Unlock on Google Play)
The main crux of the story is that solitaire is a kind of martial art and you are a warrior fighting your way to the evil ruler of the land. There is no real plot, but the enemies all have different personalities and the dialogue gets mixed up a little with each playthrough to keep things fresh.
The abilities of each adversary are also rerolled each round, with special abilities being activated along with their regular attacks.
Each battle begins with your opponent lining up their cards space-invaders-style and the game ends when the board is cleared. The Solitaire part of the game is that you can only clear cards one higher or lower than your current card, when you are out of moves you have to draw a new card, unfortunately, that gives your enemy a turn to attack your life points or generally complicate your game.
As cards are cleared you generate energy to cast spells. Starting spells have relatively minor effects like removing a single card or taking a peek at your next draw (basically cheating a little).
Visiting the shop between battles allows you to buy new spells or equipment and can drastically affect the outcome of a battle.
Dying sends you back to the beginning, but also, being a roguelike, allows you to buy permanent upgrades, like new class decks that have different spell load-outs or buy special effects that trigger when you draw a card (like bonus armor when you draw a king).
Overall the feel of this game is pretty similar to a lot of the other RPG-puzzle-hybrid games, such as ‘you must build a boat’ or ‘Triple Town’, which is not an insult at all. The game is bursting with personality, the gameplay is engaging and the cartoonishly medieval art style matches surprisingly well with the over the top arcade sound effects.
Unfortunately, the Solitaire aspects of Solitairica only feel like a skin, and the few times I did feel that old school nostalgia was not nearly enough to scratch the itch. Still, it is a very pretty and engaging little app that was difficult to put down and definitely worth your time.
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Is this the RPG hybrid we have all been waiting for?
Summary
A fun and memorable game that relies a little too much on card draw and chance, never completely living up to its premise of Solitaire with combat.
Pros:
Easy to learn
Fun to play
Full of personality
Cons:
Combat can get predictable after a while
Several spells felt useless
Despite how it was advertised, it didn’t feel much like solitaire
An Aussie gamer and father of 3, Luke is as passionate as he is time-poor and eloquent as he is sleep-deprived. Mobile gaming has become a platform for unique and experimental ideas on the go and Luke is determined to prove it.
