Fantastic game, brilliantly balanced and surprisngly deep. RPG elements are executed well and I love the creative style and sound effects.

Target Audience: .Those who like spider solitaire and Roguelites.

Summary:
While the base game may not EXACTLY spider solitaire, it uses the core game concept, and adds a layer of combat and skill to it. And what does that do? It makes an addictive game that I planned to play 4 hours to get my first impressions. Instead, I ended up playing 14+. This should tell you something. Using skills to turn a defeat into a victory was always satisfying, and a game that was great to play in the background while I was watching YouTube videos. The different classes and items helped to keep the variety up, while buying news skills and changing up strategies was great to see what new combination I could put together next. The game could use a few tweaks to make it more of a streamlined experience, and the developer seems to be taking feedback after he watched the video review I produced. And I would like to see the game on the iOS/Android platform, as I think it'd work really well there. But even for what may seem like a higher price compared to other solitaire/card games out there, Solitaircia delivered in some addictive gameplay, and made my other reviews that much harder, with the time I spent on this one.

Video Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5sXGBBmtL8

Lists:
Positives:

• Addictive. It has that pick up and play for just one more match. And then one more match. And then one more match.
  
• The added skills do help take away some of the weaknesses of the base solitaire game. They add to the strategy of the game, and help makes things interesting.
  
• Good variety of enemy skills and status effects, which force you to change up your strategy and adapt to the new situation. Hording energy a key part of your strategy? Well have fun against an enemy who can burn those energy reserves off.
  
• Class decks force you to prioritize one or two attribute, and do play to rather interesting strengths, like the bard's want of hording energy.
  
• The items you can grab are rather effective and make coin collecting rather important.
  
• Sound design does well in giving little tone hints about certain events in the game, giving you information that you need: like when you're unnecessarily burning energy
  
• Animations and artwork are clean and rather nice to look at. Like some of the enemy designs and descriptives as well.

Negatives:

• Some of the animations after a while do get a little old, in terms of the time that it takes to execute.
  
• The music needed a little bit more variety.
  
• Wish it had hotkeys. After talking with the developer, it will be in the first patch, so that's good!

Solitairica is a rogue-lite card game with RPG elements and a cool story thrown in there. It features procedurally generated attacking monsters and you must battle them using cards and spells yo ugain from your cards.


Graphics:

The graphics are pretty standard for a 2d card game. The art is beautifully drawn and colorful. The whole game has that spooky atmosphere. The enemy monsters are very adorable and drawn pretty good.


Sound:

The music in this game is very good and I like listening to it while playing the game. The music has that Halloween/spooky theme going on as well.

Gameplay:

The way Solitairica works is the basic concept is you have a bunch of cards on the screen and you have a deck and one card in hand. You must select a card from the top which is one number lower or higher than the card in your hand. You must do this to all the cards and finish all the cards on top. Once you finish them the level is beaten. There can be other tasks too but mostly you will see are missions which tell you to clear the cards.

So the basic card gameplay is similar to numerous card games found on Steam such as Faerie solitaire etc. but this game features RPG elements. You have elements on your cards which can give you abilities which will help you beat levels. You also have enemies in this game and every enemy does something different so you have watch out for their attacks which can do a lot of things. Every monster has a different strategy, some do more damage, others keep adding things like freezing or burning the cards You have an energy bar which when depleted you will lose the game.

Every time you lose a battle against an enemy you’ll have to start the adventure again from the start. They will give you runes though which can help you buy better decks and upgrades. Once you upgraded the decks you can have much better chance of beating the enemy in the next run. There’s a total of 18 levels and every one of them feature a different monster. The game gets pretty difficult in the later levels so you can expect to play the game a few times in order to build a better deck and to have a chance against the later monsters. This game can get pretty addicting if you’re a card games fan.

Conclusion:

A very addicting and fun solitaire/RPG/Rogue-lite game which will keep you entertained for hours. It has that “just one more game and I am off” thing but you never leave it. I recommend this game, it’s pretty fun.

I'm very tenatively recommending this. It's borderline, just because of one almost crippling negative.

The first game I had was brilliant. Totally enjoyed it.

The problem I have is with it is the "roguelike progression" description. And the "Every time you get stronger" announcement when you lose. No you don't. You have to do a lot of grinding many games before you get a very very small amount 'stronger' - and then do it all again a few more times. And that seems about it.

And the griding is flawed. It's far quicker to do the first level over and over, rather then actively play the game properly. There is no reward benefit for doing well (on a time-played basis).

If you could keep, say, one item or spell for the next round (which you would then permanantly have access to at the start) this would be a massive improvement to the game, imo. As it is, after grinding for an hour or so to unlock the first (pretty much worthless, tbh) 'upgrade' I really can't see any motivation to try and progress.

It's a fun game, and the spells/items really do make it quite a lot more than just a standard solitaire game. But losing everything after every game more or less destroys the whole purpose of putting it in an RPG-like setting, imo.

It feels like a mobile game heavily designed towards IAPs for progression, although I can't find it on the app stores yet. The portrait oriented windowed mode seems to confirm this. But there are no IAPs on the Steam version; and so practically no way of progressing.

If you like solitaire enough to play exactly the same game over and over (and yes; I understand that's what solitaire is all about), then this is probably a great game. If, like me, you were expecting to have some feeling that by playing more you were likely to be able to progress further, then maybe look for something else.

One has to question why with 800+ games I have not yet played, I decided to buy a game based around Solitaire, and then played it for 20+ hours straight. What can I say? It was in the Summer Sale. Either I have some serious problems or this is a pretty decent card game. Actually, I guess it could be both!


If you're into this genre, you've probably played a ton of near identical games. I don't usually play many card games at the PC as there are a million more distractions there, but this one intrigued me enough to pull it out of the pack. The core gameplay is basic spider - you get a deck of cards, you get a board, and you clear the board by matching the cards +1 up or down in as long a sequence as you can muster. There is an added RPG/Strategy element which makes the game a lot more unique than the other card games I've played lately. Each card has a bonus magic associated with it (four magics + gold cards), and that magic can be used to cast spells. You can take five spells into a game with you, and additionally equip four bonus items. Instead of simply playing to clear the board; you're playing to clear the board before dying. You have health, and each game pits you not only against a board but against an enemy. The enemy draws damage/ability/special effect cards each turn and plays them against you, and you need to adjust to play around that. A lot of the abilities are interesting and unique, and do actually make you play differently, whilst others are just a standard "hit you for x health" deal. Strong abilities have a cooldown timer, so you know to prepare.


It's described as a "roguelite", which these days basically means "some sort of progression that unlocks even if you lose hey please buy our game we've added a buzz word", and I guess I can't deny that it has a roguelike element, although in rogue terms it's extremely shallow. As you play you unlock coins and gems, which allow you to customize spells, items, upgrade and purchase new decks. You get a run of 18 boards (fights) to get to the boss, each with a different mob type with some random elements thrown in. If you die, you lose the run, and you can upgrade your decks and then start at fight 1 again. So to win, you need to successfully complete all 18 fights in sequence - and then you can do that with each of the five classes (decks). On the whole, I'm a bit fed up of every game having the term rogue attached to it, but the unlockable system does give some motivation to keep going even whilst losing, or to repeat levels and adds a secondary layer of progression to unlock the different decks.


The game starts off incredibly easy and quickly gets pretty difficult. It is very RNG - it has not only the RNG of the board to begin with (you can be on fight 17 and flip over 10 cards you can't use and you are guaranteed to die, but that is solitaire for you), but it also has the RNG of the bosses and the RNG of the spells they use and the RNG of the spells/items available in the shop, and hey, in case RNG for breakfast, lunch and dinner wasn't enough - it's even RNG how many gems seem to pop up on a level. If easily frustrated by RNG then this may bother you. For me, it's fine, honestly, it's a card game, it's going to have incredible amounts of RNG. I am an expert at dying in every type of game, so why not add card games in there too!


I sink a lot of spare hours into Fairway Solitaire, which is probably the pinnacle of mobile card-gaming when it comes to popularity and users. Does this game compare with the big league? Actually - it really does. It's fun to play! It has more depth and more strategy, and has a real sense of progression and customization as you play. On the downside, it's not as polished, the animations are a bit slow and clunky, which someone who likes fast-paced play (spoilers - me!) may find a little frustrating. Some of the time I feel I could have completed the level in the time it takes the animations to turn over two cards. Do you know what you don't want in a card game? Blank time sitting staring at the screen waiting for a card to flip over. This has been slightly addressed with a "Fast Animation" tick box in the options; so obviously a known bone of contention, but even with fast play on it plays considerably slower than the iPad card games I'm so used to.


It can get grindy and repetitive - but that shouldn't be a big problem for people who enjoy solitaire style games, as the card decks are randomized so no two games are identical and if you like this genre it won’t get boring. It's a game that would work perfectly on mobile and honestly feels like that's the intention, but it would not fetch this price there, so whether you feel like this is worth a purchase on the PC is up to you. Content wise, with 20 hours in it, I could easily see it taking me another 20 hours just to complete the campaign on all the decks, but once that is done and I have all the achievements, I don’t think I would keep playing it on the PC. If I was on mobile, I could easily see myself picking this up when I had 15 minutes of downtime to kill.

On the whole this is a card game in a world where there are thousands upon thousands of card games, that has managed to give itself an edge to appeal to a gamer looking for both traditional cardplay as well as interesting and unique gameplay elements.


It's not perfect, it's not going to replace my #1 card game, but it definitely kept me engaged and playing, so a strong recommendation from me.

Solitairica is a new example of the long-running genre of solitaire meta-gaming, where the actual playing of the game is just part of the game, with the player able to level up, gain buffs, and deal with specific challenges and debuffs in each solitaire hand. And it's one of the best I've seen in years.

The gold standard for these is Fairway Solitaire, which riffed on the golf variant of solitaire and simulated rounds of golf with solitaire replacing swings. Likewise, Regency Solitaire tells a Jane Austen style of story in hands of solitaire. Each of these had an engaging metagame to keep you going during the grind of playing the same *kind* of game over and over.

Solitairica blends the Roguelike with Solitaire. What this means is that your character will only live as long as it has not lost a hand. One loss? Dead, start over. BUT. You get to keep some of your advances over time, so you will slowly become more powerful and able to survive longer and longer naturally, as you play.

The game retains the whimsical, humorous feel that is common to casual games and solitaire especially. You'll fight silly monsters who cry when you defeat them, and the sounds are plinky and plunky. We're all familiar with this style. But when put into the Roguelike paradigm, it's entertainingly light, and it reduces the frustration of starting over after a death to almost nothing. Even enemies with lots of deadly skills are also humorously presented. They have weaknesses too, often, so there's no difficulty cliff. Just entertaining frustration.

The game mechanics involve the four "suits" of the cards. Each card of a type played powers a store of energy which can be used to cast spells that aid you in your play. You have to buy the spells and set up your list of spells for a hand, so there's strategy in that. And the spells can radically affect the gameplay, which is good because the game is out to kill you. Facing a character who can kill you in two swipes is made easier by being able to stun it for several turns at a go, provided the cards turn the right way for you. You also can buy "gear" to take into fights for advantages.

All that stuff resets with each death, but you earn the currency in-game easily, so no problem. There are also a few items that bestow benefits permanently, and in a very interesting addition, you can buy new *decks*, with different card focuses and different bonus cards. So you can alter your play style completely over time. These latter items and decks are bought with currency you earn only upon death. The further you make it, the more you have to play with to affect your game.

Solitairica is a very solid solitaire game with lots of little changes to the game as you play, which keeps it fresh. And as a roguelike, it is not trad (no little ampersands chasing carets around), but it does have solid mechanics and lots of choices for each life. I find that the two game types are blended equally and this will interest you no matter whether you're a solitaire or roguelike fan.

This game is so well-polished It doesn't seize to amaze me every run. I'm not only having fun, but also feel like I'm respected by the developers when I play It, you know. A feeling lost for so long that I forgot how to react to It properly, and I'm almost, like, embarrassed to have It.
Uh, yeah, and I still haven't finished the game even once(but It was pretty close yesterday, shouldn't have let this Ogger guy leave stunlock for that single turn to have his ways with me) during these 15 hours, and I still have only 2 decks out of 6, and I'm quite happy to keep on playing.

One more thing: the characters are brilliant. Their sounds, their puns. I lost It at "This seal clubs back".

https://youtu.be/6U0rCjLaLbY
+ Gameplay is very similar to Solitaire, but I personally found it far more fun. You draw a card each turn, and can then destroy cards on the field that are 1 higher or 1 lower than the card in your hand. If you can't play then you must draw, which then the enemy can attack your health or use a large variety of abilities. You also have abilities that can help you clear the field or defend yourself.
+ After defeating each enemy you earn gold which you use in the shop to buy new abilities and equipment to help you fight more difficult enemies
+ Visually the game looks great, with very pleasing colorful backgrounds and borders
+ Easy to understand, especially if you have played Solitaire before.

- No background music during battles which is surprising as there is some nice music in the menues, and when you are not battling enemies...
- I personally did not like the whole "Rogue-like" elements they threw into this game. Basically if you lose a battle, you must restart the game from the very beginning. I felt like this was just a gimmick to increase replayability, and felt discouraged to continue afterwards.

A nice and competent combination of two of my favorite time killers: solitaire and roguelikes.
Fully recommend.

Thanks to the Developers/ Publishers at Riteoues Hammer Games for creating a game that provided hours of entertainment, (the good) frustrartion and escape.

Solitaica is a game that took the simplicity of a two century old card game added some rouge like progression, turn based combat with RPG fantasy elements and made it into the ever growing family of one more game/mission success. I think its crazy and genius at the same time but what do you expect from 2 Popcap veterns where making simple fun was their calling card..

Solitarica follows tradtional basic solitaire rules(see bottom of page) but the challenge of the game is set up as turn based against an opponent. At the start of each hand you start with 10 health and have 4 energies. This energy will be charged when successfully playing a card from your deck and when you are unable to play, you pass to your opponent. The 4 energies you have at your disposal consists of attack (destroy cards), defense (counter and armor), agility (peeking and quickness) and willpower (healing and the arcane). The enemy will also have a variety of annoying cards to stop you in your tracks. Some of these include attack, adding more cards, poisioning cards, changing cards, stun, energy drain, etc. Each enemy and boss also has their own unique special skill such as one changes all face cards to coins, another can do massive damage, and another enemy makes cards thorny so when you pick the card you take damage. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥s every one.

As with all rouge game progression is also an important key but also one im struggling if its fair. After each battle, if you win, you will have the option to spend money you earned in the store to upgrade spells or buffs. This is where the game within a game excels... somewhat. Do you take more health, or do you need more shield do you save money for later, do you start with more energy? My problem with this part of the game is it's completely random and what i found out later in deck #5 was basically without a certain card or buff i dont think you can win without some serious, serious luck. I never beat deck #5 after getting to the boss 4 times. A real super ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Is a static store inventory the solution, i dont know.

To win Solitarica you have to win 18 battles against a diverse group of enemies and then defeat the boss for each deck. As with rouge games any loss you have to restart from the begining and some can be painful which i think is what you want in a rouge like game. It makes every move important and every decision meaningful. RNG is of course another factor and its pretty fair but I cant tell you how many times during a run i won with my last play. There are 6 decks but the enemies and boss remain the same for each deck as the only differnce is in the cards that will be available. As an example each deck has all energies but the majority of cards in the deck are based on the deck you are playing. If playing deck #1(easy) most cards will be attack and defense and the ballbreaker deck #5(vetern) is agility and defense. This keeps each deck fresh and really made you change strategy and use cards that were useless in other decks. Its a really cool balance.

Asthetically the game is very basic in its design and sound but it all works perfectly and its flawless. Its the simplicity of going on a long run hearing the coins multiply as you flip your 10th card in a row or that little wa-wa when you miss a play. The enemy art designs are perfect as well as they all are unique as they sit atop the screen starring you down as they try to pound you into submission and whether you win or lose the opening of the scroll for those rewards is always satisfying. I understand the reasoning for the grayish tint that seems to be the pallette for the game but i think i would like to have seen some more brighter colors at the start and it get darker near the end. Stupid thought, i have no talent.

Holy crap, I have 53 hrs in this game. Its a life stealer, time killer and an absolute must buy. Its the perfect laptop watch tv, listen to podcast, evening chill game and i loved every second. Except for deck #5.

Positives

Addicting one more mission/ game
Flawless presentation
One of the best tutorals ive ever seen
Twisting one of the simpliest games ever into a diffiult, startegic rouge like success
Great laptop game

Negatives

The RNG of the store offerings can spell your doom before you even know it

Solitaire- The Basics
If you dont know solitaire, like all card games there are hundreds of versions but the game mostly follows probably the most popular with a few modifications. In solitaire you take a 52 card deck and deal out 7 different stacks in groups of 5 cards flipping the last card on each group face up. This leaves you with a deck of 17 cards in hand where you will then flip up the top card. To win you have to eliminate your hand. To do this, as an example, if you have an Ace(suits do not matter) in your hand if there is a K or 2 on the board(sequntial), you can play the ace on either one and then turn your next card. The game follows this premise with for a few changes to the amount of cards in each stack and the the amount of stacks depending on the mission number. There is an absolute terrific tutorial in the game that breaks everything out if this does not help.