Subsoap | 03.15.2009
Solitaire is a game that has like 500 zillion variations. In fact, Solitaire is more of a genre of card game played alone than a type of game itself. Faerie Solitaire, as far as I know, isn’t based on a previous “classic” style of Solitaire, but then, the reference material surrounding this game isn’t real plentiful. It certainly isn’t the standard 7 piles, flip 3, collect Ace through King solitaire.
The basic card game works as follows, cards are laid out on the playing field in various patterns and the player gets a small stack to flip through. You flip through the cards and play cards off the field in consecutive ascending or descending order, depending on what’s on your stack. So if you flip a 5, you can pull a 4 or a 6 off the field and put it on the 5, then proceed to pull say, a 5 or 3. You can only pull cards off the field that do not have other cards on top of them.
There are also some fantasy elements to help make the game more interesting beyond a simple card game. Completing stages helps you free captive Faeries. You also collect eggs and gain little pets, though the pets don’t really seem to DO anything. Each round also earns some cash which can be spent to buy power ups such as Undos or pre flipped cards.
The gameplay itself is actually a lot of fun. It’s just as mindless as Solitaire but it also has quite a bit of complexity involved. You can proceed on without clearing the field for a Perfect but you won’t earn as much money. Planning out combos and patterns becomes more essential as you get into higher levels.
There are also strategic elements added via other game mechanics. Occasionally there will be cards trapped behind Ice, Fire, or Plants. In order to play these cards you have to unlock them first, often by clearing out a stack somewhere on the board.
Overall, Faerie Solitaire is a solid card game. Granted, if you’re not into computer cards you’re not going to enjoy it. The whole Faerie theme may also turn some people off thinking the game is “too girly”, but the reality is, it’s much more “Generic Fantasy” than “Girly Faerie”. Also, for the most part, the Faerie aspects can be completely ignored if so desired.
Faerie Solitaire can be found on Steam here.
NOTE: This game is also available on other platforms such as iOS.
