Regency Solitaire

Developer: Grey Alien Games | Publisher: Grey Alien Games | Release Date: 2015 | Genre: Indie / Casual | Website: Official Website | Format: Digital Download

Regency Solitaire is, as the name suggests, a solitaire title set during the Regency era in the United Kingdom. It stars Bella, a young girl whose father is set on marrying her off to their wealthy but unscrupulous neighbor. However, Bella has her heart set on a far more suitable match, but since her brother foolishly gambled away the family fortunes, her hopes of a happy ending seem to be dashed. You must use your solitaire skills to help Bella overcome all these challenges to create the ballroom of her dreams and win the heart of the dashing Henry Worthington.

As far as solitaire games go, Regency Solitaire has quite an elaborate plot, which provides a nice excuse for all the beautiful backdrops. The game features 20 different chapters, set in the theaters, music rooms, and lavender fields of London, Brighton, Bath, and the other locations on offer. Short story snippets are played out before the start of each chapter, and then it is down to the addictive business of solitaire. The game is only available on PC, unlike alternatives such as Spider Solitaire on iOS and Android.

With 180 levels to complete, all with unique layouts, Regency Solitaire definitely does not lack content. It took us about ten hours to complete everything on the “Normal” mode, although we did go out of our way to get a “perfect” score on each level. The game follows Solitaire’s classic one-up, one-down style, making it easy to pick up and play. For those unfamiliar with the rules, you are given a stockpile of cards to draw from and a mix of face-up and facedown cards displayed on the board. You aim to click the cards on the board with the number one value higher or lower than the foundation card below. When you can’t match any more cards to the foundation card, you draw a new one from the stockpile. The round ends when all the cards are cleared from the board or your stockpile runs out.

Regency Solitaire spices things up by introducing some extra elements. For example, you can build up combos by matching six or more cards in a row, and there is even an achievement for managing a 35-card combo! It is unlikely that you will be able to make so many matches naturally, though, which is where the jokers and wildcards come in. These special cards are found randomly on the board and stored until you use them. Jokers can be substituted for any other card, while wildcards can be used to fill in the gaps for your combos. Later levels increase the challenge by including cards with ribbons that must be matched twice to clear them and even locked stacks where keys must be uncovered first. Then there are the stacks with regal locks, which can only be opened by matching a specified number of royal cards. Don’t worry if this sounds complicated; it is very straightforward and keeps things interesting.

As you progress through the levels, you earn currency, which can be used to upgrade Bella’s ballroom and outfit. The items you buy all have special stats or abilities to make life easier for you. Some increase the chances of finding wildcards, while others provide advantages, such as increasing the number of times you can undo your moves. There is a total of 31 different upgrades that you can purchase as they become available. Bella also learns three special abilities over the course of the game, which can be the difference between a colossal combo and failing a level. The Cupid power lets you knock a pesky card or two off the board, while the Phoenix power burns away random cards. You also get the ability to shuffle all the playable cards on the board in the hope that they will land up in more favorable positions. You’ll have to use these abilities sparingly, though, as they take time to recharge.

As mentioned, Regency Solitaire can be played in “Normal” or “Hard” mode. The difference is in the tasks you are given to complete each chapter. For example, in “Normal” mode, you might be required to achieve seven perfect hands, a multiplier of 2.3, and earn 4300 gold, while “Hard” ups it to eight perfect hands, a multiplier of 2.5, and a total of 4800 gold. This means that even if you are a solitaire expert, the game still packs a challenge.

The game looks good visually, and proper widescreen support was added after the release, improving the experience. This update added wallpaper side borders to the full-screen mode instead of the black bars in the original release. The backgrounds look great, and although they are only static paintings, they capture the era’s spirit. After completing a level, you can even set the background of your favorite chapter as your Windows wallpaper from within the game. The various characters from the game are featured as designs on the cards, but if you prefer, you can also play with a plain deck.

The soundtrack is about what you would expect from a solitaire game set during the Regency era and features plenty of relaxing classical music. It’s a pity that there is no voice acting as it would have helped to bring the various characters to life, but the sound effects are decent enough. We had no issues with the controls either and completed the game using a mouse.

Solitaire is addictive enough, but this game packs enough extra features to ensure you are hooked immediately. The game also features some nice Steam Achievements to boost the replay value and give you an excuse to play on the “Hard” setting. If you like solitaire, enjoy casual games, or want something polished and addictive to play in short bursts, you should definitely check out Regency Solitaire. It hooked us from start to finish and is definitely one of the most addictive examples of the genre.