Solitairica

Solitairica (2016) is an unusual version of Solitaire where you play cards not only to clear the board but to customise the deck and trigger abilities to battle enemies. Play is like classic Solitaire, but here you can upgrade cards and use magical items to get unstuck and counteract incoming attacks. It stands out for offering a deep tactical card battle that encourages players to think ahead but is still approachable because of the familiarity of Solitaire.

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Solitairica is similar to how Puzzle Quest combines match-three puzzles with fantasy battles. You choose a character deck that offers some specific abilities and cards. Play proceeds by turning over a card that can be used to eliminate cards on the table that are one higher or one lower than that card. Each card you destroy gives you a type of energy that lets you use special abilities. In this way, you aim to chain together as many cards as possible to unlock spells.

To win a battle you also need to deal with the attacks and effects that your enemy draws from their deck. This makes it important to gain enough attack, defence, agility and willpower to use your abilities to counter their attacks. This leads to different tactics. Some characters are good at using brute force, while others are better at cleverly constructed builds with devastating combos. Between battles, you can use your earned currency to unlock more cards and characters for your next run.

The result is a tactical twist on Solitaire that uses the basic premise for a surprisingly deep battle system. The layered approach of upgrading cards, unlocking decks and building characters makes the challenge approachable.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Solitairica 12 days ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 7 days ago.