Graphics
Gameplay
Story
Sound
Developer
Puzzle Lab
Publisher
Game House
Pros:
• Great revamp in gameplay for Solitaire
• Multiple play modes and mini modules in between levels
• Fun story and progression to keep you hooked
Cons:
• Not as easy to learn for people who don’t play solitaire
• It involves landscaping gardens
• It’s solitaire!
Based on the simple system of the popular card game Solitaire, developers Puzzle Lab have expounded on what would otherwise be dull and linear gameplay. Simple elements like breaking the game’s difficulty curve into incremental levels, adding upgrades to give a gratifying sense of advancement and backing it up with a simple storyline gives this game its overall charm.
It strange to imagine how a game like Solitaire can be given a plot and a storyline, but Puzzle Lab pulled it off quite soundly. Of course it is wishful thinking to believe you can actually landscape a garden by laying out Solitaire cards, but stranger things have happened. Your landscaping job takes you to different locations each time so there’s never a dull moment. Between each level sits a mini Solitaire game to separates these levels as you journey along.
What also sets this game apart is its power ups. Unlike in a normal game of Solitaire where your options involve pretty much just shuffling the cards, Koi Solitaire power ups allow you to stop time, re-deal cards, remove unwanted cards, and randomize a card. All these small gameplay features add up to the overall fun twist to the game. No longer does Solitaire feel like a filler game, as this remake qualifies it as a true casual game indeed.
Graphics wise, the game has clean, simple, but pretty enough. It takes on a slightly cartoonish feel and panels of comic tell the game’s story. There were little details that made this game memorable; like how the cards were dealt via a conveyer belt-type thing and reshuffling the cards had the conveyer belt retracting all the cards. I enjoyed how the UI and the graphics never got in each other’s way and created a nice, smooth and enjoyable game flow. The sounds not memorable as it essentially had only 1 track playing throughout.
Marrying a card game with casual game elements and a storyline may not a very conventional idea, but Koi Solitaire managed to pull it off quite nicely. You don’t even need to be a Solitaire enthusiast to enjoy this game.
Review by
Mayling Tan
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