Avalon Legends Solitaire 2

8.5/10 Avalon Legends Solitaire 2 is the best solitaire game I've played on Steam. Shadowhand might be more engaging in terms of a solitaire hybrid, but I'm a big fan of this game's tactile feel, the static way that levels are completed, and ability to work towards multiple goals simultaneously. At its core, it's not doing anything differently than other solitaire games on Steam. Each level presents you with a interesting layout of overlapping cards, and you'll try and remove them all (or as many as possible) from the board before you run out of cards in your deck. You can only remove a card that is either one number higher or lower than your current card. Therefore, if you have a 6 on the deck, you can only remove a 5 or a 7. If you click a 7 and an 8 exists on the board, you can create a 6-7-8 string, removing a number of cards without having a flip another card over from your deck. However, in Avalon Legends Solitaire 2, you're also building a kingdom. Completing a level provides you with food, wood, and gold. With these resources, you can construct buildings that increase your gold, food, or wood production, or even buildings that will allow you to purchase additional magic powers. There are a large array of powers to buy and buildings to build, and the player constantly has something to look forward to while playing. My favorite powers are typically those that help me create combos more quickly, that increase my maximum score multiplier, and those that automatically remove cards from the board at the beginning of each level. It is very satisfying to watch your kingdom grow as you construct walls, gates, moats, etc. From time to time as you're building, an adviser will pop up and provide a bit of cheeky dialogue, usually a criticism of what buildings you're prioritizing as you build. I found it rather amusing. In addition, I like the fact that the goal on every level is simply to remove all cards. Perhaps other players would miss having levels with goals like achieving a certain card combo or acquiring a certain amount of gold (or another resource), but I appreciated the simplicity. I wasn't asked to use spares or wild cards to artificially lengthen my combo or acquire a certain score. Lastly, I liked the tactile feel of the game. Some cards are inaccessible as a result of being covered in frost. Clicking these cards creates the sound of shattering ice, and I never got tired of it during my playtime - it's just a very satisfying noise. The visual design is also pleasant, of both the cards and your kingdom. If you like playing Steam solitaire games, pick this up.