Ember Knight Solitaire

Probably one of the more complex solitaire games I’ve played so far, [i]Ember Knight Solitaire[/i] doesn’t restrict itself to this genre, borrowing instead mechanics from Match 3, Blackjack, Hidden Objects and topping all of the above with a nice RPG feel. Naturally, it contains all the elements that you’d expect in any decent solitaire game: power-ups that recharge with your matches, bonus cards and jokers, special cards on the board that you’d have to unlock with a key / hammer etc or that require to be matched several times based on their number or suite etc. There are plenty of levels (200 in fact) in which you can experience all sorts of combinations from these mechanics. Additionally, you can also choose between 3 difficulty settings (Beginner / Normal / Expert) and 3 different game modes: the classic solitaire where you need to select a card one unit higher / lower than the current one, a pair solitaire - in which you need to make pairs of the same card, and a mode that I’ve never encountered before requiring matches of two cards that add to a 14 unit total. The difficulty or the game mode can be changed any time before starting a level, and the bonuses / coins acquired are kept between different modes. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2467796299 Some of the cards from the deck trigger a mini game of sorts: either a match-3, or a blackjack, or a memory, or a shell game. These are all restricted in movements and have a timer. They do give some extra coins, but they can also be skipped if one finds them annoying. Apart from these minigames, there's sometimes a small hidden object scene before starting a new batch of 10 levels, and an enjoyable story unfolds via dialogues, every 5 levels, sadly without voice overs. The whole RPG feel comes from the fact that you play as one of four possible characters, each of them bringing new bonuses to your game. You will use this character during battles with monsters (every 5 levels will bring you into card battler level), in which you will need to create matches from the board to charge up your attack or the health replenishment spell. Both you and the enemy take turns in making matches from a common board and card stack, and whichever of you manages to bring the other’s health down to 0 wins. To make things easier, the player character starts with a health advantage during the majority of the game, but as you progress, your enemies will increase in health, thus being more and more difficult to beat. The AI is balanced (neither too smart nor too bad), but it does skip matches sometimes, even if they’re possible - likely, this is done in order to facilitate your win. And just like the difficulty setting and game mode, the character can also be swapped in-between two levels. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2467796114 Completing levels will award coins, and combos will add multipliers to these points. With the points earned, you will be able to buy passive bonuses (more undoes, seeing the amount of cards in the deck, increased drop rate for bonus cards, more life or attack power during battles etc.) but also power-ups or wild cards. There are plenty of options to choose from and acquiring everything will take most of the game (they do cost quite a lot), but unfortunately one thing that is missing is that there’s no way to purchase a joker card. Out of the 7 non-passive bonuses that can be purchased, only 5 can be equipped simultaneously in the character slots - which means that you can mix and match them based on the level configuration. [i]Ember Knight Solitaire[/i] is casual and relaxing, but not trivial - even on easy, the levels are not-so-easy, if one aims to get the maximum amount of stars (4 stars = no cards left on the board, with each card left decreasing the stars by 1). Re-dealing the deck will fail the level (it will still be possible to skip it though) and in order to be able to unlock the next batch of 10 levels you will need at least 1 star in all previous levels on average. The recharge for the power-ups also takes quite long - for example an arrow that removes a card from the board takes 60 matches until it’s usable, and you are not allowed to select which card to remove (a random one is selected from those remaining on the board). Additionally, buying these power-ups / bonuses require you to complete several levels with a pretty high score (in very rough estimates, you have enough money to buy a new bonus only every 5-10 levels). The deck is also limited, with no option to add more than 2 cards to it (available only by buying two passive abilities from the shop). https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2467796258 It takes around 15h to complete the game and I certainly enjoyed the time spent in it. Priced at $8 at the moment, it is a bit cheaper than [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1375810]Legends of Solitaire: Diamond Relic[/url] ($9.99) - a game that has the same mechanics and which was also developed by [url=https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=The%20Revills%20Games]The Revills Games[/url], but more expensive than the community’s favorite title by the same company, namely [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/432190]Chef Solitaire: USA[/url] ($2.99). [quote]More reviews on the [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/11354094]Lilly's Corner Curator page[/url][/quote]

I am a huge supporter of Revills Games and own all of them loving the original artworks throughout their games and this one is no exception. However some notes on the game-play both positive and negative from 9 hours of game-play so far. The positive; the artwork is as usual beautiful and I really loved getting to chose my character at the beginning. Gave it a rpg feel to a solitaire game. That is a very neat addition. Also the mix of game-play within the game (not just solitaire but match 3 and a lite card battler as well)! The soundtrack is good but their is no voice overs. That can be good or bad. I know in Chef Solitaire there is a voice over for the main character which I find was really well done and added to the game but since there is choose your own character at the beginning I am guessing this is why it's just text based. There is also lots of cool power ups to buy and as you progress earning coins is not that much of a struggle. The negative; I found it frustrating that there was no buying of jokers or wilds. The end game as you go along gets really challenging for some levels and the deck you start out on (the number of cards) just doesn't stretch far enough if what your dealt is bad (and can be numerous times). There is no way to buy more cards to add to your deck as well so your stuck at the number of cards given at the start. Also no re-dealing of the deck. This brings a lot of frustration to some levels I can assure you. So at times I took a break from the game when I could not get by certain levels due to a lack of cards in the deck and not being able to buy wilds or jokers. * There is a power up you can buy that gives you a wild card to use as needed but it has to recharge as you go. Note that in this game the wild card is actual what most solitaire games refer to as a "joker". Wilds in this game are available (look like goblin cards with designated numbers on them). Those of you familiar with solitaire will understand what I mean by the difference. So keep the negatives in mind as they can be frustrating but overall I do enjoy the game and supporting the company. I just really wish if anything could change it would be to be able to re-shuffle the deck (not to confuse the power up for shuffling the cards on the board). That improvement alone would ease a lot of frustration in some levels. The prices on Revills Games are always good value for your money so I recommend checking out their library. I have reviews as well on many of their other games. Hopefully you find this review helpful and game on! 🎮

Well, I think I have an addiction. I'm addicted to golf solitaire games. This is my third Revills solitaire game, and I'm not disappointed. It has everything I'm looking for in a casual, solitaire card playing game. High-low option, power-ups, battles, nice scenery, achievements. The only thing missing is the option to restart the level without having to skip through the remaining cards or go back to the main menu. Also, like previous card games from Revills that I bought, the mini games are useless, but you can disable them. So the question is, do I recommend this game? Yes, and I plan on buying the few others that come with achievements.

Ehh... It's okay... But why doesn't this game have a level "Restart"? After all, you wont always get great cards right away. Not to mention that "Wild Card" drops are rather rare (even on Casual mode) and you will be playing some levels 10+ times. That and cards don't really stand out that much. Especially "7" and "8". They are both depicted as blonde elves and unless you can tell them super easily apart, once you play for a while -> You will most likely fuse them together. I just got tired of using all power ups per level, then Wild Cards... For little to nothing in return. It's not bad, it's just my motivation faded after taking nearly two hours on 2-3 levels. Zzz.

I have a couple games from this company, and have enjoyed them. This game was fun, until I came to a level where there was a freezing problem. It can be worked around, but, not satisfactorily. In the discussions section I saw that someone had the same problem. It was written in Feb. 2022 and the devs responded. I tried top shake them a couple of times and no response. I assume this game has been abandoned. It was fun up to the problem point. Because of the bug and lack of response I give it a resounding no.

Hi -- this game is not a true Solitaire game @ all. It has lots of mini games throughout. It starts with a hidden object then Solitaire -- mini game during Solitaire + a battle type Solitaire. No TY this game not for me. I recommended this game because the music, graphics + story are great. I love Kings, Queens type of story so I thought win/win -- I was wrong but others will love it.