Goblin Solitaire

Alright. [i]Goblin Solitaire[/i] is done and dusted inasmuch as I've beaten the game several times at each difficulty level and played around with the game for a couple hours. This is tried and true Klondike Solitaire through and through. And actually, I'd say the target audience, outside of fans of Nikola's Goblins and Coins franchise in general, are people who enjoy just chilling and playing stuff like Solitaire or Freecell on their computers (please note, this is not Freecell). https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3763361456 As a quick overview, this is really just no-frills Solitaire. There are no gimmicks other than minor adjustments to the game based on the difficulty level you choose. As a result, there are also none of the frustrations that I find tend to come with the more esoteric Solitaire games on Steam. If you just want to play some Solitaire with no fluff, this is that. It really just adheres to the Klondike rules. The tiny elephant in the room is that AI was used to make some of the background images or at least format them (as per the AI disclaimer on the product page). By my mind, this is the least egregious usage of AI as it has zero impact on the gameplay whatsoever, and there is no story, so it obviously has no impact there either. I look at it as such: this developer is actually a schoolteacher first and a developer second. TMK, he uses the money earned from his games to buy school supplies for his students. And obviously he lacks a budget to hire an artist for what would be a pretty non-essential part of a game which is entirely self-funded. This is an example of when I will look past the use of AI. I've spent a lot of time chewing on this topic, and that's where I weigh in. Take that as you will. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3763441700 Anyway, there are three different card designs: Goblin, Classic, and Dark. I found both Classic and Dark to be pretty distracting and I didn't really like them. The Goblin cards OTOH really worked well IMO. They're basic card designs, but it's somehow less intrusive and less distracting, and thus much easier to focus on the game. You also have the option to roll back a turn if you so choose. Although I think you don't get that in hard mode. I dunno. I never actually used the feature. But it s there. Also, if you've gotten to the point where you've won but you just haven't moved all your cards over yet, the game has an option to auto-finish for you, which is a nice QoL addition. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3763361321 What else? The music is okay. It's kind of whimsical. It is on a loop and will play over and over. There is Master Volume in the settings, but clicking on it didn't do anything, but ideally, if it was working, you could mute the music after you've heard it as much as you care to. :) I had a good time playing some good old simple Solitaire here. It's kind of like a warm blanket in a way. And the goblin theme adds a bit of levity to the whole thing. It's also only $1.99 retail, which is a favorable price (although it's $1.59 at the time of this writing). If you just want some good old-fashioned Solitaire, this is worth a look IMO. [i]I will also add that while I know the developer, I did actually purchase this myself.[/i] [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32549618/]Robilar's Reviews[/url], it would be appreciated. Cheers.[/code] [code]Also follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/code]

The gameplay is exactly what you would expect from a solitaire game, and the rules are standard, offering either one or three card draws with the option to enable or disable undo. Where the game fails is its generic presentation. Although the AI generated backgrounds are easy enough to overlook, the three card themes are simply ugly. Only the Goblin theme includes face illustrations, while the other two are Dark, which is the worst theme, and Classic, which is light themed, and neither includes face illustrations. What makes matters even worse is that the cards do not display the full suit symbols. For example, the four of diamonds only shows the number and suit in the two corners, while the center of the card is completely empty instead of displaying four diamond symbols. Higher cards such as the king and queen are even worse, as they only feature a large, unattractive K or Q in the middle of the card. Although the Goblin theme does include face illustrations, it makes little difference because the same image is used for every card within the same suit. Even the four suit illustrations are almost identical, with only a single item changing between them. As a result, playing comfortably becomes impossible because instead of recognizing cards at a glance, you have to waste time looking at the small numbers and suit symbols in the corners to determine whether a card can be played.

A solid entry into the Solitaire scene. Doesn't reinvent the wheel or do anything out of the ordinary. However it looks clean, plays smoothly & has some nice visual & audio flourishes beyond the standard deck of cards. A variety of themes and seasonal backgrounds make it feel a little more pleasing. And it's all made by a Solo Dev who funnels money made from his games back into helping his students (He's a school teacher) So a bit of support for someone using the platform for some altruism is certainly worth a couple of Pounds.

A lovely and enjoyable solitaire game. It runs flawlessly and is bug free. Multiple levels of difficulty make this game accessible to players of all skill levels. It even keeps statistics so you can follow your progress over time, while achievements give you something to strive to. The goblin card theme is cute, but not too fancy, with some others to pick from if goblins aren't your thing. Minimalist theme might help for those who are visually impaired, since card numbers and suites are quite large and easy to see, while the classic/pixel theme looks vintage and is presumably another homage to the overall art style of developer's goblin franchise. Music is simple and doesn't distract from the gameplay, but contributes to the overall cozy atmosphere of the game. Whether you have a few minutes or a few hours to kill, whether you want a casual or a more challenging experience, this game can provide it for you and at a very affordable price too. I can see myself playing this game for a long time and, therefore, I highly recommend it.