You might remember that I did an interview with half of the development team for Regency Solitaire a few weeks ago, Helen Carmichael. The game is now out on Steam, and I couldn’t wait to play after speaking with her! This is her and her husband Jake Birkett’s first game together. It’s also a product of the Creative England GamesLab South West program, “designed to aid and sustain the growth of the region’s burgeoning games’ industry through the development of innovative games and IP.”

Watch the trailer:

Plot

Experience the romance of Regency England in this sumptuous solitaire game. Help Bella take charge of her destiny and create the ballroom of her dreams. Play your cards right as you tour historic locations, from stately homes and lavish gardens to the fashionable towns of London, Brighton and Bath. Decorate the family ballroom to unlock gameplay features and improve Bella’s chances of finding true love! Avoid the clutches of the odious Mr. Bleakley, and reclaim a lost fortune. Cupid’s arrow can’t fail to find his target – in Regency Solitaire, love is always just around the corner.

The story of Regency Solitaire is the trim around the many, many hands of cards you’ll play, but it’s very sweet. Bella has been promised to her awful neighbor, Mr. Bleakley, by her father. She’s super not into him, but the cute new guy in town who’s proved elusive to most of the neighbors. As you progress through the story, you’ll find out why the family has money problems, make some friends, and just might fall in love.

Graphics and Sound

The artwork in this is gorgeous. There are twenty different locations to play solitaire in, and all of them are lavishly illustrated. You can even save this artwork as your desktop background, which I thought was a nice touch. The characters are beautifully done as well. The cards have character artwork on them (you can turn them to standard ones as well if you want, but I found it easier to memorize pictures). The sound design is great, with lovely classical music playing in the background of each level. Depending on how long it takes you to get through a stage, you might find it a bit repetitive, but I thought it was just right. Some of the music sounds strangely sinister at times, which I thought was a little odd for the overall mood, but it’s all very pretty.

Gameplay

The vast majority of your gameplay is going to be hands of solitaire. There are twenty different levels, and the majority of these have ten rounds of solitaire to play. This is a bit different than the standard solitaire that comes with Windows, which was the only kind I was familiar with; I like this a lot better. You have a bunch of cards spread out on screen in various patterns, then a deck to pull from at the bottom. You can deck one of the scattered cards if it’s one higher or lower than the face-up card in the deck. You’ll have three power ups to help you along the way, as well as an undo button, wild cards, and jokers. At the end of each level, you’ll be brought to the ballroom, where you can upgrade your outfit and your ballroom. The upgrades make it easier for you to earn money and make combos. Each level also has three goals to achieve during it, otherwise you can’t move on. These are normally making enough money, finding something in the level (underneath the cards), and getting either a certain multiplier or combo. At the end, these can get really nerve-wracking, but I always managed to scrape by with the help of wild cards. There’s two difficulty modes, normal and hard; I didn’t try hard, but it’s there if you want a challenge!

There are 17 Steam Achievements and six trading cards.

Final Thoughts

I started playing this and next thing I knew, it was three hours later. I completed it over just a few days, spending eleven hours on it. It was hard to step away from! A wonderfully addicting, deceptively simple solitaire game. Get it!

Score: A

You can get Regency Solitaire on Steam and the official site for $9.99. Visit Grey Alien Games on Facebook, and follow Jake and Helen on Twitter.

[Disclaimer: A review code was provided for me to review this game.]