Game: Klondike Solitaire Collection
Genre: Board Game, Puzzle, Strategy
System: Nintendo Switch
Developer|Publisher: eSolutions
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US Everyone
Price: US $5.79 | UK £4.39 | EU € 5,79
Release Date: May 6th, 2021
Review code provided with many thanks to eSolutions
Heart of the Cards
Card games are certainly nothing new and if you’ve clicked on today’s review it’s possible for a few reasons. One, you accidentally clicked here when you meant to click on one of the other more talented writers on this fine website. Two, maybe you’re a fan of my writings and were oddly curious about my thoughts about a collection of solitaire card games. Finally three, maybe you are a card game person and you just want to know if the game runs well. Either way, I would like to thank you for clicking here and taking the time out of your busy day to hear my thoughts on Klondike Solitaire Collection.
A Brief Summary
If you don’t know what Solitaire is, congratulations you must be super young. For the rest of us, you will know it as the game you pulled up on an old Windows computer when you were supposed to be working or studying. That and it’s possibly something your grandparents played. If you somehow don’t know Solitaire is a single-player card game where a deck of cards is dealt out into several columns. The top card of each column is shown but the rest of the cards below are hidden. The goal of the game is to create a pile of all 4 card symbols (spade, club, diamond and heart) in order from Ace to King to complete the session.
Cards can be moved and placed on other columns but only if they are a single number lower than the card showing and of the reverse colour. Once you move a card you can reveal the next face-down card. Out of moves you can reveal cards from the pile at the top. Success is not guaranteed and sometimes a lot of it is how lucky you get with the cards you are dealt and the moves you choose to make. The game is ingenious and it’s no surprise why it has been enjoyed for hundreds of years and likely will be enjoyed for hundreds of years to come. If all electricity was obliterated tomorrow and we could no longer play with our Nintendo Switch consoles I will be glad I still have a deck of cards handy to save me from boredom. What else am I going to do, read?
Know the Rules
The Klondike Collection includes ten variants of the Solitaire formula all with their own rule sets but most of which follows the base rules above. I honestly didn’t know the names of many of these solitaire variants such as Lady Jane, Westcliff and Batsford. I’m only familiar with the terms Solitaire or Patience. It’s a shame the game didn’t take this as an opportunity to educate the player on the origins of some of these games. When you select each game you can dive into a small menu that will make you familiar with the rules for each.
Touch Friendly
You may be pleased to hear this game does make use of touch controls in handheld mode. Thank goodness. It’s simple to tap on a card with your finger and move it around to your heart’s content to the correct place. The game does feature a few quality of life features. Even if you decide to opt to use the cursor with the analogue stick. Double-tap a face button and a card will automatically be moved if you can’t be bothered to drag and drop it. This also acts as a kinda hint system, so if you’re really stuck just double click on all the cards and they move where they need to be.
Also if you know you have won the game you can press the autocomplete button, then you sit back in your chair with your coffee and watch all those cards move into the right places and win the game. It’s quite a satisfying feeling. Unlike playing in real life the game will not let you cheat by peeking undercards or sneakily adjusting things in your favour. If you try to place a card where it doesn’t belong the game will force it back to its original position. It’s not all that bad though the game does allow you an unlimited number of ‘undo’s to rewind and try things differently. A lot of the thrill for me of card games is sticking to the cards you are dealt. I guess there is a life lesson in there somewhere.
Plain Deck
Graphically the game is a bit dull. There is only one deck and the plain green background in every game. Not much effort was put into dressing the experience up which is disappointing. Different card decks, colour variants and maybe a nice variety of chilled music would have been more welcome but alas you need to just use your imagination and maybe stick your own music on in the background.
Pointing at the Screen
I guess that’s kinda it for this review. If you like your classic card games this collection can keep you entertained for many short burst gaming sessions until your Nintendo Switch expires, which hopefully will be years away. Playing this game for me reminded me of my late Grandmother (or Granny). When I was younger she used to boot up her computer with Windows 3.1 just to play this game. It was my Grandfather who developed quite a fascination with all things computer including the wonders of email. Sometimes I would just sit there watching Granny play, being mesmerized by her technique and frustration when things didn’t quite go to plan.
Sometimes I wanted to lift my finger up to help her, but often the assistance was rarely needed. She had a weak heart and one day after missing the bus when shopping I had to push her up the hill back to her house. I loved my Grandmother but things didn’t end well for us. The last time I saw her we got into a fight and I never saw her again. Years later she succumbed to her heart condition and passed away. I deeply regretted that our last meeting together was not on better terms and it’s something I kinda carried with me for years to come.
Playing this game though made me feel her presence. Maybe this time she was watching me and gently saying ‘it’s ok.’ I guess that’s what I would like to believe. I think the magical thing about gaming is even games that look as simple as this, can make you reminisce of better times. It doesn’t change the cards we are dealt in life but just maybe holding onto those moments helps us learn and move forward.
Conclusion – Plain and Simple
Klondike Solitaire Collection is a decent collection of classic card games that controls well but does the bare minimum to make itself stand out. The core deep and entertaining card experience is here but whether that’s enough is up to you. For a reasonable price point, one can’t deny you get value for your money here for one of the most iconic card games that will still exist years from now.
Final Verdict: I Like it
This review is dedicated to the memory of the Grandmother. I hope you still have access to Solitaire wherever you are. That… and I hope you had some joy watching me create this review.
20 variants not 10