Game: Solitaire Quest: Garden Story
Genre: Casual, Indie, Cards
System: Steam (Windows, macOS)
Developer|Publisher: Playzzy Games
Controller Support: No
Price: US $4.99 | UK £4.29 | EU € 4,99
Release Date: September 11th, 2023
The review code was provided with many thanks to Playzzy Games.
Solitaire Quest: Garden Story is a 2023 solitaire game developed and published by Playzzy Games.
The Premise of Solitaire Quest: Garden Story
I am a big fan of Solitaire, and I like games like Solitaire Quest: Garden Story for their combination of solitaire and storyline. Here, we take the role of Diana’s niece, who has decided to go on a trip around the world, and because of that, we need to take care of her garden. Along the line, we meet a whole set of characters and rivals.
Gameplay
We start by choosing the game mode, Normal, Timed, Relaxed, and Challenge. Relaxed mode is the easiest way to go through the game. Normal is almost the same as Relaxed but with fewer cards in the deck. In Timed, we have a time limit per level; in Challenge, we have a time limit for each player’s turn. I didn’t see much difference between Challenge and Timed Mode. We also have Endless mode, but we can’t update the garden in that one.
No matter what mode we choose, except for Endless, we earn flowers and coins by playing. The flowers are used to buy upgrades for the garden. We have three upgrades for each element of the garden. The coins purchase helpful boosters for the solitaire- extra undo, a joker, a wild card, double coins per level, and so on. I mostly used it to buy additional cards in the deck if I ran out before solving the level. We can access the shop for the boosters at any time during gameplay.
As you progress through the game, you meet some challenges. You have frozen cards on some levels, which you must play twice to clear. In other levels, you might see burning cards, for which you need to unlock a watering can before playing them. Some cards are covered in ivy or roots; you’ll need shears or an axe. There are different obstacles throughout the levels.
All in all, we have 200 levels to solve spread over a big map. The levels are only unlocked when you solve a level to progress to the next one, and there is no skip option. Still, you can change the difficulty setting and the mode at any point. If you are playing on Challenge and get stuck, you can play a level at Relaxed, pass it, and then go back to Challenge without getting stuck or missing some progress.
The Art
One of the main reasons for choosing to play Solitaire Quest: Garden Story instead of the regular Windows Solitaire is the artwork. Solitaire Quest: Garden Story is a very colorful, lovely game. The animations are smooth, if somewhat limited. The backgrounds are beautiful and pleasing to look at. We have some options to customize the appearance of the deck as well. I wished for more variety in the garden upgrades- more than three or a more extensive garden.
In terms of audio, Solitaire Quest: Garden Story has one track, and while pleasant, it’s nothing special. As I usually do, I mostly played while watching TV. It worked great for me, and I really enjoyed the game. The characters aren’t voiced, but it works fine for this type of game.
Some Side Notes
Solitaire Quest: Garden Story has Steam achievements but no trading cards yet. In terms of settings, we have basic audio off and on settings, on and off tutorials, and the appearance of the cards. In the main menu, we can also access a Diary, which shows us the story so far and achievements, which are the same as the Steam achievements for the game.
Conclusion
Solitaire Quest: Garden Story is a fun game for Solitaire fans. The story is nothing special, but it does give the game some contextuality and explains the need to upgrade the garden. That’s common for games like this one. The star of the game is, without a doubt, the artwork; it’s cosy and beautiful. It’s more appealing than the green backgrounds of the usual solitaire games. If you like solitaire, Solitaire Quest: Garden Story offers more than enough quality and quantity for its price.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot