Heartwild Solitaire - Book 2 Review

Full of intrigue, romance, and good old fashioned card-clicking fun, Heartwild Solitaire – Book 2 will capture your imagination and keep you playing until you discover what happens to Binky, Ross and the beautiful Miss Anne. While the story itself leans a bit towards the adult-content side, it is still appropriate for most romance-loving players. Gameplay is simple and easy to learn, but definitely addictive, and the ability to create your own levels is a great addition that brings Heartwild Solitaire a lot of variety and replayability.

A Card Game With a Plot

You play Binky, a housemaid and part-time model. She models for an artist named Ross, with whom she has developed a romantic relationship. Ross only partially returns her affections, however, and completely casts her aside when he meets his new neighbor, Miss Anne. Binky is of course incredibly jealous of Miss Anne, and determines to do all she can to prevent their relationship and convince Ross that he truly loves her.

Unlockable Story, Your Decisions Can Affect the Outcome

As you beat the levels, more of the story is unlocked, and you discover more about Miss Anne, Ross, and Binky's own life that you must take into consideration. At certain points in the story, you are given the opportunity to make a life changing decision for Binky. You are presented with two Taroh cards, and are asked to choose one. The game offers no explanations for the cards, or even a hint of which to choose, because the story branches off and continues on completely different tracks for each decision. This adds a lot of replayability because it is intriguing to find out what happens to Binky if you make a different choice.

Similar Game to Tripeaks Style Solitaire

The levels themselves are similar to the game TriPeaks. The cards are laid out seemingly almost randomly, all face down with only a select few on the top face up. There is also a starter card and a face down pile of cards to be used as starters. Your goal is to clear all the cards, or as many as possible, by creating sequences with the starter card. Suits and colors do not matter, but to clear a card it must be either directly above or directly below the starter card in value.

For example, if the starter card is a Jack, you can clear either a 10 or a Queen, regardless of suit or color. If you choose 10, you can then clear either a 9 or a Jack, and so on. If you get stuck, you can use another card from the pile, but be careful! There are a limited number of cards in the pile, and unless you have a powerup you cannot restore any cards to the pile. The gameplay is incredibly easy to learn and very addictive, but as the levels progress becomes increasingly difficult, making it a great challenge for experienced gamers.

Bonus and Challenge Levels Add Variety

Heartwild Solitaire also adds a great bit of variety with the bonus and challenge levels. After playing four levels of regular play, you are given a bonus level. In the bonus level, you are shown a layout of cards. You have as much time to study them as you wish, but when you start the timer, all of the cards shuffle around the board. It is your job to put them back in the original layout in order to win all the bonus points.

After another four levels of regular play, you are given a challenge level. In these levels, you have a reduced layout of cards on the board, but only one starter card to use for the entire level. These levels will truly test your skills in sequencing, to see if you can clear enough cards to pass the level. These different kinds of levels break up the monotony of the typical levels and create quite the challenge, even for very experienced solitaire players. Along the same lines, you have the ability to create and play your own levels. With tons of customization options, the level editor is a great addition to the game.

A Few Drawbacks - Story and Layouts

Heartwild Solitaire has a few drawbacks as well. The theme and storyline are pretty much on the older teen/adult side, limiting its already niche audience. The story is interesting, but is presented in the form of a book, making it a lot of material to read in between levels. It is also not always terribly clear what is actually going on in the story, because the authors used a lot of dialogue without indicating who was speaking. This means it will take some thought and investigation to figure out exactly what is going on in the story.

The other problem is the layouts. While large layouts are an advantage from a difficulty standpoint, they can also hinder gameplay. Sometimes it is difficult to see all the cards, and when they are placed half of the time they are upside down. This makes it really hard to distinguish between a 6 and 9, for example. A solution to this problem would make Heartwild Solitaire more enjoyable.

Conclusion - Some Nice Features That Make Basic Solitaire More Interesting

Overall, Heartwild Solitaire is a great card game for those that like fast-paced solitaire action with a romantic back-story. For those that don't, Heartwild Solitaire can still provide several hours of entertainment by playing the regular levels and creating your own. The graphics are great, the level editor is a unique and fun characteristic, and the gameplay is full of action and excitement. While the audience of Heartwild Solitaire is definitely limited, the set of people it does appeal to will have a ball playing it.