ARC Style: Solitaire is a straight forward card game. If you are looking for a straight up plain and simple game then this is all you need.
There are two different variations of Solitaire in this game, Klondike and Monte Carlo, each with three different difficulty levels. Now I’m not going to go over the rules of either game as Solitaire is a widely known card game, but what Arc System Works put into this game makes this game pretty fun to play. The addictive nature of Solitaire aside.
The game can be played with either touch screen stylus controls or with use of the directional pad (or circle pad) and buttons. Both work very well and are very intuitive to control, though touch controls are tend to make the game move much quicker. Tap once to select your card and again to choose where you want to move it to, or to select a pair in Monte Carlo. You can also tap and drag the cards around the table or double tap the stylus to send it automatically to the collection stacks.
Two nice features added to both games are the hint and SOS features.
Hints can be used at any time and as many times as you want. If you’re stuck and aren’t sure what card you can play next simply select a card and then hold down the hint button with the stylus. If that card can be moved or matched up the game will highlight a possible move for you. If you’re at a point of “no more moves” this will also tell you that fact. The SOS feature is a limited move but is very helpful feature. If you are at the point where you have no more moves and would otherwise be out of luck the SOS can give you new life. Whereas ordinarily in Monte Carlo you can only make a matching pair with adjacent cards, selecting this option will let you make a match with any cards on the table. In Klondike this will send one of the next cards in each suit into the collection piles and give you another chance to keep playing. Don’t use this if you don’t need it though as you can’t take it back.
ARC Style: Solitaire can be played on either the bottom touch screen or the upper 3D screen. The 3D isn’t really that necessary for a table top card game and since I preferred playing with the touch controls anyway I tended to use the bottom screen.
The game does feature some unlockables as well which will give you different decks and backgrounds. The game also lets you spend some of your play coins on some of the backgrounds and decks, which includes anime inspired decks including one set based on ARC System Works’ fighting game BlazBlue. You can either play with red-backed cards on traditional green felt background, or have some nice anime characters and a sunny beach background. It’s a nice touch.
The music in the background of ARC Style: Solitaire is nice and cheery, though it can get old after a while. Not a bad thing though as you can simply lower the volume while you’re playing. Sound effects and music aren’t pivotal to the overall enjoyment of the game.
If you’re looking for a quick little solitaire action then you can’t go wrong with the $2.99 price point on this one. Definitely check it out.
