Exploring eerie abandoned space stations or mysterious small towns is a staple in horror games. But it’s always refreshing when a game approaches horror from an unexpected angle. Enter Forbidden Solitaire, an intriguing upcoming release from Night Signal Entertainment. The game starts with a curious premise: what if you bought a simple game of Solitaire, but it turned out to be haunted?
The concept is introduced with a catchy hook on the game’s Steam page. Picture this: it’s 2019, and you stumble upon a peculiar yet oddly familiar 1995 CD-ROM game at a thrift store. You vaguely recall seeing advertisements for it, along with some controversy, but somehow, you never got to play it—until now.
The idea of a Solitaire game inducing terror might seem far-fetched at first. However, we’ve seen unexpected genres work wonders before, like how Balatro turned poker mechanics into a thrilling roguelike. The developer behind Forbidden Solitaire has also given us gems like Home Safety Hotline, a tech support simulator filled with cleverly sinister writing and spooky twists. So, I’m optimistic about what they will bring to the table. Players will face challenging “bloodletting solitaire gameplay,” earn upgrades between rounds from a “friendly eye that watches from the walls,” and encounter a “variety of game-changing Jokers, some beneficial, others quite harmful.”
Based on the information from Steam, an average round of Forbidden Solitaire is expected to last around two to three hours. Although Night Signal Entertainment hasn’t disclosed a release date yet, I’m eager to see their unique double period piece unfold, where a modern-day gamer in 2019 engages with a relic from the ’90s.
