For many years the scariest thing about solitaire on your computer was the creepy pixelated castle deck art Susan Kare made for Windows 3.0. Or maybe that version Donald Rumsfeld put on the app store a decade ago. Regardless, the matter is settled now. A new meta-horror game from the creators of Home Safety Hotline is not only the most frightful solitaire yet, it’s the most forbidden.
In Forbidden Solitaire, you’ve come into possession of some controversial ‘90s software. A gnarly, gory fantasy card game you recall spooking you as a kid, but never encountering beyond magazine ads. At first its rarity was understood to be from its notoriety. Parents and advocacy groups furious that any studio would twist the innocence of solitaire into something soaked in blood and guts. While you venture into the game, your sister boots up her own investigation, believing Solitaire’s infamy goes far beyond a marketing campaign and into a bizarre series of ritualistic deaths.
Between story prompts with your sister, you venture further into the solitary dungeon. Each action through the murky lair, from combating ghouls, sneaking around guards and conjuring spells, is done through a puzzle structured around the famed standard deck time killer. Stacked on top of each other, often in ornate patterns, you can only remove cards of value directly above or below the one in your hand. Pluck them correctly and you can chain more powerful combos or build up magical attacks.
As you go you’ll collect various kinds of jokers that can be pivotal in survival, though chambering them for the right moment can be a puzzle in itself. You can also accrue magical gemstones for more permanent upgrades, crudely wedging them into the flesh of your hand. Many encounters come with new conditions and dangers, so skip these upgrades at your peril. Cards can be locked, cursed and poisoned, sipping from your health or making things difficult whenever you pull from your depot.
There’s plenty to compare with Daniel Mullins’ games like Pony Island or Inscryption, though oddly not so much on the “card game” front as much as the “lost PC game stuffed with evil beings” front. Like standard solitaire, Forbidden can be a little meditative, spotting a nice chain to combo being the real jolts during play. The bigger attraction is the presentation, a deeply cursed and saturated game in the style of Jim Ludtke works like Bad Day on the Midway, with a great and convincing soundscape to really make your hair stick up.