A Solitaire Mystery

A Solitaire Mystery is a collection of 30 strange and unique single-player card games, all based on the genre of solitaire card games. Some could be played with a common solitaire deck, some could be played with a custom deck, and some are only playable on a digital device. The games maintain the feel and satisfaction of the well-known Klondike solitaire (which we’ll refer to as “classic solitaire” below) while adding a hefty dose of strategy.

Just like classic solitaire, each card game tasks you with stacking, rearranging, and sorting cards in some way. However, the particulars change radically from game to game, with differing initial setups, deck compositions, abilities, and win conditions between the 30 variants.

• Some hew fairly close to the rules of classic solitaire, such as Megataire (solitaire but bigger) and Uneven Solitaire (solitaire with different placement and movement rules).
• Some merge classic solitaire with other games, such as Royal Flush Solitaire (solitaire combined with poker) or Solitairdle (solitaire combined with Wordle).
• Others add their own twists, such as a solitaire where you can take cards from the future, a solitaire played with only two types of cards, a solitaire where you can rip cards in half, and many more.

All the solitaires have a random setup, and it’s possible with most to reach an unwinnable state. Luckily the game has a dedicated undo feature for (nearly) every variant, allowing you to take back one or more ill-advised moves. The game also indicates the approximate difficulty level of each solitaire, on a scale of one to five stars, with one star solitaires being relatively chill, and higher difficulties requiring serious planning and strategy to beat.

A Solitaire Mystery has a simple but pleasant pixel art style, a contemplative soundtrack, and no story or non-solitaire elements at all. The game was first released on itch.io and was regularly improved on by Hempuli, leading eventually to the addition of many new variants and a rerelease on Steam in 2025.

This description was written by Asher Stone.