Game Review: Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

Playing something as simple as solitaire on a console might not be a very appealing prospect, but what if you throw in a bunch of cute anime girls too? Enter Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS, the follow-up to the similarly titled Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire. This sequel (?) features an all-new cast of anime waifus, and it's out now on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. We're going to be taking a look at the Switch version today, and basically take it easy with a few rounds of solitaire. This should be a pretty fun experience, so let's get right into it!

It probably comes as no surprise that Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS doesn't have anything resembling a story mode or even a plot. None of the girls even exist much beyond their illustrations. The only dialogue directed at the player comes in the form of random spoken lines, or through the initial tutorial. You're simply presented with ten anime girls, and tasked with playing solitaire... while they watch? I'm not really sure what's meant to be going on here, but I am sure that I'm over-thinking it. Also, there's technically eleven girls, but one of them only exists in the tutorial. Even though I didn't go into this game expecting much of a plot, I was slightly disappointed that there weren't any additional details about the girls themselves. I guess one can assume some bits of backstory for each of them by way of the stereotypes they represent, but there's nothing beyond that. Speaking of which, there are students, fashionable girls, business women, housewives, and more within the cast. A brief, admittedly pointless, bio for each would've gone a long way to give them some depth, and it wouldn't have required much effort on the part of the developer. I'm sure that I'm the only one who cares about such things though, so I guess I'll just move on to discussing the gameplay.

As the name implies, Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS is a solitaire game. While I'm not going to explain the rules of solitaire here (We all know them right?), I can say that you get the full solitaire experience. There are ten girls/locations to pick from, three difficulty settings for each, and you can play single or triple draw in any game. There are even some added skills/abilities thrown in to make things a bit more player-friendly. Shuffle takes all the unplayed cards, shuffles them, and then places them back into the unplayed positions. This is a good way to move cards that might be impossibly stuck behind others in the play field. Then there's reveal, which takes one of those stuck cards and puts it into play. This is the biggest gamble of all, as that card can make or break a stuck game. Lastly there's undo, which undoes your last move. I found myself using this most of all, even though it seems to be the simplest of them all. These three skills can be used a limited number of times in a single depending on the difficulty. Speaking of which, I'm not really convinced that game difficulty changes much besides the number of uses you get in each of the skills. I played a game on each difficulty for each girl in order to unlock the checkmarks on the character select screen, and there never felt like there was a lot of difference between Easy and Hard. Then again, I only really lost in Hard, but it still didn't feel like that was because of a bad shuffle. Anyway, this is solitaire so maybe it's just that the game itself isn't all that difficult to begin with.

Even though I enjoy solitaire, I have to say that it didn't take all that long for this game to become rather stale. I guess that's not surprising, especially since I played it in a 3-4 hour marathon to clear everything, and get some high scores. You can unlock character models, backgrounds, and costumes to use in the gallery and diorama modes, but that's pretty much the only thing to do besides play solitaire. Also, if you're not a checkmark completionist like me, you only need to beat a single game with each girl on Hard difficulty to unlock everything the game has to offer. The aforementioned gallery diorama modes are nice distractions, but they're not going to hold one's attention nearly as long as the game itself. The diorama mode is particularly clunky to use, and features some wonky controls. Speaking of controls, they're probably the only aspect of the game I didn't like very much. Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS has a combo system where you get a bonus if you're able to continue playing cards quickly. This is actually pretty easy to pull off for the most part, but there were several times where I lost a combo simply because I couldn't select the card I wanted fast. In order to select cards you use a pointer that you control with the analog stick, and that can be the very definition of imprecise at times. I understand why the controls couldn't just be done with just the D-pad, but I would've appreciated some other control options being implemented. Once again, the stakes aren't very high here and I'm probably the only one who would complain about such things.

Let's face it, we're all looking at this game for the girls right? Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS features eleven girls, with all of them being... well-endowed. Besides clothing and hair color, there isn't a whole lot of variety between them. They also serve no other function besides a visual one. There's nothing special about the games you play with each of them, and they don't represent an additional scaling of difficulty. They are all well-designed, and the backgrounds that come with each of them are great too. I especially appreciated the latter, as seeing a convenience store, a casino, a clothing store, a library, and more was a nice touch. I can definitely say that the locations have variety even if the characters themselves don't. Each girl also has a special outfit you unlock once you beat a game on Hard. I'm pretty sure these outfits are meant to be more risqué than their normal ones, but I think only about half the characters actually pull that off. Some of the unlockable outfits are bathing suits, some are evening gowns, but others are just additional school uniforms or a different business suit. It makes for an odd hidden collection, even though I do appreciate the additional variety they offer. With all that in mind, even though you obviously won't be getting any hardcore content here, it does give a lot of ecchi visuals for those looking for that kind of thing.

The only aspect of Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS that I think falters a bit is its sound design. Repetition is the name of the game here, and you'll be hearing just about every piece of in-game audio countless times during any gameplay session. I'm not sure how many music tracks are in this game, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it just has a single one. Most of the time I didn't notice the game's music, but there were certain melodies and intense sections that would play and I'd stop and think: "this again?!" Thankfully the music isn't particularly bad or anything, just very repetitive. The same can be said about the game's voice acting, which comes in the form of each girl saying various one-lines as you advance the game. These lines are all spoken in Japanese, and are probably the most ecchi thing about the game overall. Be sure to put the volume down if you're playing in public, as there will be lots of moaning and suggestive bits of dialogue throughout each and every game. While the sound design isn't the worst thing I've ever heard, it did sometimes bring down an otherwise completely enjoyable experience, even if just a little.

At its heart, Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS is simply a solitaire game with some anime waifus thrown in for visual appeal. The amount of gameplay you get out of a game like this largely depends on how much you care for either of those two aspects. I for one was interested in the solitaire part of the experience, and played dozens of games for this review. I became somewhat obsessed with placing into the Top 100 on the leaderboards, and fell just short of doing so on the Normal difficulty setting. Beyond competing in scores, and unlocking all the content for the gallery, there isn't much to do besides playing lots of solitaire. Even then, most players will be able to unlock everything in-game in well under an hour. The game's saving grace definitely has to be its price, as it's currently available for a rather affordable $5.99. I believe it goes on sale often too, so picking it up doesn't even need to be a big commitment in terms of time or money.

Even though I have to admit that the game's ecchi content may put off some players, I must say that I enjoyed Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS far more than I thought I would. It's provides a solid version of solitaire, and the addition of in-game skills was a nice touch. The leaderboards and unlockables also give players something to work towards. If you don't mind the visuals, and are looking for a console version of solitaire, consider getting this one. If you do end up picking it up, maybe try competing with me on the leaderboards. I'll most likely be in the Top 100 soon! See you in the next one!

Check Out Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire PLUS on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/pretty-girls-klondike-solitaire-plus-switch/

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Story: N/A
Gameplay: A
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: B
Value: A

Overall: A-

Pros:
+ It's a competent solitaire game for those looking for one.
+ The redo, shuffle, and reveal mechanics shake up gameplay and mean fewer games end in losses.
+ Three difficulty settings, and both single and triple draw options, give a surprising amount of variety.
+ The ecchi elements, as well as the unlockable diorama and gallery modes, are a nice touch for those looking for such content.
+ There are multiple leaderboards for dedicated players to work towards.

+/- Even though it's no fault of this game in particular, reaching a stalemate in a solitaire still sucks.

Cons:
- This is just solitaire, no more no less.
- It doesn't take long to see and unlock everything the game has to offer.
- Having to select cards using the analog stick feels very imprecise at times.
- The game only features a couple music tracks, and they can become tiresome quickly.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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Getting there!