No matter how many great new games come out or how far into VR we can go, sometimes you want an old-fashioned card game, so when someone takes on of the old favourites and modernises it as Beep Yeah has with King’s Path Solitaire, it is also worth a look.
King’s Path Solitaire is a twist on if you can believe it, the classic Solitaire card game, or Patience depending on where you are from. The aim of each level is to create an unbroken path from the King card that includes all the other cards on the board, which can be anywhere from four to forty-two. There are multiple ways to do this, as you can connect the path to a lower-value card, one of the same value or the same suit, but you can't cross an existing path you have made. This gives you a huge range of moves and, it sounds simple, but when the board gets more and more full it becomes more complicated.
The main chunk of the game sits within its Adventure Mode, which has plenty of puzzles for you to solve. They start easy enough, giving you time to get to grips with the tactics, but soon increase in difficulty to provide a challenge. However, one thing to note is that the levels don’t get too hard, so even as you advance, you should be able to keep chugging along without struggling too much.
On top of this mode, you have access to regular new puzzles through the two Daily modes. The Daily Puzzle is, in effect, a level from Adventure Mode for you to beat, but with a leaderboard that keeps track of which player's finished it the quickest. They aren’t the bulkiest of challenges, I completed one in around a minute and a half, but it is still a nice little injection of fun.
For a bigger challenge, the Daily Deck is a fun mode to try out. As the name suggests, you have a 48-card deck that is completely covered besides the four kings where you start your attack from. As you pick your starting position, the cards around it get flipped over, and then when you take a step, it continues in this manner. As such, you have a limited field of vision, so can’t plan much. Combine this with the fact that you can’t cross a path you've made, it is easy to back yourself into a corner or block your path from the other Kings. You can backtrack, but you will lose points for it, so you need to balance potential points against the ones you will drop. It is the most fun mode in the game.
There is also a third mode you can play, the Free Mode Play. However, it's locked behind an in-game purchase. This will set you back £2.99 to unlock this mode alongside removing ads and providing access to more games in Adventure Mode. It is not much to pay, but it is far from mandatory. There is enough content to play through, especially with the two daily puzzles, so it is only worth it if you love the app or want to support the developer.
If you stick to the free version, we all know what will pop up from time to time. Advertisements. Every five or so levels, you will have to sit through one of these. On the plus side, they can be skipped after a few seconds meaning you won’t need to endure them for long. It is a nuisance, especially since you can bash through some of these levels quickly. But it's far from the worst example of advertising in a mobile game.
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