Shadowhand

This was on my wishlist for a long time. Finally decided to give it a go, and I'm glad that I did. Didn't know I'd end up playing for more than 40 hours. Played it on Very Hard right from the get go, found the difficulty to be fair. Had to restart chapter only twice during the playthrough. RNG can spoil things every now and then, but there are ways to even things out in the form of spare cards, jokers, usable gear, active/passive abilities, etc. Didn't expect this game to be so addictive, pleasantly surprised. Now I want to check out Regency Solitaire and its upcoming sequel.

This is such a fun and unique game. A solitaire game with rpg elements, beautiful art, and a fun story. I wish the team had made a sequel or made more games like this, as it was tons of fun.

An enjoyable solitaire game, perfect in small doses.
This is an ideal "coffee break" solitaire card game with deceptively simple rules.
Long explanation: during play, on your turn, you draw a card, and can play any face-up card on the tableau which is adjacent to that number. The card played becomes your new "active" card and you can continue playing more cards as long as they are adjacent. Example, if you draw a 5, you might play a 4 or a 6 from the tableau. If you played a 6 then you might follow it with an exposed 5 or 7. Any time you play a card, any cards beneath that card are revealed. Keep playing cards until no more adjacent numbers are available, and then your turn is over. Some games have a simple time limit, i.e. clear the board in a set number of turns; others are combats against a computer-controlled opponent. In combat, streaks are used to "charge" your weapons; the longer the streak before ending a turn, the closer you are to attacking your enemy and the more damage your attacks will do. There are many modifying factors, such as which weapons you choose to use; and which clothing you wear to protect yourself from raw damage and status effects, and to boost other statistics, such as Luck which can let you play two cards at once, or Finesse which allows you to draw just the card you need on your turn. There are just enough statistics and status effects to encourage you to change your "build" based on your opponent's abilities, but these complicating factors are not overwhelming.
Short explanation: the game has a lot of numbers but it's all very straightforward, and fun to choose your equipment and face off against AI opponents.
The art is charming and the classical style music is dramatic and appropriate to the setting. The linear story provides a nice backdrop for the gameplay without being intrusive or wearing out its welcome.
$15 seems like a lot for this. It's been around a long time and is frequently on sale for much less. I got it as part of a Fanatical bundle without really noticing it, but when I tried it I found it's really good. It did take me 30+ hours to complete the game on normal difficulty and I imagine I will go back and retry some of the levels on harder difficulty.
Bottom line, if you're reading this you're curious about the game and I'm here to tell you what you see is what you get and the gameplay is solid. Check around to find a sale price that feels right to you and give it a try.

You know how sometimes people review a game and they say "Eh, get it on a sale, otherwise it's not worth it"?
Well, I got this on a sale because the dev pointed it out on Twitter and I thought: I loved Regency Solitaire, I'll give this a try I guess? And now I feel bad I got it on a sale because it's just SO GOOD.
I'll start by pointing out I'm not usually all that interested in solitaire games; I first got Regency Solitaire because I was having a really, really bad period after grieving and I'd read somewhere that the kind of rapid eye-movement you make with some games like Tetris can help overcome trauma. I didn't feel like playing Tetris and I figured I'd try this: I knew when playing Solitaire on Windows 98 I'd move my eyes around a lot and I thought it was worth a try.
I don't know if it's because of the eye movement or because of all of the aspects of these games that are made so well, but they do help my mood immensely. The art is always well fitting (here on Shadow Hand the choice of colours, with all the purples and blues and the rim light and moonlit scenes really work to give a great atmosphere), the music is unobtrusive but very thematically appropriate, the particle (I think?) effects make scoring points very satisfying, the animations for various special abilities (such as getting rid of cards at the beginning of a turn thanks to a specific ability) make the experience almost tactile.
I feel like when I was a child, where I'd get a game and I'd tell my mum "just another five minutes!" except now I am a mother and so I really need some shut eye, so I have to watch I don't go to sleep too late because I'm playing this. :)
I suppose the point is: get it! It's really good and satisfying! And you can play piecemeal here and there, if you have many obligations. I'm not anywhere near done with this game but I love it so much I highly doubt it I have to wait until I got to the ending to leave a review.

My Shadowhand Video Review is available here:
Has Shadowhand: RPG Card Game managed to deliver an addictive card battler with an RPG system that is interesting and complex enough that can glue you to the monitor for a long time? There are many pluses on the game - catching historical story full of twists, charming and charismatic main hero, easy to learn game mechanics, complex RPG systems providing many ways to customize your character, many ideas enhancing classic solitaire game concept, 3 levels of difficulty, user friendly interface, beautiful hand-drawn graphics, atmospheric orchestral music, distinctive sounds and addictiveness. One needs to search carefully for the minuses - maybe too static presentation with the absence of dubbing that would make the game atmosphere even better and the system of luck that goes too much against you sometimes.
Pros:
- story
- charismatic main hero
- easy to learn
- complex RPG systems
- refreshing new ideas
- 3 levels of difficulty
- user friendly interface
- graphics
- music
- sounds
- addictiveness
Cons:
- static presentation
- absence of dubbing
- luck goes too much against the player sometimes
I was thinking that Shadowhand: RPG Card Game will only be one of these shallow card battlers that bring only basic RPG elements mainly for the advertising purpose and the story that could be written by the 10 year old kid. I am glad that I was wrong this time as the game delivers exact opposite of this - it is easy to understand but there are complex RPG elements under its cover which along with refreshing ideas provide a lot of space for customization and various tactics and all of this is wrapped up into beautiful audiovisuals with catching story as the cherish on the top. The game glued me to the monitor for several hours which is another proof of its quality. With the good voice acting and less static presentation the game would be just perfect in its genre. Like this I have still enjoyed it a lot and thus I am giving Shadowhand Thumbs Up and VideoGaming Father’s Index 8+ out of 10 - recommended!

When I got this game I thought it was a different type of card RPG and when I realized it was solitaire...
I still gave it a chance and it's pretty fun?
The only problem is that the solitaire part clashes with the RPG part?
In this game your stats affect your card and one stat game make cards fall, which would seem nice, but most of the time it drops the card you needed for your combo.
Also, the hedge maze level felt unnecessary, but it's still pretty great?