The Solitaire Conspiracy: A Mike Bithell Short Developed by Bithell Games Published by Ant Workshop Played on Nintendo Switch
The Skinny: A tense, techno-espionage thrill built from a deck of cards. Mike Bithell has some brilliant thoughts on game design and post/transhumanism. He’s also known for his tight, compact game design, compressing his point-of-view into tiny games. He made his mark with indie storytelling platformer Thomas Was Alone and cemented it with the robot detective game Subsurface Circular. His recent project The Solitaire Conspiracy mixes intense spy thriller action with an unlikely gameplay mechanic: a game of solitaire. Players fill the shoes of Spymaster, an analyst candidate tapped to save a shadowy spy network when a supervillain locks them out of their coordination software, C.A.R.D.S. Working with the last remaining analyst, it’s your job to coordinate scattered spy crews and get everything up and running, but in the world of spycraft, nobody can be trusted. As you play through missions and rank up, you gain access to colorful crews of operatives, each with their own suit and special abilities. Face cards represent not only the faction but individual members of the team, and placing active cards uses their team power. This can be things like shuffling a stack or redistributing a suit or moving a card of a specific value or suit around. They are powerful twists on the game, but in fitting the theme, they can hinder you as much as help. The UX is where the game really shines, with the board appearing as a virtual space lit in the slick blacks and scintillating neon of a cyberpunk wonderland. The design made it a bit difficult to read at times, especially playing in handheld mode on the Switch. Fortunately, there is a zoom feature that makes everything a bit bigger and easier to see. The cool sci-fi colors, along with the pounding, synth-filled soundtrack, lends a tension to the game that traditional solitaire lacks. Missions add both flavor and drama to the gameplay. I frequently found myself playing just one more mission to reach the next rank and advance the story, or get the report on a thrilling mission. The Solitaire Conspiracy is a masterclass in design and proves that engaging storytelling and slick aesthetics can spice up even the most mundane gameplay mechanics. Like most Bithell games, there are only a few hours of the main story here, but they’re a thrill ride. The Solitaire Conspiracy is available for download from Steam, the Nintendo eShop, and the Xbox game store.
In ancient times, we believed that the gods played games with the lives of mortals, pitting them against one another in wars for their amusement. They granted boons and bestowed curses. These days, we say that ‘God does not play dice with the universe.’ We take those stories to just be artistic license, or an attempt by primitive people to explain natural phenomena. So the giant cubes we found beneath the ruins were something of a mystery. They were too heavy to move, their markings couldn’t be deciphered, and their composition defied analysis. But somehow, I wanted to roll them.
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In this episode: Domon immediately forgets that he is injured, Rain also can heal Domon’s clothes, and George delivers a sinister ‘Bounour!’ Pllus, the Shuffle Alliance believes in the heart of the cards, and the nostalgia pilots look forward to a multi-episode training montage!
We built a new world on top of the ruins of the old. We raised vertical farms on the roofs of abandoned buildings and strung train lines between them like fairy lights. We fled the rising water and the poisonous smog to a place where the air was still fresh and cool. We still tell stories of the days when Humanity walked on the ground. But we gradually forgot which ones were true. When we need to repair the foundations, we draw lots and put on protective gear. We descend fearfully into the fog, knowing that here there be dragons.
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“Don’t worry, it’ll be an easy job,” the rogue said as we poured over the map of the abandoned temple. “If it’s so easy, what makes you think any treasure’s left?” I asked. “Well, there is a guardian. A giant serpent.” I pushed away from the table. He grabbed my arm. “No, wait. I scouted out the site. The guardian’s gotten too big. It can’t navigate the temple corridors. If we go in and out the back, it won’t be able to reach us.” It was a great plan, right up until the monster burst through the crumbling stone walls.
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The messengers rode into the free city bearing tidings of war. They sneered at the delicate architecture and laughed at the artists capturing the natural beauty of the waterfall at the city’s heart. They told each other this was not a city built for war and celebrated an easy conquest. The messengers expected the city’s leaders to cry and beg for mercy. They expected their warirors to panic until it was too late. Instead, they were given a day to respect the city’s neutrality and move along. Then the city fell on their master’s army like a wall of water.
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It was the day they changed the clocks. Men from the Ministry marched up and down the streets in their dark suits. They took down the old faces and replaced them with new ones that had strange symbols and hands that moved to unfamiliar rhythms. Later, there would be an announcement explaining to read the new timepieces, but it was impossible to say when. Most people stayed inside and hidden on Clockchanging Day, but he liked to watch them work. He was fascinated by the new puzzle each change brought. He wondered who in the Ministry got to design them.
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She has never understood the inherent contradiction in Necromancy. Beings are made up of two parts. The soul is sacred, immortal, and immutable. It may be stolen, diverted, or trapped, but never destroyed. They are next to the gods. The body is gross matter. It rots and decays. It can be shaped and changed. It isn’t sacred at all. Once a being dies, it is merely a shell. And yet, whenever anyone happens upon her in a field of chattering skulls, they always get upset and start yelling at her. It’s downright hypocritical, she thinks as the paladins charge in.
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After the prince died, his betrothed took over the care and management of his prized pack of hunting hounds. Hunting was not a ladylike sport, but it was allowed, considering their mutual grief. They took to her immediately, and she led them on long walks alone through the woods and fields of the kingdom. She was fond of saying that they carried her beloved’s spirit and that he still looked after her through them. In truth, she found that dogs, like princes, could be easily managed with the right persuasion, even when a mad one needed to be put down.
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He was made to withstand interrogation, but they still tested him to his limits. The enemy captured him and took his weapons, armor, and even his clothes. They tried to copy his files and got malware. They isolated him, tried to break him like a human. They took his epidermal layer and called him just a machine. They tried to reprogram him but it didn’t take. This was what he was made for. Finally, he was brought before the Minister of Rendition, who demanded to know the location of the androids’ base. They took his weapons but missed the bomb.
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Hugh J. O'Donnell 