The Soloist
SPACE SOLITAIRE
We take a moment to explore the meditative powers of space warfare in Star Realms
Words by Matthew Vernall
Ithink all of us have probably had the same first solo game experience. We’ve all been stuck inside on a rainy day or cooped up on a long lonely journey, where you’ve reached for your trusty standard 52-card deck for that quick game of card stacking called Solitaire.
It’s been a favourite of bored office workers for decades and continues to be the most played videogame on PC, with millions of games thought to be started every hour around the world. There’s something relaxing about it, bringing order to chaos and creating patterned lines only to sort them into piles of matching suits, keeping yourself concentrating just enough to be engaged without being too taxing.
It was whilst I was commanding my fleet of cardboard space ships in Star Realms that I was reminded of the way solo games don’t need to be taxing to entertain, but can be therapeutic through literally letting us go through the motions, diversion by means of mixing challenging gameplay with relaxing, repetitive movements.