If you’ve been plugged into the indie scene, you have probably heard of Zachtronics before. A small studio created by one Zach Barth, Zachtronics has been responsible for a lot of unique games, usually puzzle focused, with Zach also having some infamy for making a game some believe lead to the inspiration for Minecraft with Infiniminer. Some of the studios’ most notable releases included SHENZHEN I/O, EXAPUNKS, and Eliza, the latter a bit of a formula breaker as a visual novel about mental health and technology based therapy.
The studio seems to be closed as of the release of Last Call BBS, Zach Barth interested in escaping a niche his studio grew into, though he did give us one last gift under the studio banner with The Zachtronics Solitaire Collection. This is as the title suggests, a collection of solitaire games Zach developed for seven of his previous games, along with one new unique and punishing game exclusive to this collection. Considering how fleshed out these games have been just by themselves, having them in a single place instead of an extra in a unrelated game is very welcome.
It’s a stylish package, with a clean selection menu for the games included, along with some text from Zach describing each game. Along with how they work, you get some thoughts on what lead to their development and why, what decisions were made and for what reasons. Every game is also unique to match with the game they came from.
Sawayama Solitaire fits well with Last Call BBS‘ focus on nostalgia giving a slight twist on the classic Klondike formula to make it a tad easier. Sigmar’s Garden using a Chinese Checkers style set up goes well with the alchemist themes of Opus Magnum (also the only non-card game in the collection). It’s also appreciated that the new game, Fortune’s Foundation, has a completely different style from the collection’s packaging or any previous Zachtronics game, using an Arabian Nights, tarot sort of vibe. This extends to every other included game, including one conceptualized as organizing the economy of a Communist nation, and one where cheating is a mechanic.
The sheer polish in presentation and UI, alongside the thought put into all the various styles of gameplay, makes this collection a real gem for solitaire lovers. It’s varied in play and atmosphere, a great series of games to break out when you need a little puzzle to keep your mind going. Hopefully whatever Zach Barth decides to do in the future, it’s as well put together as this collection and all his previous work. It’s just ten bucks, and well worth that humble price.
