Solstis Board Game Review
Solstis was a game I was really interested in just based on the look of the box. It looks like a cozy and fun 2-player game that is both relaxing and competitive. I think that probably accurately reflects the intent of the game, but I was personally left unsure of how I felt after about a half dozen plays.
Don’t get me wrong, the concept here is actually pretty interesting. Players are drafting tiles from a central display by “capturing” tiles based on numbers or colours. To select a tile from the central display, players will play one from their hand that either matches the number of a tile in the central area, or matches the background colour of a tile in the central area. If you cannot make a match, the tile you placed from your hand to “capture” a tile in the middle is instead placed into your panorama.
Ah yes, what you are actually doing. All of the tiles in Solstis create a really beautiful panorama made up of rows of tiles. Each tile has two bits of information on it, a chart along the left side of the tile that indicates the row, and a number at the bottom which indicates the position within that row. Players are attempting to draft tiles and recreate the largest possible section of that panorama in front of themselves; the thing to remember, however, is that there are only enough TOTAL titles to create one, complete panorama.
Ultimately, we have seen Solstis turn into a bit of a take-that experience, completely removing the coziness and relaxing nature of the experience and instead replacing it with a cut-throat, marriage ending experience – I only jest, of course.
See, as you draft tiles and try to complete the largest section of the panorama, your opponent is most likely looking closely at what you are doing. Should the chance arise, don’t expect them to play nice; in fact, I’d encourage players to always play to win. So if that means taking a tile you know your opponent desperately needs, you better do it before it’s too late. Some are really going to enjoy that experience, and will relish the opportunity to get back at their opponent at the next opportune moment; others are going to hate that experience. Personally, I haven’t figured out where I fall on that spectrum, at least not yet.
The concepts here work really well, and the simplicity of the game means it’s actually an easy thing to table and play. I also think the design team thought through the cut throat opportunities by introducing wild rainbow tiles that can replace something you are missing. Those are not easily obtained, though, so don’t get into a situation where you need more than a few of them. What I like about these rainbow tiles, which tips the scales back towards relaxation for me, is that if you find the tile that you needed but used a rainbow tile for, you can move that rainbow tile to a new spot in your panorama. That’s a pretty clever design, if you ask me.
To help even more, you might earn spirit tiles throughout the game by creating 2×2 grids of tiles. Once you do, you can either select a face-up tile from the table, or draw two from the facedown stack, choosing one, and placing the other faceup. These tiles provide a number of benefits, and when used correctly, can create great instant opportunities or end game scoring options.
I think there is a really good game here, and for that reason this isn’t one likely to leave my collection anytime soon. I have games of Solstis that I really enjoy, and games that feel like a slog; thankfully, I enjoy this experience more than I dislike it. That said, I will note here that there are many in my gaming group who absolutely love this game, so I think it comes down to personal preference. If you have no issues with dealing major blows directly to your opponent all in the name of winning, then this is a fantastic experience that you’ll thoroughly enjoy. If you have a hard time being really “mean” in 2-player experiences, this might be on you want to pass on as I think to fully appreciate the experience, you need to be mean more than a few times.
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Article By Adam Roffel
