Over the past year, many people have asked what I was working on after releasing Goblin and Coins II: The Lost Recipes. The honest answer is: a little bit of everything.
While I was relatively quiet publicly, I spent a lot of time after work experimenting with different game ideas, prototypes, and small projects. Some of them were abandoned quickly. Some of them turned out to be too ambitious for a solo developer. A few were promising, but never quite came together.
Eventually, one of those small prototypes kept pulling me back: a cozy fantasy-themed solitaire game.
Once my workload outside game development became lighter, I decided to fully commit to finishing it. Over the last few weeks, I spent long days polishing features, fixing bugs, improving the user experience, creating content, preparing the Steam page, and making sure the game was ready for release.
The result is Goblin Solitaire, a classic Klondike solitaire game wrapped in a charming goblin-themed fantasy world.
What is Goblin Solitaire?
Goblin Solitaire is built around the classic Klondike solitaire rules that many players already know and love.
The goal wasn't to reinvent solitaire, but to create a relaxing and polished version of it with a cozy fantasy atmosphere and modern quality-of-life features.
The game includes:
Classic Klondike Solitaire gameplay
Draw One and Draw Three modes
Multiple difficulty options
Achievements
Detailed statistics tracking
Win streak tracking
Card and background customization
Save and continue functionality
Auto-complete for solved games
Relaxing fantasy-inspired music
Why Solitaire?
After working on larger projects, I wanted to create something with a much smaller scope that I could finish, polish, and release without spending years in development.
Solitaire felt like a perfect fit.
It allowed me to focus on creating a comfortable experience, refining small details, improving usability, and building something complete from start to finish.
About the Art
As a solo developer, I simply do not have the budget to hire a full-time artist for every project.
For Goblin Solitaire, I used AI-assisted tools to help create many of the fantasy background illustrations while focusing my development time on gameplay systems, features, testing, polish, localization, achievements, and overall presentation.
I know opinions on AI-generated artwork vary, but it allowed me to create the fantasy atmosphere I envisioned while keeping the project within the limits of what a solo developer can realistically accomplish.
The Goblins Continue
A few people have asked why everything I make seems to involve goblins.
At this point, I honestly think they've become my unofficial mascot.
Goblin and Coins II: The Lost Recipes featured goblins. Goblin Solitaire features goblins. Somehow every project eventually ends up with goblins sneaking into it.
I've stopped fighting it.
Release Information
Goblin Solitaire launches on July 10 on Steam.
Steam Store Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4854700/Goblin_Solitaire/
Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oMmPq-fPVk
Press Kit:
https://www.indiedb.com/games/goblin-solitaire/presskit
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback, tested early builds, reported bugs, commented on screenshots, watched the trailer, and supported my projects over the years.
I hope you'll enjoy spending some time in this small goblin world.