Forbidden Solitaire Explained: Gambling meets old-school horror

If you were on the internet in the 2000s and early 2010s, you likely saw your fair share of video game-based horror stories or “creepy-pastas”. This trend spawned many iconic video game myths that are still the butt of jokes all these years later, such as “Ben drowned” in the Majora’s Mask story or the infamous entity that haunts Minecraft, “Herobrine”.   

Forbidden Solitaire seeks to recapture some of that intrigue while still offering a fairly entertaining experience. Let us pensively explore Forbidden Solitaire’s features, examine its creation and demo, and prepare you to conquer this cursed game.

What is Forbidden Solitaire?

Forbidden Solitaires gameplay consists of selecting cards depending on the previous card you have selected. Only cards of one value higher or lower can be selected, so careful planning and selection are required to maximise your score. If the last card you selected makes you unable to select another card, a deck of cards can be drawn from until a move is available to you.

To assist you in your endeavor through the dungeons, several upgrades can be purchased from the shop before a game. These upgrades take the form of gemstones embedded in your hand, playing into the body horror on display. Spells and refreshes can also be used to assist you in reaching higher scores more quickly. 

Where this game becomes interesting is when it breaks away from the gameplay and Forbidden Solitaire’s story takes the spotlight. The main conceit of this game is that you and your sister played it as children, but have since lost your original copy. While searching through a bargain bin at a local store, you come across an original copy of the game. You take it home, show it to your sister via direct messages, and put it on your computer. 

You come to realise quickly that this copy of the game is far from normal, housing a strange entity that haunts the very corridors you traverse through. While playing, you will receive messages from your sister about the game’s background, how you weren’t allowed to play it as children, and how, during its development, tragedy struck the team. This setup makes what would be a fairly boring experience of playing solitaire far more interesting, as, with every game, more of the mystery is unravelled. 

When is Forbidden Solitaire coming out?

Currently, all we know of Forbidden Solitaire’s release date is that it will drop sometime in early 2026. We do know the game has been in development for at least a year, as the first trailer was posted to YouTube in February of 2025. If you wish to get a better insight into the game, a demo was released on January 16, 2026.

The game’s demo has garnered significant attention, amassing over 10,000 downloads in a little under a week. This makes us hopeful that the full release is inbound imminently, driven by the success of the demo.  

Who’s developing Forbidden Solitaire?

There are two studios listed as Forbidden Solitaires developers on Steam: Grey Alien Games and Night Signal Entertainment. A quick search through both of their websites and Steam pages revealed, through their catalogue of games, exactly what each studio would have contributed to the game’s creation.

Grey Alien Games’ previous work consists mostly of simple puzzles and solitaire games. While none of them stand out as particularly subversive as Forbidden Solitaire, they’re all fairly inexpensive, and it appears the quality matches the price. Night Signal Entertainment is in a fairly similar situation, except mostly sticking to similarly low-budget horror games, a few of which are text-based.

These two studios, while separate, have some fairly approachable games, but nothing genre-defining. As such, we believe that Forbidden Solitaire will be both of these teams’ magnum opus. The simple gameplay and uncanny graphics lend themselves to the game’s retro-horror themes. Especially when considering that this game is not played as a game, but through the lens of a person playing it (confusing, we know), making this a truly unique horror experience.  

What genre is Forbidden Solitaire?

While there is a blend of genres on display, Forbidden Solitaire’s horror aspects are by far its strongest. While there is some fun to be had with the cards and magic systems, we were most captivated when the story was progressively revealed. Alongside this, keeping an eye out for hidden details that would help to explain what was occurring was a major source of enjoyment for us.

While Forbidden Solitaire’s roguelike elements with custom builds and progressive upgrades did pique our interest, we can assume this game is not a full-blown roguelike, as it appears to have a linear story. Alongside this, while cards are at the forefront of the gameplay, it could be defined as a puzzle game rather than a card game, as there are usually conditions that must be met, with cards used only as a vehicle to reach them. 

What will be in the Forbidden Solitaire full version?

It’s currently unclear what differences the Forbidden Solitaire demo will have compared to the full release. The demo took us only 30 minutes to complete, so a more drawn-out story mode with additional puzzles and mysteries is guaranteed. Players may also see additional upgrades added and perhaps a branching story; however, the latter is unlikely (and unnecessary).

Further expansion to Forbidden Solitaire’s gambling mechanics may also be introduced in later interactions in the game, not seen in the demo. It’s not hard to imagine a mechanic in later interactions that rewards players for taking risks with their moves, along the lines of a tradeoff for higher scores while sacrificing turns or health. To put a fine point on it, we are excited to see what these developers come up with to further improve gameplay. 

Overall, this game offers a fascinating insight into how best to utilise two teams’ strengths to create something great while operating under constraints. While Forbidden Solitaire’s price is currently not revealed, we doubt that it will be overly expensive, as previous titles from both teams mostly fall below the $15 mark. We will certainly keep up with updates on this game and can only hope no insidious entities invade our computers while doing so.