Solis Review
Simple puzzles won’t deter anyone from experiencing this short, thoughtful story about the proper use of technology.
Billie standing in the town of Solis with the sun shining on her. Solis Bram Boomgaardt / Gibberish Studios 2026
Bram Boomgaardt’s adventure game Solis is published through his company, Gibberish Studios. Playing Solis is easy for adventurers of any skill level. The titular town, Solis, is built with colorful graphics and atmospheric music. Solis tells an intriguing story which is relevant to today’s headlines, the pros and cons of technology. Solis is a short game that experienced adventurers may find too easy, but the interesting story makes it worth playing.
Solis is a side-scrolling game that adventurers control entirely with their keyboard or a game controller .I played with a keyboard. The game provides a short description of how to control it when adventurers activate it. The arrow keys (A, S, W and D) move the character. It's necessary to move the character left or right to encounter hotspots. When the character is close enough a symbol appears above the hotspot. That symbol dictates the nature of the interaction. For example, if an eye appears the adventurer should look at the hotspot. Pressing Spacebar, or I, or Enter causes the appropriate interaction with the hotspot. In the example of an eye, a picture and description will appear. If the hotspot is a character, a talking balloon appears over the character’s head. Once it appears, pressing one of the three interact buttons activates a passive conversation. Adventurers cannot choose topics, but they do learn more about Billie’s goals.
When it’s time to take action the game displays choices on the center of the screen. Once adventurers select a choice, its results are told through text. There is no inventory. When gathering and using items is possible, it will be one of the choices the game presents.
The game automatically saves progress automatically. Solis is about two and a half hours long according to the developer. The story is short enough that it is easy to remember where adventurers left off after a break or even play in one sitting. Even though the story is short the surprising ending does make one think and the relevant subject makes it thought provoking and enjoyable to play.
Player-character Billie works in the marketing department at Elixir, a tech company. She arrives in the town of Solis to attend the company party. The company is about to unveil a technology that will make them famous ... or are they?
As Billie travels through the town of Solis, great graphics bring it to life during the day and the night. During the day everything seems bright and happy. Nocturnally the colorful graphics make the night cheery. The silvery white light of the moon shares the same bright smile as the sun. My favorite location is the mansion on High Street. There are many different characters for Billie to meet. However, in an ingenious twist, the most important character, Jacob, isn’t at the party. He’s Billie’s boss. She spends the game trying to find him and when she succeeds, the interaction isn’t what she expects.
Bilie entering a mansion in the Solis High District in the evening. Solis Bram Boomgaardt / Gibberish Studios 2026.
Billie walking by a crane in the Solis business district during the day. Solis Bram Boomgaardt / Gibberish Studios 2026,
The music is good. It has a soft slightly urgent tone that reinforces Billie’s need to find Jacob.
The puzzles Billie encounters while looking for Jacob are, perhaps, too easy for experienced adventurers. The solutions can be found just by a careful reading of the text. If Billie is missing something important to the solution, adventurers will be warned when they command her to leave the area. The hardest puzzle is gaining access to the Elixir computer. All adventurers have to do to succeed is talk to the correct person. Once Billie is at the computer, she must enter the password using the arrow keys and Enter/Return.
Billie tries to enter the computer password. Solis Bram Boomgaardt / Gibberish Studios 2026.
Solis
Solis is a short game about how people can be affected by the use, or, misuse of technology. The great graphics and music bring it to life. Although its puzzles aren’t challenging, they don’t detract from the story. Novice adventurers may find Solis a great entry point into adventure games. Solis is available on Steam. I enjoyed playing Solis. It made me think about the pros and cons of high technology.