Solstice is an
isometric-perspective puzzle game in which the player controls the wizard Shadax, who must navigate 250 rooms within the fortress Kâstleröck and assemble the six pieces of the Staff of Demnos to defeat the baron Morbius and rescue the princess Eleanor. Shadax's basic abilities consist of jumping, and picking up and dropping objects. Early in the game, Shadax can obtain a pair of magic
elfin boots that augment his jumping height. He is additionally equipped with a few
beakers that can be used to store four different varieties of
potions. These potions can either grant temporary invincibility, destroy all moving objects in a room, freeze time, or make invisible objects visible. At the beginning of the game, the beakers hold two doses of a potion each, though refills can be obtained later on. Any number of potions can be cast simultaneously in a given room, but the spell(s) will only last as long as Shadax remains within that room. Any effects from the potion(s) will disappear when the player departs from the room. Many of the fortress's rooms feature hazards such as floors covered in spikes,
conveyor belts, vanishing bridges and tiles, and floating mines, and may also be inhabited by antagonistic creatures like
trolls, giant spiders and demons. The rooms often include movable blocks that can be found either lying on the floor or falling from above. These blocks can be used to move safely around the rooms and bypass enemies and hazards. Falling blocks can be frozen in mid-air with the time-freezing potion and be used as steps. There are also hovering
crystal balls that can be pushed through the air and ridden as transportation, but cannot be picked up and carried. In some rooms, bombs can be detonated to create an entrance to a previously blocked-off passageway, though the detonators are hidden within nearby rooms. Other rooms contain portals that provide the only access to certain rooms within the fortress. Some rooms can only be cleared or accessed after finding and using one of four hidden magic keys. Extra
lives can be obtained by collecting blue
pointed hats scattered throughout the fortress. Although the screen only registers ten lives at one time, the player can continue to accumulate more lives from that point. The player can also collect coins that allow them to return to a certain room when all lives are lost instead of having to restart the game from the beginning. At any point in the game, the player can access a map which chronicles every room that they have entered and indicates all possible exits. Some of these exits appear on the map, but will not appear in-game until a certain task is performed. Aside from the map, the player can view an inventory listing a percentage of the total number of rooms they have visited, as well as the total number of magic items they have found. ==Plot==