GameFreak's Soritia Horse blends solitaire with tiny horse racing

Pokemon developer GameFreak's latest creation, a solitaire and horse racing hybrid called Soritia Horse, will launch in Japan on the Nintendo 3DS eShop on July 31, 4Gamer reports.

According to the report, Soritia Horse is GameFreak's first self-published game. Gameplay is divided into two phases: the solitaire phase and control phase. The former utilizes the classic card game to improve players' bond with their horses and improve racing abilities, while in the latter players use the stylus on the 3DS' bottom screen to help horses navigate the racetrack.

Each race will switch back and forth between these two mechanics, and in the final section of each race horses can use items and power-ups collected along the way — along with a player-controlled whip — as speed boosters. Players can also create QR codes for the horses they create and share them.

GameFreak's previous non-Pokemon game was HarmoKnight, a music-based rhythm adventure that tasked players with saving a princess from a race of evil aliens. The title launched on the 3DS eShop in Sept. 2012 in Japan and this past March in North America and Europe.

Soritia Horse will be available for 500 yen when it launches next week. Polygon has reached out to Nintendo to ask if the game, like HarmoKnight, will be released in North America. We'll share more details as we have them.