Astraware Solitaire Reviewed

[Guest WoD]

[teaser]

Not wanting to leave us poor souls with nothing but Klondike on a long bus or train ride Astraware have brougt us a much more complete solitaire experience with the simply titled Astraware Solitaire. Far from the standard-issue Microsoft Solitaire that features a relatively inflexible game of klondike, Astraware Solitaire offers 12 complete and highly customisable game types. Deep breath; Klondike, Freecell, Spider, Calculation, Golf, Idiot's Delight, Canfield, Clock, Four Seasons, Yukon, Sultan's Harem and Pyramid.

Solitaire fans will be pleased to know that their favorite game can be tweaked to their liking, although the options vary from game to game with the classic Klondike being rife with customization options whilst games like golf have but a few. New players will be thankful for clear explanations of the rules, although animated examples of correct plays would not have gone amiss.[/teaser]

Astraware Solitaire boasts the sort of polish we've come to expect from astraware titles and is graphically superior to even the updated WM6 Solitaire. The game select screen boasts an animated carousel affair with information on how long a game takes to play, whether it's down to skill or luck and how difficult it is.

In the games themselves Card backs, card fronts, overall colour theme and background are all customisable with there even being unlockable card fronts and table backgrounds as an extra incentive; of course we wouldn't expect anything less from Astraware; part of their winning formula for new and old games alike involves a healthy dose of unlockables.

As if unlockable rewards is not enough Astraware have created the "trophy deck". The Trophy Deck offers no less than 42 achieveable trophy cards with criteria ranging from simply losing a game to hitting winning streaks, being persistent and others. If you're on a mission to unlock the whole trophy deck you'll find yourself coaxed into gametypes you might otherwise not try and perhaps have all the more fun for it. Those of you who still think Klondike is solitaire are in for a challenge.

Astraware Solitaire is a very sound and polished Solitaire title which both Solitaire fans and new players alike will enjoy. It's a bargain at only $19.95 (Apparently only £10 at time of writing), is available on PalmOS and Windows Mobile. I won't go into any more depth with this review because there's a demo version you can try for yourself!

-Phil