27 people found this review helpful
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 101.7 hrs on record (51.2 hrs at review time)
Posted: 9 May, 2019 @ 2:16pm

A great solitaire game with winter scenes. With each level you gain gems if you can match away the cards on top of them, then use the gems to create palaces and castles one step at a time.

The gameplay is similar to Faerie Solitaire or Three Towers Solitiare. You match cards by clicking on another card that is numbered one higher or lower than the card in the draw pile. Aces match with Kings and Twos, so it's Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, etc. If you match more than 5 cards in one turn then you get a combo bonus. That increases the money you get. Money is used to buy permanent upgrades such as "more cards in the deck", "eliminate one random card", and enable you to gain Jokers and face cards that you keep on the side for when you need them. If you don't get all the gems on a level or don't get 3 stars, you can replay it as many times as you like. Sometimes you just get a bad random draw.

Unlike the usual style of match solitaire this game does not have 10 games in one set like Faerie Solitiare does. Instead each level is by itself and you go to a map after completing the level. The map shows all the levels in a winding path to the end. I found that I missed the "Faerie Solitiare" way of playing with 10 games in a set, because it would light a fire in me to try to get the highest score (3 stars or whatever) on each level so I would have a perfect board. This game I can play a few levels and quit. There's no fiery draw to keep playing and playing like I have experienced in other match solitaire games I've played. However this is just a minor quibble and did not prevent me from playing and finishing the game. It probably took about 13 hours to finish and get all achievements (easy achievements). The rest of my hours, currently 50, has been playing the bonus games.

There are 12 bonus games that unlock as you play on the map. They are variations of solitaire. They are: Emperor, Blockade, SImple Simon, Carre Napoleon, Brigade, Yukon, Triple Line, Streets Redeal, Twin Queens, The Red and the Black, Q. C. Patience, and Algerian Patience. My favorite is Blockade. I play a few games of that every day. I think this game is a deal because you really get 13 games in one, if you like solitaire!

They give you four different card backs to choose from and two different card fronts to choose from. Once you have completed a castle scene you can look at it again in the gallery and even set it as your desktop background (that's one of the achievements actually).

Music is various holiday songs that play several times then switch to a different one. Be prepared to learn to hate Aud Lang Syne! I don't know why that one bothers me the most but after awhile it grates on my nerves. Perhaps because it is louder than the rest of the songs. THe other songs are softly in the background.

I can't think of anything else, please let me know if you have any questions.
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2 Comments
Uuver 12 May, 2019 @ 7:08am 
Thank you for the review :D It was fun to read. The game doesn't seem that interesting for me though :D!
genkicoll 9 May, 2019 @ 2:56pm 
Nice, thanks, Froggy! :genki: Already on my wishlist~