‘Solitaire Quest’ Review: A Pretty Ace Card Game

Card lovers can now have fun cheating, without actually cheating, in Solitaire Quest (out now, free).

In case you’re new to solitaire, the game involves clearing several columns of covered cards on the “table” by arranging them in a numbered sequence, either ascending or descending. To facilitate this, you’ll have a deck of cards to draw from. Solitaire Quest offers 32 “expeditions” to different places in the world. With three levels of difficulty and three or more stages per expedition, you may never finish playing solitaire! In addition, the levels get harder as you progress. If you’re unfamiliar with the rules of the game, don’t worry. You’ll be given a rulebook that will highlight your possible moves in green, although to use this rulebook, you’ll have to first open a chest, which is placed randomly among the cards.

solitairequest1

Whenever you clear a level, you’ll earn gold, and also, possibly, diamonds. With both these in-game currencies, you can buy boosters, which, like the rulebook, will be stashed among the cards as chests. Gold buys single-use boosters, while those you buy with diamonds may be used again and again, from level to level. You’ll also have to buy slots to equip these booster chests, using increasing amounts of diamonds, but once unlocked, the slot remains yours.

Examples of boosters include slot machines that randomly change the rank of several face-up cards, an eyeglass that reveals closed cards, sharpshooter guns that destroy one or more covered cards, and others that give extra rations of cards. All these many boosters add fun to the otherwise classic card game.

Whether or not you buy diamonds with real money, all levels are available for you to unlock. Since this is an IAP game, however, it’s geared toward getting you to pay. As you proceed higher up in the expeditions, the chances of you running out of cards in your deck and failing to clear the cards on the game table increases. When this happens, you may pay a diamond for a pack of five more cards (which doesn’t guarantee completion either) or quit. Unfortunately, failing a stage will mean restarting the entire expedition.

Verdict

Solitaire Quest is a well-designed card game with great graphics and numerous boosters. If you’ve never played solitaire, this makes an excellent introduction to it. And if you already love solitaire, you might find some new fun with this, too. Since it’s free, you have nothing to lose.

Lots of boosters (cheats)
All levels available for free
Free players can earn some diamonds too
Failing a stage means restarting the entire expedition, although you can pay precious diamonds for extra cards
4.5
Excellent