Gamebox Solitaire Review

Introduction -

Gamebox Solitaire is a very addicting set of card games by PDAMill. It is more then just one game, in fact it is a collection of ten different solitaire card games. The ten games included are Blind Alleys, Canfield, East Haven, Fourteen Out, Freecell, Golf, Klondike, Pyramid, and Pyramid Golf.

Graphics –

The graphics in this game are excellent. I wasn’t expecting much from a card game, but the graphics were top notch. Most card games I’ve played in the past use the same simple card graphics from the Solitaire game that came with Windows. But not Gamebox Solitaire. The cards here resemble real cards, the backgrounds show tables. But best of all are the animations. When dragging cards across the screen, they glide around, sway back and forth. It’s actually quite fun to watch. My first time playing I sat there for several minutes dragging cards to watch the animations. There are also quite nice animations when you win, but I’ll leave it up to you to find out about them. The game was defiantly way above my expectations for graphics, and leaves all other card games I’ve played since looking rather plain.

Audio –

The sound in the game is decent, but nothing exciting. But this isn’t a major flaw, because there isn’t much sound needed for a card game, so I didn’t mind much. The background music was very well done, but I found it got distracting when trying to concentrate on the game, and turned it off after only several minutes. The sound effects are simple but effective. You can here the cards being shuffled and moved, and that’s about it.

Gameplay –

The best part of the gameplay in Gamebox Solitaire is the variety. Instead of one simple card game, you have ten different games to choose from. The one flaw here however is that the games are not quite as varied as I would have hoped. One of the games, Klondike is simply the normal Solitaire game with better graphics. Which was ok, but then 3 of the other games, Blind Alleys, Chinese, and East Haven, are simply variations of Klondike. There fun at first, but after playing a while all four of the Klondike variations start to feel the same. I would have preferred more variety of games instead of so many Klondike variations. My favorite of the games is Golf. There is also a harder variation, Pyramid Golf, combing Golf and Pyramid. You’ll be familiar with most of the games already, and if not easier to follow instructions are provided. One of my favorite features was that stats.

Replayability –

The amount of games here adds to the replayability, despite them being similar its better then just one game. The stats system also adds a lot to replayability. The game keeps track of how well you do for each game. This makes the game a lot more addicting, it makes you want to play more to get good scores here, something most card games are lacking.

Conclusion –

Overall Gamebox Solitaire is a very well done game. Do not avoid it just because it’s a card game. I know that was my first reaction before doing this review, but it proved me wrong. Despite being a collection of simple card games, it was one of the most entertaining games I’ve tried recently.

*Editors Note: Gamebox Solitaire 2 is now available with a completely different set of game types.

Pros –

• 10 different games
• Great graphics
• Repayable
• Cheap price

Cons –

• Some of the games are a bit to similar
• Nothing really new or original

Rating – 9 / 10

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