Well, yes, it’s solitaire. No real surprises there. And yes, you’re on a vacation, and if you always wanted to cruise the world on a luxury yacht, I guess that’s kinda dreamy. And though Dream Vacation Solitaire tries like many solitaire games to spice it up through the liberal application of game variants like yin-yang, Klondike, etc., at the end of the day, it’s still basically solitaire on very pretty background screens. But, truth be told, that’s exactly what a lot of people are looking for, and they will be very pleased with what the game has to offer.
In the “Vacation Mode” you travel the world visiting islands like Barbados and Bora Bora on your own luxury yacht. This takes you through a serioes of game variants, with ever-changing cards and backgrounds. For people looking to blow some time playing solitaire and like pleasant surprises, this is a great mode. It has enough variety to keep it interesting, but never enough new material that you need to really learn anything new. Solitaire lovers can relax and let the various game variants com to them one by one, and if they are ever confused, each game comes with a handy help mode and walkthrough – though you’ll likely never really need it. In the “Classic Mode” you have access to all of these games, and can choose exactly what game you want.
Additionally there are even “bonuses” you can earn that give you special abilities. In truth, these are essentially controls for what would be called “cheating” if you were at a card table with a deck of cards, but because you earned them, it somehow makes you feel OK about it. Which is good, because we all cheat at solitaire anyway. There is also a Hint button that blinks when there is a possible move that you could be missing. Sadly, this may make the game too easy, because only saints of self control can resist simply clicking through the deck until they see it blink, telling them there is a move available. Restraining yourself from clicking that button can be a real test of personal integrity, and I didn’t come out too well in it, so the guilt ruined the game for me more than once. But I’m weak that way – you may do better with that.
In all, it’s everything you want in a Solitaire game, and if you play a lot of windows solitaire, it may make a pleasant and welcome change. Solitaire lovers should definitely check it out.
Review by
Nick Kojima
;)
;)
;)
