by H. Rox

Created on: January 09, 2008

I don't know why playing cards online can be so much more fun than playing with actual cards. But Fairway Solitaire from Big Fish Games is no exception, and I don't even like golf.

The goal of the game is to stack cards consecutively on a pile. They can be any suit and you can go up or down: three, four, three, two, etc. The unique part is the golf. You have an announcer, music and sound effects to entertain you throughout the game and different golf "courses" to try.

When you first download Fairway Solitaire, your screen is filled with cartoon pictures of "famous golfers" and trophies, and you hear music. You enter your name, pick your golfer's face, and begin to play.

First, you start in the Golf Academy, where they show you the rules, regarding clicking cards to stack them on the bottom. There's also a pile to deal from when you're out of choices. The object is to clear the cards stacked in various arrangements at the top of the screen.

Every time you click on a card, you hear a golf club hitting a ball, which is fun. You can also hear people chattering quietly on the golf course, and every now and then an announcer says something. On the Scottish course, you hear sheep.

Besides the cards that you would see in any deck, you also have feature cards. For example if you see a "6 Iron", you put it in your golf bag at the bottom of the screen and click on it when you need a 6.

There are cards for things like sand traps, and there's a Wild Shot card. When that comes up, it can be a good or bad. One time you'll get a trophy, another time, you've hit a spectator and he's sued for $250.

Speaking of dollars, you win "money" for each round. Sometimes it's not much, if you don't clear too many cards. Sometimes it's a lot. If you remove a string of several cards in a row, your prize money goes up. Once you "earn" enough, you can go to the Golf Shop to buy things like a shirt that gives you an extra mulligan, a do-over.

Overall, the sound effects, announcers and music are good. The graphics are colorful, clear and related to the golf theme, but very simple. They're not animated. While Fairway Solitaire is not terribly challenging, it's definitely entertaining and not your usual solitaire game. You don't even have to be into golf to enjoy it.

Overall, I rate it a 3/5. I was thinking of giving it a "fore!" for fun, but I probably wouldn't buy Fairway Golf because there are plenty of other games out there that capture my attention just as well, for free.

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