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Windows Phone 7 review: Game Chest: Solitaire
Solitaire should be -- almost by definition -- a simple game. Having been pre-installed in generations of Windows PCs, it's a familiar card game, one of the earliest ways of killing time in the digital workplace. Game Chest: Solitaire doesn't come for free on Windows Phone, but it also isn't your dad's Solitaire. The $3 asking price seems fair for a package that not only includes the original card game, but multiple variations of it. There are three versions of the game to play: Tri-Peaks, Spider and classic Klondike. The goal of Tri-Peaks is to move all cards from the table to the discard pile. Cards are arranged in three pyramids, and you can select ascending or descending cards of any suit color. The goal of Spider is to arrange all the cards on the table into stacks of the same suit from King to Ace in descending order, regardless of suit. While it's nice to have so many variations of the same game, it's too bad the game offers no tutorial to teach you how to play the game at all. In fact, putting a spin on such a familiar game can be downright disorienting. The ugly presentation really brings down the experience as well, with a menu system that just doesn't work very well. The long load times for what is, really, a simple card game is a bit much, as well. See also: Windows Phone 7 launch games reviews hub This review is based on a retail Samsung Focus provided by Microsoft and AT&T.
