Solebon Solitaire - 50 Games 4+

This is the best Solitaire app that I’ve come across in the App Store! So much so, that I deleted all other solitaire apps from my phone almost immediately. The design is beautiful and I love how many options there are to customize your game to your liking. The classics are all here, but the real treat is that it’s one of the few apps out there that offers many different versions of my favorite pastime game. I’ve been enjoying learning some of the ones that I’ve never played before, but my only issue is that I’m not sure if the “auto hints” feature is working properly. I have it switched on but I never get them. I wish that there was an option for a hint button somewhere in the bottom panel or on the game table so that I could request a hint on demand to keep my game time low. Or, I noticed that on Klondike, there’s an option to set the time for how much time passes before a hint is shown. It would be cool if this was incorporated into all the games. I got stuck on a Yukon game and just quit because the auto hint didn’t show up and I just couldn’t figure it out. Other than that hiccup, it’s hands down my new favorite app!

I have been playing Smallware's Solavant Solitaire for years, it's a wonderful implementation of "hard" solitaire games, that emphasises clarity and smooth, graceful animation over flashy, distracting graphics or effects.

I'm delighted that their taste and style has transitioned so well to the iPhone's touch screen. In particular, the card faces are designed to be highly readable, and the animation effects are as smooth as anything I've seen on the iPhone.

These aspects of Solebon are not just style/taste decisions, that you may or may not like. On a screen as small as the iPhone's, it's very hard to display a full deck of cards (or two!) and have them be readable and manipulable with your finger. Solebon's graphics are lovely, but readable even when you have all the cards on-screen. And the animations help you see the effects your moves are having on the playfield. Clean, subtle, graceful, playable.

One hint to new players: You might think that you drag the cards with your finger tip, but that can be too hard to manage, you can't see the card your finger is on, and your hand obstructs half the screen. So instead, you first tap the card you want to move, and it (and any "attached" cards) will glow. Then touch the destination, and watch the whole stack move over. (Also, if your stacks get really deep, you can drag the playfield up and down to see what's below.) OK, enough raving, back to my game of Yukon!

I’ve given a review and five stars before, but I’ve been enjoying this app even more now that we are in the Covid isolation. I’ve had certain favorite ones that I would play all the time, but now I’m trying to make sure I learn each game. I’ve found some initially quite challenging, but I keep at it until I win at it. Then I keep playing it and improving my skill and move onto the next one. I’ve found some I just cannot win...yet...ha ha ha. But then I go back to others I thought were hard and “Ace” them. Different leveled games for everyone. Different ways to challenge yourself. My fun thing I do on the side. Once I gain a long win streak, I take that particular game to an actual deck of cards to really challenge myself. No “undo” button. Oh, and I love the sounds of the game. The only thing I don’t like is the weird formations of the cards after you win. I’d rather just an explosion of cards, confetti and balloons.