Freecell

"Solitaire is better for your time, and it is free too!"

Free Cell is basically Solitaire with a twist. Your goal is still to get all of the cards on top of their suite's ace in order. But, now all of your cards are face up, and you get four places in the upper left hand corner to place and remove cards at your leisure.

GAMEPLAY--6
As I said before, your goal is to get your cards stacked in order in the upper right corner, in order by number, and in their suites. There are not many options in Free Cell. The three in the version that I player were Quick Play (with no animation), telling the game to tell you when you complete an illegal move, and being able to double click your cards to the upper left hand corner, which is called the 'Free Cell.'

GRAPHICS--7
The cards are clear, and easy to see. The green background makes it very easy to see the cards. The cards can get sort of hard to see in the stacks, not because there are not hard to see, but because there are so many numbers, your eyes can mix them together.

MUSIC--N/A
SOUND--N/A
There is no music or sound in this game either. The clicking of your mouse is all that you will hear. This enables you to play Free Cell while you are supposed to be doing your taxes. Not that I condone that at all!

CONTROL--7
Nothing is difficult to control. You can double click to move your cards to the Free Cell. You can click and drag your cards to where you want, and the game will automatically move your cards when they can go into the stacks of suites. It will not be too hard to control, unless you have a trackball problem in your mouse.

FUN--5
This game is not nearly as fun as Solitaire. Solitaire is not as confusing, and there are never cards in a row that are not in the correct order. In Free Cell, usually there are your stack of cards and then some more behind them, and sometimes the card that is the same color as the card that starts your stack, can be behind it, and that is one of the most confusing things ever.

REPLAY VALUE--MEDIUM
This game can hook you after a while, but eventually you will get bored and leave it alone for quite a few days. You will still play this game occasionally for as long as you have it though.

CHALLENGE--HIGH
This game is very challenging. You have to know which cards, when to, and what the consequences will be of moving cards to the Free Cell. You need to decipher which cards are where, and figure out ways to get them out. Solitaire is less challenging.

CLOSING STATEMENT
If you have the choice play Solitaire. Solitaire is more involved (the computer does not complete tasks for you) and less confusing.

OVERALL--6

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/00, Updated 07/18/01