"Buy one OS and we will throw in a deck of cards."

Who can absolutely not like this game? For goodness sakes, it's Solitaire! Easy, and customizable! It even existed in Windows 3.1! A game that old and still played today is a game that's, umm, old and is still played today.

Let's dig into my opinions of the features...

Startup: Located in the Games folder in 3.1, Entertainment (usually) in 95-98, and Games in ME. One click would open a separate window on the desktop. The green presence can only mean one thing. A really bad wallpaper decor, or a game of Solitaire!

The Deck: Yes, all 52 playing cards are included in the game. Don't miss the 2 of diamonds, it'll be there. Some people may be disappointed by the lack of Joker and rules card, but who needs them anyway?

Not only that, but the non-playing sides of the deck can be customized. Up to 12 different designs, from the toy robot to a haunted house upon a mountain, fish to the beach. And guess what? Some of them are animated! The sleeve hiding the card, the happy face on the sun. Oh that is the best darn trick ever in a computer card game.

Undo?: Yes, did you screw up? Then undo that move. The feature is there. Now you can cheat just like you do in real life!

Options: Draw three draw one at a time? Score by standard or by Vegas? Would you like it timed? You can't get better than these options, folks. There's even a card outline that makes the cards all bright colored. It's like having a friend over your shoulder telling you how to play. That darned backseat driver!

Help: Yes, there's the instruction manual for ya. Only three pages, each teach you the object of the game and how to change the options. Perfect for toilet reading? Not really.

And of course: You can just as easily get out of the game by hitting Alt+F4.

The options, the features, the graphics. I'd HAVE to give this game a good score. Hey, and it doesn't take up much hard drive space!

Now, would I play this game in place of a real life deck of cards? Sure I would. You don't have to shuffle. You get scored. And you get that nifty card bouncing effect when you beat the game. Don't try it when you beat the game in real life, though. It's frustrating to pick up all of those dropped cards...

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/01, Updated 01/03/01