Aloha Solitaire

If you're looking for a way to kill time and you're feeling a little tropic, check out Aloha Solitaire. Aloha Solitaire offers an interesting variation on the classic solitaire that we all know and love. The cards are arranged in a seemingly random pattern, with a few cards facing up. You must match face-up cards by number value to earn points and remove them from the game. Once the matched cards are gone, the cards underneath them will turn face up. Continue matching all of the cards until they are all gone. On the hard difficulty, you must clear all the stock cards as well.

Like the game it takes its name from, you have a pile of stock cards that you can use if need be. However, you get to see and use all of the cards that you draw (up to 4), unlike traditional solitaire, where you have to use the card on top first.

Utilizing these methods, your goal in each stage is to clear out all the cards in the least amount of time possible. However, what would a puzzle game be without bonuses and special features?

Bonus Cards

There are three types of bonus cards to be found in Aloha Solitaire. These can be uncovered from the stock pile. You can use the bonus on these cards by simply matching them with another card. The three types of bonus cards are:

• Reserve
• Reshuffle
• Turnover

Reserve cards add more reserve piles at the bottom of the screen, alongside your stock pile. The reserve piles house the cards that you reveal from the stock. You start off with two reserve piles (i.e. you can draw two cards) and can increase them up to four, allowing you to draw four cards at a time.

Reshuffle cards add up in the lower left corner of the screen for you to use whenever you would like. What it does is takes all of the cards currently in play and reshuffles them. This can be the key to winning a game as it could easily help you out of a tight spot. Also, if you have any reshuffles saved up when you lose, you're given the option to use it, as opposed to just restarting the level.

Turnover cards give you extra opportunities to go back through your stock once you've already revealed all of your cards. If you reach the end of the stock and you don't have any turnovers left, well then, you're out of luck!

On top of the various bonus cards that show up throughout the game, there is also a bonus meter to the left of the screen. This meter gets filled up as you make matches, and depletes when you don't. The higher this meter goes, the bigger the multiplier it gives you for making matches.

Day at the Beach

Aloha Solitaire doesn't have mind blowing graphics; but it doesn't need to. It's a card game. For what it is, however, the visuals are very easy on the eyes, and help achieve a relaxed, fun mood. The sound effects and ambience work amazingly well and really give off that beach vibe. All in all, Aloha Solitaire is an enjoyable way to waste the day away.