Game Review: Faerie Solitaire

I’m a bit late posting this because every time I went to get another screenshot or check a fact, I got sucked into playing a few hands of Faerie Solitaire.

Faerie Solitaire from SubSoap is a new casual game, mixing a cute fantasy story with basic solitaire. I’ve said before that the best games have simple rules, with many variations and strategies. In Faerie Solitaire, you are given a foundation card, and you can either play one card higher or one card lower than the foundation card. A played card becomes the new foundation card, and you do it again. You could easily teach a child to look for a number one higher or one lower than the selected card.

As you play more hands, different hands have a different card layout, including special layouts with unavailable  cards in thorn patches or ice. Special cards and events pop us randomly as well, offering bonuses and minigames. The random element made the solid solitaire game that much more addictive for me.

Because the hidden object games have a finite pool of backgrounds and items, it soon became more of a memory game than a hidden objects game. Which is great because I think hidden objects are overdone, they start to feel like filler because they’re the default of the casual games genre.

I sometimes find it annoying when there’s a lot of game to be unlocked. In some cases, it seems like a tacit aknowledgement from the developers that some parts of the game are good and some parts are lame, and to make the game longer, you’ve got to grind through the lame to get to the good bits. When I reviewed GardenParty World, I talked about how  not needing a game for the system of working at a dull minigame to earn spending points. GardenParty World is hardly the only offender here, I was also frustrated by unlocking the chance to play indentical levels in Fashion Solitaire. But Faerie Solitaire had a system of power-ups and unlockable features that kept me excited about the next add-on without leaving me feeling like the developers had greyed out most of the game.

In their Faerie Solitaire press release, Subsoap promised strong production values. They delivered, there are no awkward cutscenes or grammatically painful instructions, the usual hallmarks of an indie studio. But what really ties it together is the movie-score music.

This is not an all-encompassing story game but I don’t think it’s meant to be. You won’t be daydreaming at work, thinking about getting home to play Faerie Solitaire.  This is a quality solitaire game that had my boyfriend looking over my shoulder. Drawing  in other people to kibbutz  is a mark of a great solitaire game!

Popularity: 16% [?]

New BusyBee Game Coming to GardenPartyWorld

The team at Garden Party World just introduced a new minigame. I’ve already talked about how cute and kid-friendly GardenPartyWorld is, so I’ll just pass along the news about the new game.

For those accustomed to GardenParty and its features, they will be fully aware of the bee suit and its uses. For those not so familiar, it allows Gardeners to fly both for fun and to collect items high up in the sky. What was lacking, was an activity, beyond those mentioned, which would allow the bee suit to play an integral part in a game… that was until now! From 30^th January 2009, GardenParty is pleased to announce the latest addition to the fun, safe virtual world for kids, a new multi-player bee game – BusyBee.

The much loved bee suit now has an even greater purpose within the world. The new game involves buzzing bees working together to collect the nectar for their sleeping Queen Bee, if they satisfy her need for honey, they will be rewarded, however, disappoint the Queen Bee, the quest must continue! All-in-all, this new multiplayer game encompasses fun, community and team work altogether and will have any Gardener laughing with excitement.

This latest news comes as a welcomed addition to the ever expanding world which has seen children from all over the world take part and “Grow their own fun” whilst thoroughly enjoying their experience.

To celebrate the new arrival, GardenParty will be hosting the launch of BusyBee with a buzzing party which will be at take place on the 30^th January from 4pm (UK time), 11am (EST) and 8am (PCT).

GardenParty is a free to play MMO for children. Don’t worry, you can tell everyone you’re just checking it out for your little niece or nephew.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Christmas In Garden Party World

I talked about the new kidsafe multiplayer Garden Party Game from Asylum Games a few months back on my own blog. They’re running Christmas events right now, so this is an awesome time to check out Garden Party World or log in again to see what’s different:

GardenParty, the safe and fun online world for kids aged 5-12 years old, is a world where they can not only take part in an array of collaborative and exciting activities, it has also bridged that gap to connect cousins, grandchildren, friends and many more together over the holiday season which can be an especially important time of year. GardenParty allows them to play, interact and work in teams together, along with the all important moderated chat feature.

To celebrate the holiday season, from the 9^th of December 2008, GardenParty was transformed into a magical winter wonderland. Of course, the usual array of surprises and rewards (with a festive theme) will be in store for the children along with holiday themed activities. Gardeners can expect many exciting updates at various points in the lead up to Christmas… but when they can be expected is to remain a mystery!

Children can sign up for free and join in the holiday fun of GardenParty at: www.gardenpartyworld.com

Popularity: 6% [?]