SolFree and Solebon, solitaire games from Smallware

Smallware has done a good job with these games; this is a decent implementation with no glitches.

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I admit I have mixed feelings about writing this. Why bother reviewing a solitaire game? They're basic, mindless entertainment.

Yet, sometimes it's good to just go on autopilot and decompress. I get some of my best ideas after taking these kind of breaks.

With the free version you get 5 games; Baker's Game, Demon, Klondike Deal 1, Klondike Deal 3, and Spiderette.

The klondikes were familiar; the others were new and not well explained. I figured out the strategy for Demon easily, but Baker's Game and Spiderette were more difficult. And after some play, they're just difficult – period.

The thing with Solitaire for me, since it's mindless timewasting, is there must be a hope of a payoff. Playing the games is simple so the payoff comes from the wins. If the game is so hard that there are minimal times out of 100 plays that you're going to win, it's just not fun. (…Whatever Works For You)

Baker's Game

The graphics are clear and sharp. The controls are straightforward and easy to use. The instructions are all text and for the more complicated games, left a lot unexplained. The game loads quick and has few nag screens and no ads!

Stability was 100%. Playing the games was easy with undo and auto controls available.

In the month I've had it, Solebon have upgraded SolFree once adding more complexity to the user interface and making it harder to navigate. Makes me wonder if they user tested that…

I bought the full version for my Mom even though I personally got everything I wanted from the free version.

Solitaire is a once every 5 years kind of thing for me. I'll play it for a month or so and then

Klondike Deal 3

delete it … the payoff of winning a game is either not high enough or too high for the time invested.

However, it was unique and fun playing it on the iPhone. Solfree — I rate it 3.5/5

My Mom loves the full version. Solebon gives you many more games. All the good stuff of Solfree and much more. Mom rates it a 4.5/5!