Solitaire's Journey contains over 100 different variations of solitaire card games, for the solitaire buff to enjoy for many hours.
In Solitaire's Journey, any player can keep their own profile, complete with high scores for each of the solitaire versions. Players are ranked against each other on scoreboards for each game, try to beat your friend's average scores for some of the hardest games!
But these features aren't anything new, or noteworthy, nowadays, even though they were when the game came out in 1991. What sets Solitaire's Journey apart from the masses of other solitaire packages, even today, are its other modes of play - instead of boring old 'pick a game, play it, record your score', SJ includes the modes of Quests and Journeys, and this is where
the game really shines.
Yes, you can actually play solitaire Quests. Each of the different difficulty Quests takes place in a building with one or more floors, and you, the player, can move around from room to room taking different solitaire challenges. Collect gold bars from completing challenges such as obtaining a certain score in a certain game of solitaire. Some games are harder than they look, it will take skill to pick each challenge correctly. Collect a certain number of gold bars and head to the end room to complete the Quest. Try to beat your best score for the Quest, i. e. the distance you need to move to collect all the bars and win.
Journeys work similarly, except you're moving from town to town across a map of the United States of America. You start off with $75 in your back pocket, and you must travel from city to city. Complete challenges in each city to win money to continue on - beat the game you're playing and score a free pass between any two cities. Plot your route and pick your challenges well, and you will do well. Again, in quests and journeys, scores are placed on a scoreboard, so you can compete against your friends, family, whoever you can rope into playing solitaire as much as I do.
If you love frittering away time playing solitaire card games, this game is a must-get. It offers many gameplay modes that haven't been replicated even now, over ten years later, and may just be one of the hidden PC gems of all time. Hats off to you, Quantum Quality Productions, for creating one of the best solitaire games of all time. No bells, no whistles, just pure strategy and fun.
