Fairway Solitaire - Completed game

[Brian Moy]

I just completed Fairway Solitaire, a casual game for the computer by Big Fish Games. 



Its a pretty easy going solitaire style game with a golf course setting.  You get to pick your character, then you go thru the courses needing to hit some kind of goal to finish that course - such as a certain score, or 3 perfect holes, or etc.  While playing the game, Australian announcer Ben Palmer (nice!) adds some color and occasional humor.  Every so often, you'll flip a card and it'll be a Wild Shot, which spins all these various events (some good, some bad) and depending on the event, you might win some money, lose some money, get an extra shot, or play a little bonus game.  Pretty neat!  As you play, various items can be purchased in the gold shop to help with the game - such as the Puttering Around Socks, which helps slow down the ball in putting contests, one of the things that can come up with a Wild Shot. 

The graphics are nicely drawn and cheerful.  This is a game that doesn't take intense thought or reaction, so you can play at your own pace - with the exception of the timed courses, however each of those are optional when you come across them.  Fairway Solitaire is a game that I often play before I turn off my computer, when I've had a lot on my mind and it seems to be a good "cooling off" kind of game for me.

The game is good enough to track your progress, as there is a Trophy Room when you reach various goals.  You can view yor statistics to see some of your averages and personal bests, and it lists the date and course you got those bests on as well.

One character that doesn't come up often enough (I only saw it TWICE and I've played thru every single course and completed the game!) is the Gopher, which is one of the Wild Shot events.  When you get the Gopher, it would be Fairway Solitaire's version of the Whammy on classic game show, Press Your Luck, that is he ends the hole and takes all the money you're accumulated for the course so far.  Even though that's a bad event, well you could say I really like rodents so I just want to see it more often.  I actually picked up this game, seeing that there was a rodent character and kind of reminding me of the comical gopher character in Caddyshack.  Great movie!

Fairway Solitaire official webpage