Kickoo's
Patience, by Kickoo,
$8.00
Reviewed October, 2003 by Korey Marciniak
Standing out from the Palm OS game crowd
is difficult enough, but considering how many card games
there are available Kickoo’s Patience is fighting an
uphill battle. The card game of solitaire has had a long
and sometimes controversial history; for most of its life
solitaire has actually been called patience; this is actually
still true in some parts of Europe. Solitaire got its first
real start during the Napoleonic era; during which time Napoleon
Bonaparte played patience in his spare time. Solitaire has
received a recent revival thanks largely in part to computers,
where undo and other features that were never before possible
can be added with relative ease.
The gameplay for Kickoo’s Patience
varies based on which game type you choose. Kickoo has included
eight different game types in the first version, and they’ve
already begun working on adding four more to the game. Most
of the game types should be familiar for anyone who has played
solitaire before, but for those of us who have gotten how
to play Scorpion or Klondike Kickoo has included rules for
all the game types available. There is also thorough documentation
included separately, but it’s nice to see in-game instructions.
There are no difficulty settings to speak of, but the makers
have included a hint feature to help those of us who are
just learning the rules.
The cards can be set up to single or double
tap to an assumed destination, or you can drag and drop them
where you’d like. This works very well, and dare I
say controls better than many of the computer versions of
solitaire I have played. However, I have some concerns for
games like Freecell where the game decides for you when to
move aces and other cards for you. I do like when the game
takes the tedium of moving all the cards to their correct
locations away after you’ve won the game, but it’s
a bit odd how it sometimes takes the decision making process
from the player. This gives an almost disconnected feeling;
and takes the challenge and fun out of the game. This feeling
is only compounded after you realize you can mash the hint
button for solutions to large portions of the game with no
ill effects.
The graphics and animation in this game
are one thing that helps it stand out above other card games
for Palm OS. The cards are all in large size, making them
much easier to read compared to some other card games where
the cards have been shrank down to much. This gives a much
more realistic presentation and the experience closer to
the real card games. More configuration of the cards and
table itself would be nice, since the red on green grows
tiring after playing for awhile. However, as solitaire games
go, the graphics are clean and well thought out. The graphics
support both hi res and hi res plus screens.
Kickoo’s Patience has digitized sound
effects. The cards make noise, you get a round of applause
upon winning a game, and all the menus make noise. While
some of these sound FX just seems all very Spartan, Solitaire
itself is a fairly quiet game however, so there’s not
much room for complaint here. Players with MP3 support in
their PDA’s will be extra thankful for background sounds
after a few hours.
I can say without a doubt, that Kickoo’s
Patience stands out. It has all the parts of a solid solitaire
game, and it keeps everything simple. I would have liked
to see more in the way of graphical configurations, sound
effects, and less computer intervention; however, for those
like myself who are looking for a solid solitaire game,
Kickoo’s Patience is a must see title.
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