Ludography
Fairway Solitaire cover

2007 · Big Fish Games

Fairway Solitaire

Fairway Solitaire is a casual video game based on the classic solitaire card game.

Released
1 December 2007
Platforms
AndroidWindowsmacOS
Genres
—
Developers
Big Fish Games
Publishers
Big Fish Games
Modes
Single-player
Engine
Java
Country
United States
Age ratings
ESRB E

About

Fairway Solitaire, alternatively titled Fairway is a casual video game based on the classic card game solitaire and developed by Big Fish Studios. The game is digitally distributed and is available from Big Fish Games.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Fairway Solitaire presents players with a modified type of solitaire with a golf theme. In the game, players use golf clubs and playing cards to clear the table. The goal in Fairway Solitaire is to play through a collection of 70 courses with each course offering a different type of challenge. Once the challenge is met, the next course is unlocked and the player advances in the tournament.

Players may be awarded trophies for accomplishing various tasks. Often they are rewarded along with in-game cash or prizes. In addition to the main tournament, daily challenges are available for players to win trophies. Players' scores are recorded and ranked against all other players on the same platform.

Development

The Mac version of Fairway Solitaire omits 'Solitaire' from the title, retitling it to just Fairway. A "completely rewritten" version of the Mac version titled Fairway Collector’s Edition was also released. A port of Fairway Solitaire was planned as a launch title for the Windows Phone 8, but was delayed for a year, ultimately releasing in 2013.

Reception

Fairway Solitaire received generally positive reviews from critics. Multiple critics noted the game as 'strategic'. Kotaku called its game design as "clever", and Pocket Gamer described the game's combination of golf and solitare as "inventive", calling it "hugely enjoyable" due to the "surprising amount of strategic opportunity" in its gameplay. Game Informer noted it as "hopelessly addict[ing]", and called it "a great puzzle game with a surprising amount of depth and strategy". TouchArcade also praised it as 'addicting', stating in regards to its gameplay that "what it lacks in difficulty it makes up for in sheer mindless entertainment".

Inside Mac Games praised the amount of content in the game, stating that the game has a "great feeling of variety", but criticized the fact that the iOS version has features not present in the Mac version, such as daily courses and additional minigames. IMG praised the game's attention to detail, as well as itscartoony graphics and "funny" cutscenes, further expressing that "everything is beautifully drawn and animated". IMG noted the game's music, sound effects, and golf commentators as highlights of the game, saying that it has "the best voice work I've ever heard in a game".

Legacy

In 2011, Big Fish Games released a sequel titled Fairway Fever, a timed version of the game released on Facebook, which was later made unavailable by 2013, and incorporated as an additional mode in the Mac version of Fairway. A second sequel, Fairway Solitaire Blast, was released on April 3, 2014 for iOS & Android devices.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Windows7 December 2007Worldwide
macOS7 December 2007Worldwide

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.