Party Island: Solitaire 16 Pack

Coming up for its first birthday, Digital Chocolate's social-networking hub Party Island has proven itself surprisingly resilient. The likes of bowling, pool and even dating have fused into its party-cum-disco empire with surprising ease.

It's an empire that's expanding, too, making moves here to incorporate that most aloof of card games, solitaire, into its packed beach bash.

You might think this would be a rather odd match-up, the almost antisocial nature of solitaire being bound to Digital Chocolate's community-oriented brand. But, as ever, Party Island balances out its game-based challenges with the rewards of the Island franchise. If the latter doesn't appeal, you need never set foot on the sand with your avatar.

Instead, you can indulge the whopping sixteen varieties of solitaire on offer here, each one playable either through to its conclusion in Quick Play mode or, if you fancy a real test, until you pick off the targets set by Party Island in its mission to school you in the art of play.

This education in solitaire takes the form of the game's main Challenge mode, where all of the sixteen variations on offer are split into thirty-two separate challenges that range across four different levels of difficulty.

The idea is, rather than simply handing you all sixteen solitaire variants on a plate, each challenge charges you with accomplishing a certain element of play. It takes you step by step through each facet of the game so that when you let yourself loose on the real deal, you're a veritable expert.

All of the challenges are unlocked from the word go, meaning you can pick and choose which ones you'd like to tackle as you please. That's especially handy, given that even some of the 'easiest' offer a stern task - completing a game of solitaire, in any form, in just two minutes, could put even a pro under some severe stress.

Not that Solitaire 16 Pack ever runs the risk of leaving its audience high and dry. The array of solitaire on offer here is quite striking, especially when you consider that all sixteen forms are essentially about the same thing - clearing cards in order via suit or number.

But Digital Chocolate has seen fit to branch Party Island's solitaire out from staples like Klondike and FreeCell (both familiar forms of the game, thanks to their Windows tie-ins) to incorporate other games, such as Mahjong and Poker.

Each game also comes with either one or two 'joker cards', which basically allow you to shift the order of the cards in your favour, letting you get your hands on those that would otherwise be trapped in the pack. It's a nifty addition that keeps you playing even when things appear to have come to a standstill.

As will (for some at least) Solitaire 16 Pack's Party Island structure, with success in each game offering up points that can be traded in for cool clothes and accessories for your 'Party Peep' - Party Island's online network where Second Life meets Facebook.

Those with existing accounts can simply log in with their details and add Solitaire to their existing line-up, helping add a splash of colour to what's already a full blooded recreation of what could have easily been a tame, stale card collection.

But that's always been Party Island's role: to pump new life into established pastimes. Like those before it, Solitaire 16 Pack is as polished as it is merry, the franchise successfully translating the whole spectrum of solitaire to the masses with a touch of class and a whole heap of glee.

Whether beach parties are your bag or not, Party Island: Solitaire 16 Pack is one game that's perfect for a bit of alone time.