Super Solitaire
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| Super Solitaire

I must admit to being a bit of a fan of the Ronseal approach when it comes to naming games. Crazy Penguin Catapult, for instance, does exactly what it says on the tin: there are penguins, they get flipped from a series of catapults and, given that they're partaking in such an activity, they're a little bit crazy.

By that token, Super Solitaire must be some kind of radical take on the card game of the same name, perhaps involving pants-wearing super heroes, livening up play for the new decade.

However, quite confusingly, Super Solitaire has nothing to do with the aforementioned card game. Instead, what's on offer here has much more in common with Othello, also sometimes known as Reversi.

Balls to Othello

While that particular game revolves around the idea of flanking your rivals stones at either end to flip them to your own colour, Super Solitaire is all about jumping balls over each other on variously shaped boards.

Each ball you jump over is removed from play, with the idea being to remove as many of the balls as you can. The various play modes on offer set you differing targets on that score - some where the clock is your sole concern, others where the very number of moves open to you is limited.

Remaining constant are the basic rules of movement. For instance, you can only move balls horizontally or vertically, and only over the top of one other ball rather than a whole line, Othello style. The slot on the other side also has to be free, of course.

The more balls you remove the fewer opportunities there are for further moves. It's quite a perverse and challenging set-up.

Puzzling patterns

One that Super Solitaire ensures remains fresh, too. As well as Arcade mode, which simply tasks you with clearing a set number of balls as quickly as you can (neat clockface balls adding seconds to the clock when captured), Puzzle mode sets more specific tasks, the balls set out in a way that means a set pattern has to be followed to rid the board of all but one.

Along similar lines is Shape mode, where leaving balls in set spaces to - you've guessed it - form a given shape is the target.

Both these latter modes, indulgent as they are, provide a nice contrast to the arcade set-up, which is very much a case of going hell for leather. It's a good way of extending what is fairly simple, niche gameplay beyond its borders, your input remaining the same throughout but the goalposts subtly shifting.

Proving surprisingly addictive as a result, Super Solitaire is the archetypal 'solid, if a little unspectacular' puzzle package. Those who have a fancy for boardgame bluster will feel a whole lot more at home than those who don't.

Super Solitaire

Not solitaire in the way you might expect, but a little bit super, Super Solitaire is the perfect puzzler for a spare five minutes. Its more prudent puzzles contrast nicely with its non-stop action arcade side
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Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.