Let's get one thing out of the way first - I love card games. Put me in front of a table or a screen with any type of card, be it at a poker table or sitting down to play a game of Magic: The Gathering, I'm there. The competitive nature of card games has always been a big draw for me, which is why I was never really into solitaire or freecell...until I discovered the wonder of Fairway Solitaire from developer Grey Alien Games. Fairway Solitaire puts a competitive twist on the normally boring game of solitaire with a couple of extra features that make it take up hours upon hours of your time.

Fairway Solitaire isn't really solitaire, though - it's a lot more like Mahjong with cards. The game has 70 "courses" of 9 "holes" apiece that you get to try your skills on. Each hole consists of a board of cards, very similarly laid out to Mahjong. On the bottom of the screen, you have a stack of cards. The stack is revealed one card at a time. The goal is to eliminate as much of the board as possible using the stack of cards that you are given. You eliminate cards by moving up and down the number line of cards - suit doesn't matter. For example, if you start with a 7 on your stack, you can eliminate either a 6 or an 8 on the board. If you choose the 8, you can then eliminate either a 7 or a 9, and so on and so forth.

Okay, it sounds more complicated than it actually is, believe me.

The truth of the matter is that the game is largely intuitive after you go through the tutorial hole. Each card on the board represents a stroke. (For those of you unfamiliar with golf beyond the news of Tiger Woods' return to the sport, you want to finish a hole with a few strokes as possible - depending on the difficulty of the hole, it's even possible to finish with negative strokes.) Your goal, much like real golf, is to finish the course with as few strokes as possible, earning money for every card that you eliminate and a healthy cash bonus every time you end a hole under par. This money can then be used to unlock and buy snazzy golf accessories that help you throughout the game, such as x-ray glasses to see the next card on the stack, or the sweater-vest that gives you one more do-over than you would normally have.

During their plays of the courses, players have a chance to amass "wedges," cards numbered 2-9 that can be used once at any time during the entire game. You can find them again, though, so don't be afraid to use them as needed to amass that 20-card combo and finish the hole with a perfect score. The higher the combo of cards you eliminate, the higher your cash bonus is multiplied by at the end of the hole.

Each course of the game has a different goal for unlocking the next course. Sometimes, it's an eventual score, like "Come in 4 under par," other times it's a little more specific, like "Get a 15 card combo on any hole" or "Finish the hole with over $2500." Each goal is different, making the strategy you use for each hole a different experience every time - sometimes, you only care about getting that elusive perfect hole, others you care only about finishing the course with enough money. No matter what, though, every goal forces you to play the game well in a different fashion, which forces you to think through your plays just like in a game of real golf.

Adding to the experience are the environmental hazards included in a few holes. A water hazard made up of a line of blue cards blocks part of the board - that part of the board won't be revealed until the cards in the water hazard line are completely eliminated. Sometimes, sandtrap cards will show up and won't be revealed until you discover the sand wedge hidden somewhere on the board. Hazards like these keep the game fresh and challenging (and occasionally frustrating) while adding to the idea of golf that surrounds the game.

I mentioned before that I prefer card games with a competitive element, and Fairway Solitaire is a constant competition with yourself, much like the real game of golf. The imagination and ingenuity that the developers put into both the main game and the golf tweaks that make it interesting never feel forced - it always feels as though you're simply playing a game of golf that happens to include cards. It'll keep you from your work for hours on end (I had to stop to write this review, and I'll be going back to it as soon as it's done) and will present a healthy amount of challenge to even the most experienced solitaire player.

PROS
• An addictive and fun take on traditional solitaire
• Tweaks using the golf theme keep the experience fresh
• 70 unique courses of 9 unique holes apiece
• Affordable price of $6.99

CONS
• Takes up a whole lot of your time. Very addictive.
• Frustrating at times to fall short from your goal by a single stroke.