Fairway Solitaire is a new casual card game that (miraculous as it may seem) blends solitaire with golf. Don't let that trick you into thinking it's a dull game filled with white gloves and whispering announcers. Fairway Solitaire is as funny, bright and entertaining as any casual game out there. And with its slightly new take on some familiar themes, it's worth heading out on the green and sinking a few holes.
Several rows of cards sit face-down on the screen with the bottom ones turned face-up. A deck with a single key card at its side rests at the bottom. The goal is to eliminate cards by placing them on the key card, but you can only remove cards that are one above or one below the key card value. For example, if the key card is a five of hearts, you can slide a four or a six of any color or suit on top of it. Move as many cards as you can before clicking the deck for a new key card. When the deck is depleted, the round ends. The game holds your hand for a number of rounds (or "holes") to get you warmed up, but you'll get the hang of things very quickly.
Fortunately for us, Fairway Solitaire doesn't keep things that simple. Golf-themed obstacles are par for the course in this game, so get used to running across sand traps and water hazards while clicking playing cards. Each obstacle causes a different problem, such as locking a row of cards until you play a buried card, but it's always something creative and a little bit fun. You earn cash for removing cards from play as well as achieving "long drives" (playing six or more cards on the key card without shuffling the deck). With the cash you can buy accessories and clothing to give you an extra edge on the green.
Fairway Solitaire isn't afraid to mess with its own rules. Sometimes every card in a row will be face-up, while other times there won't be rows at all. This works both for and against you, as sometimes removing one card turns over two, but you must play both of them to reach the card below. Ultimately, though, your fate is one part skill, two parts luck of the draw.
Analysis: If you ask me, both golf and solitaire have a reputation for being a bit bland, and I've never been a big fan of either in a casual game format. You can't argue with what Fairway Solitaire does with a golf-themed card game, however. Its fun, light-hearted atmosphere never forgets the odd combination of games that make up the experience.
Beyond gameplay, Fairway Solitaire has a very satisfying presentation. The visuals are crisp and pleasing with a nice blend of golf settings and a cartoon-like art style. During the main game there is no music, just the sound of the wind in your ears and birds chirping in the distance. Playing cards, clicking menu buttons, etc. also produce very crisp sound effects which, on some deep level, are strangely satisfying. And the announcer is a perfect mix of cheerfulness and humor.
Much more than the sum of its parts, Fairway Solitaire is a bright, interesting and wholly fun casual game.
Windows:
Download the demo
Get the full version
Mac OS X:
Download the demo
Get the full version
Fairway Solitaire is available to download from these affiliates:
This game is really good, although I bought it a while ago not knowing how much replay value the game holds. This game has TONS of courses(try scrolling down in the demo). Plus, the 40% deal above is a steal if you don't have a Big Fish Game club account. Fairway Solitaire you can play longer than any other game from Big Fish Games and I was delightfully surprised.
Thanks for the TypeKey update Jay. :)
I found Fairway Solitaire very fun. I played a demo of another card game long ago that was very similar, but it wasn't a golf theme.
Now I remember...Mystery Solitaire: Secret Island. Neat game, but Fairway is more fun.
Woo, glad you liked it! The Mac version is done, I'm sending it to BFG on Monday. Don't know when it will go live.
Yeah as Kirkpad said, there are 70 courses each taking roughly 20 mins to complete so that's over 23 hours gameplay minimum, except that you'll have to play some of them more than once to beat them.
Hey I played Mystery Island Solitaire just a few weeks before I started on this game and I really liked it. Simple and addictive although not really solitaire - more mahjong with the whole matching cards thing.
As a Big Fish Club member, I tried this game and bought it almost straight away (I had a credit burning a hole in my pocket).
It's quite enjoyable and has a nice replay value to it. I intend on getting back into the game right after I do some Christmas shopping.
Jake, now that I bought Fairway Solitaire, I'm really glad I did.
(I bought 2 games...one was that Madame Mystery hidden items game and the very next was Fairway.) I'm having fun with both, but Fairway is more relaxing, intimidating and adult for me.
Hey, who did the music for the in-game Welcome and Statistics screens? They're like a combo of Myst game themes and Voyager. Very professional and beautifully done. Good move. :)
I have been playing Fairway Solitaire on Big Fish for quite some time, and immediately purchased it when it became available for download. I will predict, with absolutely NO hesitation, that Fairway Solitaire will become the all-time most popular solitaire game on the web, as well as the all-time best-seling one. I see no downside to this game at all. However, since there are no real instructions, so to speak, I have one question: How on earth do I get my money back from the gopher? I see him pop up on a hole occasionally, but he quickly disappears.
Thanks for the great game, Jake! I have played 100 courses in a total time of 24 hours, and I STILL haven't finished the game. Fore!.....
I previously praised this game, saying it would become the biggest Solitaire game ever on the internet. I have now changed my mind. You took what was almost the perfect game and turned it into crap on the 68th course (out of 70). It took me a little over 24 hours to complete the first 67 courses, with many of them challenging enough to need 4 or 5 plays to beat. To reach course 68, I had played about 110 rounds of golf. I have now played course 68 over 100 times without beating it. Why on earth you would do this to such a great game is beyond my comprehension! I looked at Fairway Solitaire as being a game that I would always play on a continual basis, repeatedly playing through all the courses. But when you make it impossible to get to the last 2 courses, then what is my motive to play? Unless a fix is provided for this game, I will not only quit playing it, I will NEVER buy another Big Fish game that is associated with anyone who created this one. I will also use caution when buying ANY game anywhere on the internet, and will avoid any and all by Fairway Slitaire's creators, programmers and designers.
Wow, you sound very bitter, Dan.
Sometimes when I get frustrated with a game that appears to be not letting me pass, it is often due to my taking an incorrect approach to it. Could that be the case here?
Dan Towne: Some of the end courses are very hard but there are certain tactics you can use to beat them. For a start, go on a tour of an easy course to collect a full bag of irons before you attempt it. Make sure you have bought all the clothing items too. If you would like to make it a little easier, email me and I'll help you out. The Mac version is coming out soon and some of the end courses are a bit easier. Also, I'll see if BFG will release an updated version with the easier courses on.
Oh, the music is by Somatone, so are the sounds.
There is a wildshot called Gopher Flush which is rare, but gives you some money back (not everything you've lost). The gopher that pops up in-game is just a random ambient animation, you can't hit it with a hammer or anything (we nearly put in a whack-a-gopher minigame but ran out of time.
I'm on Dan's side! I have spent a lot of time enjoying Fairway Solitaire and have loved every moment, coming home from work each night to try and keep ahead of my son in the scores and courses - then I got to Mystery Madness. I am still there after heaven alone knows how many games. No way to get through it and to make things worse on the 4th hole the extreme right hand column freezes and won't let me use it no matter what. So there I am, still working on it, totally frustrated, no way out, stuck like some lost spirit doomed to lurk around the third to last course. Trust me, no matter how many irons you have in your bag you ain't gettin' past this one!
Try this to beat Mystery Madness:
http://greyaliengames.com/blog/fairway-solitaire-cheats/
If you can run the game in Windowed mode (via options) and take a screenshot of the 4th hole problem and email it to me, that would be REALLY helpful. thx.
ok so how do you use the clubs? I have tried different ways but even when I use one just before I hit the end drive button, but it doesn't seem to make any difference in the multiplier score.
Can someone help me?
Thanks.
So if you are having a good run and it comes to an end, you can click an iron in your bag and it flies to the foundation. Then you can click another card on the playfield to keep your run going. For example, your run ends but you have a 7 iron and you can see a possible run of 8,9,10 etc on the playfield. Clicking the 7 iron in the bag will not increase your drive length, but it will enable you to click 8,9,10 and increase your drive. When you finally click End Drive you'll get a bigger multiplier due to the longer drive you made.
On harder courses you can go back to easier ones and build up a full bag of irons to use on a harder course to extend your runs and get below par scores or perfects etc.
how do you get past shepherd's ridge
This is Dan again. Well, after playing about 150 times on the Mystery Madness course, I finally cleared it. It was only by extreme luck that this occurred, such as clearing a hole via the Wild Shot. The last two courses were quite easy. I won every trophy except the eagle trophy. The funny thing is, my wife won that trophy on her second course. I went in under a new player name, and also won the eagle trophy on my first course, along with 4 other trophies. How I won 5 trophies on one course I will never know! However, I am proud to say that even though you created such a ridiculously tough course in Mystery Madness, I did finally beat it without any outside help or advice. I may have been a little rough on you in my previous post, but it just makes no sense to have a game that runs at a certain level of toughness suddenly become next to impossible. I see in your above posting that you have made the last courses easier for the Mac version. I would assume that this is because you (as well as others) agree that it was much too tough at the end. I will continue playing Fairway Solitaire, because if I can forget about the 68th course, it is still the best solitaire game ever made for the PC. If I include the 68th course, then I would call it the most irritating solitaire game ever. But I guess one out of 70 isn't bad. It means you got 69 of them right. I personally think that Mystery Madness should have been the LAST course in the game. I now look forward to any new sets of courses that you may come up with for Fairway Solitaire. And by the way, I was not bitter in the above posting, I was just being honest. -Dan Towne
Hi Dan, I'm glad you finally beat Mystery Madness and that you still like the game :-) I admit that course is too hard (along with a couple of others) which is why we made them easier in the Mac (and foreign language versions). Some people on another site were saying we shouldn't make them easier as they liked the challenge haha. 5 trophies on one course is very good going! You probably got very good at the game from playing it through and so when you started again you applied all your tactics to the first course and won them all (that and a bit of luck too of course!). So did you actually finish the game yet? I'm not sure we'll be making more courses or a sequal, but if enough people email Big Fish Games about it...
April: Check out the link to the hints on my blog, it's posted higher up.
Awww... My trial time ran out! I really enjoyed the demo of this game, thought it was a fantastic twist on an old classic game. I'd buy and download it in a second... except I'm completely broke!
Mac version is out! Go to Big Fish Games to download a free demo.
I have purchased the mac version. Love the game, but am stuck at mountain springs. I have had a score of +10 4 times but it will still not let me pass this level. Is this a glitch in the program? Help!
I'm running the Mac version and have been stuck on "Joe's Gas & Go" WAY TOO LONG!
bah! can't I just pass this & come back to it later? maybe? I've got all the clothes & have used up several bags of clubs. bah! again
isn't the idea of a game to be the challenge? i just loved this game, and if i had beaten it too soon, i would not have enjoyed it as much! keep those challenges coming--it's not as fun to beat or cheat a game that's too easy :)
I have played and loved fairway Solitaire for a long long time now and have achieved all the awards (although getting over 30 on purpose seems so wrong) except for the one where you need to have 9 or less for a round.... Im positive I've done that yet not recieved the award... what is this one and how do I get it???
I am having a lot of trouble getting through Joe's gas and golf. I have gone to other holes and filled up with irons, any suggestions? I love this game!!!
I'm having an issue getting the duffer cup. I have gotten more than 30 over par a couple of times on 9 holes (-33 is best). However i have been unable to receive trophy. Is there something I'm not getting about the requirements?
The duffer cup is a prize for bad play, not good play - you need to get 30 OVER par, not 30 under par.
I also believe that there's something broken about Joe's Gas & Golf. The course before it (Clementine) requires you to score +20 or better (which is ridiculously easy - I never scored +20 on any prior course), but with Joe's, the first time I played it I scored +33. I think the goal on Clementine was supposed to be the goal for J G&G (I'm guessing that +20 would be quite challenging on that garbage dump of a course, even with a full bag of irons).
Still trying to figure out how to get the scoring trophy for getting 9 or better on a course. I have done this many times but still no trophy.?
I have gone through this game twice now and get stuck at Joe' Golf & Gas. Has anyone made it through??? Can someone give me advice ? I have all the clubs when I go in.
I really loved Fairway Solitaire. I could not quit playing it. It took me 3 days to clear Mystery Madness after I went mad. I finish the game. Cannot wait to start a new one. I love the solitaire game. I use to play it all the time on my computer in another program. But I love how you but the golf game with it. It is sooooo FUN! I hope you make another one and make them harder than the last three.
I finished the game and some courses were tough, now I am trying to get top score on all the courses - Salty Tears is murder, no way anyone got -15 on that course. I have played it about 300 times and by use of irons and some lucky breaks on the wild cards and lucky runs I managed to get a -12, but still can't get -15. My average is about +20!!!!!!
I cannot beat Salty Springs to save my life! I got a -23 on Mountain Springs and a +27 on Salty Springs. I've played the course about 4,000 times. Fairway Solitaire is the best--when is the next version coming out?!?!?
I bought this game after falling in love with it in the demo. It is by far the best solitaire game I've ever played. I haven't gotten through the last few rounds yet, but even if I never do the other courses have tons of replay value. I love that I couldn't beat it in a day. I hate buying a game only to beat it within a few hours. Makes it not worth the money in my opinion. This is a great game to play when you need to kill time or de-stress.
Any one have a list of golf shop items? I only have 3 unlocked so far and I am not sure how to unlock the rest. I am well into the game. Are they linked to the awards?
Ok, I have been playing Fairway Solitaire for a while now and I am stuck on Cherry Hills course, I cannot for the life of me get a +5, how do I get that. I know I am doing something wrong.
Thank You,
PixieChik
Hi there can anyone help me wondering if there is a blip in the game... I am on Heritage Hills and cannot seem to move on... It says to get a score of plus 10 or better which I have reached several times and above but I can't move on to the next course.. can anyone help... Not sure what to do next...Thanks
Mystery Madness was hard, but not impossible. Go in with a full set of clubs. If you have a good run going on the first hole and the cards look good, then use clubs to get a 7x long drive. If you don't have a long drive and you win the tournament, which is not easy, you will come up short on money. You'll also need good cards and will have to play it about a hundreds times to pass. What I want to know is how to get the career earnings trophy, I have over 3 million in earnings and it still won't open.
Love this game! Couple questions please..
1) Yellow flags? ... I have one, how did I get it and how do get more?
2) Stars and trophies- I've completed all courses with 3 stars. How do I achieve over 380+ stars to unlock the courses that require 500,800, 1200, etc stars? Same question for the courses that require 100's of trophies
Thanks!
For all the players that can't advance, here is a cheat to help you out:
To refill your bag and get ALL the irons, at anytime:
CTRL+SHIFT+A gives all the irons
Does anyone know where to find and play "Fairway Fever". There's trophies to be achieved but I don't know where to find the challenges.
Please help me Obi Wan Kenobi... Your my only hope
^^^that comment pertains to iOS version, not P&C or Mac
Figured out yellow flags... I'm pretty sure it's scoring a "Great Shot" bonus on every hole on a course.
Mike -
It doesn't seem to be available as a BFG download as yet for casual or mobile so it may only be a Facebook thing at the moment.
Thanks Jazz! Hopefully it'll be in a future update. I don't play too many, if any games on facebook.
I can't even come close to winning the long drive and I'm on level 14!! I have the head down thing active. Any hints or cheats?? Help! So frustrated! Otherwise, I love this game. SO addicting...
You need to click or tap, depending on which version you are playing, when the arrow is at the top in the red zone. Hope that helps!
Update