King
Sol for Pocket PC by Rapture
Technologies wins the crown for the 'The Most Complete Solitaire For Any
PDA' by a runaway landslide win. It is based on their King Sol for
Windows, a collection of (count 'em) 421 solitaire games. King Sol for
Pocket PC is a collection of 60 solitaire games for the Pocket PC. While
there are many great Solitaire genre games for the Pocket PC, there are
few programs that offer as many games as this.
Rapture Technologies are the good guys behind those great non-violent
games that MicroSoft distributes with the Pocket PCs such as Cubicle
Chaos, Fire Drill, Stock Scramble, Task Master, and Killer Commute. They
are actively promoting games that will provide an alternative from the
likes of Doom, CounterStrike and their kin which are highly addictive and
extremely popular.
Lets start by taking a look at the bottom menu bar where we find helpful
options like favorites, recently played games and bookmarks. The interface
is pretty intuitive and plays fast and furious. I would recommend that you
select a single tap as I often find myself taping more than one card off
the deck. Not to worry, there is always the undo option to fall back upon.
If looking good is important to you, feast your eyes on the background and
card deck choices. With over 150 games in my 512mb compact flash, in my
personal experience, a nice user interface with pleasing graphics play a
big part in my decision to choose that game a second time after the novelty
has worn off.
Here is the list of the 60 games in King Sol. Some of them are very
similar. Although Golf is the only solitaire game that I play regularly, I
have picked up a few which I learned rather quickly like Pairs and
Elevens. Thanks to the well-designed help files with links to games that
are of the same genre. If you have never played a single solitaire in your
life, King Sol will get you addicted.
An interesting part of the King Sol program is the Statistics feature. You
can view your game statistics in amazing 3D charts, sort tables by any
data field, and compare your results against other players. This is great
if your goal in life is to be a Sol King or gain great respect from
beating pals in certain games.
Besides the ready-made backgrounds and card backs, you can create your own
sound schemes and backgrounds and card backs from your own image files.
Visit the customization gallery at the King Sol site to get more out of
your investment. The demo version will only allow you one game on all the
games except one.
Summary
Solitaire games are games that are a heaven-match for PDAs. It does not
require your undivided attention like arcade games; you can pause at any
time and take you time. King Sol is a game that you will enjoy as comic
relief from a hard day's work or a boring business trip. With over 60
flavors to choose from, you will never find this game monotonous. Oh yes,
I also liked the animation and nice sounds.
Dr. Henry Kong is a self-confessed
PDA-addict, starting with the first Palm Pilot. He has been in the
ministry for over 35 years and has a popular personal website which he
fondly calls, Henry's
3Cs' - computer, church and cuisine.
