Microsoft Solitaire Collection

App Store Editors’ Notes

What would make this a perfect game

LOVE the new “undo all” option. Finally!! Thank you Things that makes this a GOOD app: -add free -graphics are bright and more modern than other apps -can choose the level or random -bonus games -press undo as many times as you want -it saves your game if you close the app -there are other types of games included -good setting choices -nostalgic card backs from OG Microsoft game Things that would make this a PERFECT app: -the HINT glitches.. it also moves slower than me. Wish it were faster and more accurate. -The “you’ve run out of moves” glitches.. I have to try and trigger it by pressing HINT multiple times. -I would like a “Restart game” option available at all times. Right now it’s only an option when you’ve run out of moves, and you have to work to trigger that pop up by pressing HINT and the cards, back and forth, repeatedly. Very annoying. -I would like there to be an icon to know if a game is solvable. I sometimes restart the game 4x in an attempt to solve it… many times I finally do, other times I don’t think it’s possible. I wish there were an option to see if it is a solvable game. It could be a setting option or something that requires 2 clicks in order to see (so it doesn’t ruin the gameplay experience). I have bought other solitaire apps recently but this is the best one, in spite of the glitches. The others have graphics that look older and yellowed, or a limited “undo” per game. I would even be willing to pay a slightly higher price to have these features in my game, as they would improve an already good app. Thank you

5* for the game itself/2* for the online experience

The games are fine, the graphics are good, the art is decent, there’s a good breadth of art. The problem is that I like to play competitions and too often I’ll be in the middle of playing and the game will dump me out or freeze. Case in point the anniversary games. I got not quite a third of the way through the whole thing, finished a klondike game and the screen froze as I was waiting for my score to be counted and the next game to show up. This has happened too damned many times, and it’s super frustrating, especially when I’m doing well and bam! I’m locked out. My choices are wait and wait to see if somehow the glitch fixes itself (almost never happens), close the game, reopen it and then have to replay the game I just finished, or just give up. Lately I’ve been choosing just give up on it completely. What’s the point? By the time I get back in and replay my last game it doesn’t matter how well I’ve been doing, the time lost gives me an insurmountable handicap. It’s especially painful when it’s a very long match with a lot of points like the anniversary game play was. I am beginning to think there’s no reason for me to keep my premium membership on the site when I get shafted by it so often. It’s too bad because this is the game I play the most. I really enjoy it—when it works.

Generally great app, only issue is that quite a few star club games are glitchy

EDIT: I’m an idiot and these games are 4 suit. I wasn’t paying attention and the games didn’t label them as 4 suit so I didn’t realize. Disregard. A weird number of Spider Solitaire games in the star club packs are consistently glitchy in a very specific way I haven’t seen in any daily challenge, event, or regular games. The cards just don’t act right—random cards will not act like they belong to any suit, so while you have a red 3 on a red 4, for example, the game won’t let you move these cards together. But putting that same red 3 on a black 4 will also not let you move it. This glitch makes probably 20 games or so completely unplayable, which is unfortunate, because I like to complete challenges and packs and seeing these star club packs unfinished leaves me a bit unsatisfied. That being said, this is by and large the best solitaire app in the app store. Lots of ways to play, and lots of incentives to keep it interesting. It does seem that they changed some things about the daily challenges to make it easier to earn the monthly badges, which I’m not a huge fan of. Just seems weird to be able to get a diamond badge after completing less than half of the month. Doesn’t affect gameplay at all though, just a small thing.

Not Really a Fan Anymore

So I have been playing this game for many years, ever since I got my first laptop which was over a decade ago. I was very happy to play this game on the go, whether I had connection or not. Then as the game modernized, it started requiring Internet play as well as showing ads. I kept playing the game because I love the fact that all the card games were in one app, and keeps up with what levels I’m on in the different games. However the app seems a bit outdated at this point. With other games, when they show ads(for those of us who don’t want to pay for ad free play), it normally runs for about five to ten seconds before having a “fast forward” button to let us skip the rest of the ad. After 3-5 more seconds and we can ex it out and play the game we want. With Microsoft Solitaire, you have to stay for the whole 45 seconds to a minute along with waiting for the X to pop up too proceed to the game. And the ads are always about the same thing now. “Royal Match,” the game with no ads. Having to watch these between every game I play gets very annoying, especially since I have to sit through this terrible actors demonstrating the game or either the game itself trying to force me to swipe the screen. I always get fed up and go play some other game. I have dedicated so much time and energy to this game though and would hate to have to start over somewhere else, but it looks like that’s what I’ll have to do.

Great gameplay, buggy infrastructure

This is the best gameplay, most attractive and satisfying graphics and interaction of any solitaire game out there by far. That’s why I keep playing it. I just wish the Microsoft underneath didn’t cause so much suckage. The game is obsessed with your internet connection, even though it really shouldn’t need it to play a card game!! It takes forever uploading and downloading... nothing, before you can play it, and after each game, and if your connection has changed, like from WiFi to cell, or to a different WiFi, it doesn’t cache the data and try on the new connection - no, it freaks out and won’t save your score and won’t let you continue playing. It also downloads some unnamed “new content’ constantly, then forgets it the next time you open the app, and downloads it again! And the themes- apparently what it’s supposed to have downloaded (you get to dismiss two messages every time it tries!!) are still screwed up every time you play, and when you fix them (which usually only lasts 1 session) it wants to download then yet again! Wow. So after writing all this down it’s clear I need to play a less visually slick solitaire game that isn’t so annoying. Again, the gameplay is the best, but the annoying bugs ruin it.

Issues

#####Don't know who did this review under my Apple password but it's time to stop. My review: For weeks now I have been knocked off the server during game and, like today get error 101, which seems to be ongoing. When I went to Microsoft sight to see how to correct this issue, found the solution instructions were for Xbox. iPad not Xbox. I have played this game for years and would like to do so for many more. Get this fixed NOW!!!!!##### I have playedIn the last couple of weeks the game has started to stall and close in the middle of a game, dailies and daily tournament. The worst thing lately are the new full page ads for auto litter box, auto pet feeder and Facebook. I have to physically close the game as the close function and even the access site button do not work. I sometimes wait hours for the ad to disappear so I can't play. Additionally since the last update after only playing one or two games the system crashes. I literally have to restart the game. My connection is just fine so unless you are intentionally making my device obsolete with your upgrades, I suggest find a fix soon. I have been playing your game for a couple of years and is the best solitaire game, but the frustration is getting to me. Time to find a replacement app. I don't have issues with any of my other apps. Have never liked Microsoft and now I never will. Thanks for nothing.

Addictive fun, but could be better.

I love this app and play it every day, but it has some issues that are a huge drawback for me. The daily Events are ranked by play time, but there’s no option to pause. So if I’m in the middle of a game and have to answer the phone or something, the timer just keeps going, even if you leave the app. The only way to stop the timer is to back out and quit the game and start over later. Not only do you lose any progress toward solving it, but the failure also counts against you. This issue is huge for me, I’ve frequently had something come up where I forgot to quit the game and ended up with a play time of several hours, completely tanking my place on the Leaderboard. With a pause feature or an automatic timer pause when leaving the app, this would absolutely be a five star game. There’s also been an issue with lag recently that’s super annoying, I’m hoping there will be an update to fix that soon. Lastly, and this is minor but still worth mentioning, you earn coins by playing the Daily Challenges, but I can’t figure out what you can spend them on, or what purpose they serve. One of the selling points of the premium subscription is earning more coins, but if they serve no purpose, what’s the point? Anyway, it’s a great game, and I recommend it, but the timer issue is huge.

I would appreciate this game more without the ads.

I understand that folks need to make money to survive, but solitaire is a game that has been around for a long time and for almost all of that time it has been free. So now all of the sudden it has to be something that we pay for? That is pretty lame if you ask me. I donate a lot of my own personal time and my own personal finances to many different things. I help out many people - friends and family - that are unable to help themselves. Microsoft, you can’t find it anywhere inside of your company - inside of yourselves - to donate one thing to the people who have been supporting you since your inception? Sure, we don’t have to pay for solitaire but you extort us by forcing us to watch 30 second ads unless we pay. Isn’t that profoundly what you stand against as a company? The rich pressing their greed onto the poor? Isn’t that discriminatory? Why don’t you adopt a strategy where you innovate and come up with products that you can charge customers for legitimately (word, excell, PowerPoint etc.) and stop extorting those less fortunate than you on things that should cost nothing, like solitaire. You know, I don’t mind the small ads on the side of the screen in between games. Do something like that if you must. But we all know that YOU know that those ads won’t force us to pay as effectively as the 30 second ads that waste our time. Bottom line - if you truly are a liberal progressive company as you claim to be - then act like one. Stop oppressing people who are less fortunate than you are. Be who you claim to be.