Review: Nertz (Solitaire Party)
Score:
71%
Nertz, also known as Solitaire Party, is a variant of Solitaire (or Patience, depending on which continent you grew up on). While you still have the 'build up on the aces' and 'red/black' below them, you're doing it at the same time as three other players in simultaneous competition.
Version Reviewed: 3.2.0.0
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Strictly speaking, this is a multiplayer version of Canfield/Demon. You have a stock of 13 cards and four columns that you can build downwards in red/black alternating order. Any gaps are filled from the stock, and the rest of the cards are dealt down in groups of three.
All very standard so far, but the first of two twists is that, rather than have four foundation piles to build up your aces on, you have sixteen. The piles of aces are communal, so if one of the four players pops down an ace of hearts, anyone with the two of hearts can place it on this ace.
This means you'll need to have eagle eyes on the centre of the screen where all the foundation cards are to ensure you make best use of them. Thankfully it's just a quick flick of your finger to move a card up to the foundation piles and they will be placed by the program onto the correct pile. The rest of the card movements are done with either a tap (to turn over cards in the stock or discard piles), or slides, to move cards around the four columns of cards you build down on.
These are all basic solitare moves, and Nertz handles all of them smoothly with little lag or stutter. That's important because, unlike other Solitaire games, you are under time pressure here, because the three other computer AI players are also working through their cards at the same time. The goal is not to finish the foundation piles, but simply to burn through the thirteen stock cards to claim victory. When you do, that round ends and everyone's scores are calculated. Rounds are continued to be played until one player reaches 100 points, at which point they are declared the victor.
Having the game time limited on your thirteen stock cards changes the Solitaire strategy you might normally be used to. The most important thing is to make gaps in the four columns you build on, because any card from the stock can be played into a gap (some games limit you to only placing a king in a gap, that's not the case here). You have to cycle through the stock cards, because even if you don't clear the pile first, you will lose points at the end of the game depending on how many cards remain.
And the way to get through the stock cards is to get through as many cards as possible in every area of the game. This is solitaire that forces you to play fast. Thankfully, with a focus on speed, your cards are clear and easy to read, as are the foundation cards in the middle of the screen. The computer AI players also play at a respectable pace that mimics a human player, and the skill levels reflect the style of play.
The only issue I do have, and it should be an easy fix in any update, is what happens when you hit the regular Windows Phone 'back' key. Rather than pause the game as it steps back through the menus, it abandons the game completely. If you press it by accident, you'll lose the game. There's no way to return, which is a real shame if you were a few cards away from victory... although if you are feeling rather nefarious and you are about to lose badly, the temptation will be there to wipe out that game and start again with a newly dealt hand of cards!
Nertz also has its own achievement system, which consists of 47 different goals, including the total of rounds and games won, matches played, and time it takes to win a round. 47 seems a lot, perhaps it is too much. I think I would prefer a progress bar to 300 rounds won, 150 games won, and 150 matches played. Each to their own, though, and this does give you some long term goals to aim for in a game where victory can be achieved in a relatively short space of time.
Jimmy Dickinson has put together a really good package here. The game is a nice twist on the regular solitaire game, it provides a different challenge, and it's fast to play with little lag. Yes, there's a quirky issue with the back key, but I can live with that.
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at