solitaire games are pretty much identical to each other, the usual +1/-1 gameplay with power-ups and such, and even if some developers try to put their unique(ish) spin on it, their subsequent releases are still mostly gonna be reskins of the same thing. no problem with that, I'd rather enjoy a variety of themes than replay the same thing over and over.
so after playing and liking [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1333900]maidens of the ocean solitaire[/url] a while ago, also developed by [i]deyteris[/i], I expected the same exact thing from [b]flowers garden solitaire[/b], except with flowers instead of mermaids. and that's mostly what I got, so this review will almost read like a facsimile of that one, but with a negative outcome.
[b]120 levels[/b] unlocked one by one, sorted into 12 packs inside a greenhouse, represented by various flowers. looks pretty, but not practical at all. harder to find the next batch and they only show star requirements, have to click to see if there are any levels left to do. no difficulty settings and levels can be replayed separately, which is always nice. instead of the usual interactive tutorial, a help screen can be brought up, explaining what's what on the screen.
completion is based on two goals: [b]getting enough stars and clearing cards with leaves[/b]. the level is failed if you can't manage, but whatever money got collected during the attempt is not lost. no need to clear every card, in fact, the level ends immediately when the last goal card is gone, so keep an eye on the progress bar on top if you don't want to finish prematurely with fewer stars. the bar only changes after reaching a star goal, not card by card, and it's not always easy to tell if the final goal card should be clicked yet or not, hoping it'd trigger the final star.
money is only visible in the shop, not while playing, and can be spent on [b]power-ups[/b], the usual +1 undo, show number of cards left, wildcard, etc. there are [b]some pretty good background images and I really liked the music[/b], wish there was more of it, would be less repetitive. no story, but [b]backgrounds can be viewed in a gallery[/b] from the menu. separate volume settings, some card customization, windowed mode and custom cursor.
unfortunately, if you're looking for a relaxing flower-themed solitaire, this isn't it. [b]colorful backgrounds clash with way too colorful and hard to read card faces and backs[/b], not easy on the eyes at all. they definitely went overboard with the flowery theme, to the point of making the game unpleasant to play. I persevered though, and found level 86 a pain in the neck. goal cards cover most other cards and if you have 5, level complete, good luck getting 3 stars, so I didn't. 93 is similarly annoying with very few cards to get to the bottom of many stacks just to solve it and move on.
