[b]nofrills solitaire[/b] (formerly [b]nofrills klondike solitaire[/b], still called that in the library) is just that: a simple card game for an affordable price, now with [b]spider[/b], [b]freecell[/b] and [b]scorpion[/b] variants, on top of the original [b]klondike[/b].
the presentation is actually a lot better than one would expect and it took a while for some of the basics to make it in, but it's pretty good now. except for the text-free ui, though even that got improved over time. there's a pdf manual linked on the store page to explain what's what, but [b]if your game needs a 10-page document, text-free nonsense clearly doesn't work anymore.[/b]
while the graphics look too flashy at first, especially for something that claims not to have any bells and whistles in its title, it's a really pleasant sight to behold. the music is great too, but unfortunately [b]you have to skip tracks manually[/b] when you've had enough of a song. it's intentional and I have no idea why. the [b]loops are also very short[/b], so as good as the tracks are, they get repetitive really fast. more can be unlocked by completing certain achievements, while others unlock more cardbacks.
windowed mode and volume settings got patched in, and now klondike has [b]1 and 3 card modes[/b] and [b]shuffle[/b], and when everything's uncovered, even [b]auto-complete[/b], skipping some busywork. without shuffle it took me about 2 hours to finally win, but that's in the past. oh, and your wins are also shown now in the main menu. [b]spider[/b] has 1-, 2- and 4-suit variants, can be changed in the menu and by what else than clicking the random pyramid at the bottom while playing...
[b]controls improved a lot with the addition of drag & drop mode.[/b] before that single click was the name of the game, one to select a card, another to put it where you want it to go, no such thing as a double click. I guess it's down to personal preference whether you like this or the dragging method more, but the way clicking works here is a bit problematic because when a card is clicked that can go to one of the foundations, it won't wait for you to choose a destination but automatically go there. so if you wanted to move it somewhere else, you have to click on it again on the top, then move it elsewhere.
shortly after release the game was already recommendable with a few caveats, but all fixed up and even expanded, [b]it's a definite two thumbs up[/b]. looks good, plays well and doesn't cost much, even though the price doubled after the additional game modes got patched in for free for existing owners. [b]undo/redo[/b] also got patched in, but if only there were tooltips or an in-game manual...
