Now and again, everyone needs a change of pace. Solitaire Royale is such a change for Spectrum Holobyte, a company noted for its complex and realistic game/simulations. Compared to previous offerings (Orbiter, Gato, Falcon), Solitaire Royale, a Mac version of 11 popular solo card games, is simplicity itself. Eight games (Pyramid, Golf, Klondike, Canfield, Corners, Calculation, Three Shuffles and a Draw, and Reno) make up the core of the program. Most, if not all, will be familiar to veteran solitaire players, although not necessarily by the names the program uses. For example, the standard 28 cards in a seven-column arrangement is called Klondike here.
Normally solitaire games are zero-sum affairs — you play against the cards and either win or lose. However, Solitaire Royale adds a scoring system to each game. This not only permits you to gauge your performance in losing games, it also forms the basis of the program’s Tour and Tournament features. The Tour cycles you through the eight games, recording your score for each and the overall total. The Tournament allows any number of players to compete against each other with identically dealt hands. Solitaire Roy ale records the top five scores for each hand. By the way, the Tour can also be played in Tournament mode, and you can save both Tour and Tournament games to disk.
Also included are three children’s games (Concentration, Pairs, and The Wish), which are found under a sub-menu. Although conceptually simpler (they all involve matching cards), their memory-jogging character makes them challenging.
You can choose from ten different decks of cards with five different face styles; the Oriental cards are particularly attractive. Four different screen backgrounds arc also available. Most menu items are accessible from the keyboard. During play, you can drag or click cards to their new locations. You can have the hands dealt at normal or fast speeds, and you can toggle the sound effects on or off. With sound, only normal speed deals are possible, but the sound effects when you win are a nice touch. Try all the games — the reward display after a win is not always the same.
As presently constituted, Solitaire Royale only runs on the 512K, Plus, and SE. Unfortunately, it does not run on the Mac II. The reason is the program's copy protection, which, as well as hindering transfers to hard disks, conflicts with the architecture of the II. If you wish to use it on the II or experience difficulties running it on SEs and Pluses with 68020 accelerators, Spectrum Holobyte will exchange (without charge) your original disk for an unprotected version — a commendable support policy. Also, a company spokesperson told me that the copy protection will be removed later this year. However, until that time, the inconvenience costs the program’s rating a mouse.
Otherwise, Solitaire Royale, designed by Brodie Lockard of Shanghai fame, is solidly constructed, very playable, and visually appealing. Uncomplicated but challenging, it's the kind of game that will be played a lot because it doesn’t require a large block of time. Solitaire Royale provides a nice change of pace when you need it.
Martinez, Carlos Domingo. (May 1988). Solitaire Royale. MacUser. (pgs. 118, 120).
Software Resources International
Games
out of 10 (0 vote)
63 / 
2015-08-01 / 
2023-12-13 / 
4e647a9493d0d1eb09fd2364ed8a8e3202db680d / 
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solitaireroyale_400k_dsk.sit
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
Mini vMac
