Solitaire XL: It’s In The Cards

Solitaire XL is one of the better Solitaire games you will ever find; it’s certainly the best on a Mac. If you were a Windows user before making the switch to the Mac platform, chances are you used to play Solitaire every now and then. On the whole, Windows Solitaire is well done, simple, and does no more than what’s needed. If you’re looking for a Solitaire game that could rival the Windows version, look no further, because this is it.

One of my favorite features is the transparency effect; it doesn’t need a window behind it, but you can still resize it based on your preference. You can put an image on the back of the cards if the default blue gradient doesn’t float your boat. Overall, the game is very well done, and should be packaged with Mac OS X. Add this to your list of freeware Mac games.

Unfortunately, it does come with a couple of faults. While playing sometimes, a bug in the game will prevent you from moving a card somewhere, or clicking on something. You can usually get rid of the problem by clicking another card or something else. This is somewhat annoying because there’s no proper fix for it, especially when you’re close to winning.

A couple of other gripes are that when making the game very small, the cards seem to be cut off, making it look unnatural. Also, I wished it would come with more choices for the backs of the cards; there’s only one option, although you can also add your own images.

But do not let any of these things get you down, it’s still a game of Solitaire that’s very well done, and definitely something you will continue to use in your spare time. There’s no reason not to check out Solitaire XL.