Pyramid Solitaire Saga Facebook Game Review

My first thought when I started playing Pyramid Solitaire Saga was that it isn’t really similar in the least to classic solitaire – except that it is played alone and involves streaks of cards in numerical order. It’s really more of a cool fusion of solitaire and mahjong.

Your cards are arranged in various pyramid-like formations, with only the fully uncovered cards being playable (the mahjong component). You draw one card at a time, and you get rid of cards by matching your drawn card to any exposed card which directly follows or precedes it in the deck (the solitaire component).

A “streak” is when you play multiple cards one after the other without having to draw a new card. Aces are low, but you can always play an ace following or preceding a King. Streaks don’t necessarily have to go only in one direction. For example, you could drawn an 8 and go 8, 7, 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 9. At any time, you can also draw your Joker as a wild card, which can be handy to start a good streak or to unlock some valuable cards. Your scoring is based on how many cards are left in your deck at the end of the game (the fewer the better), how many streaks you achieved, and how many jewels you unlocked (jewels are hidden beneath certain cards).

Each level brings a new challenging pyramid formation and a new goal (for example, it may ask you to get a five-card streak). It’s an example of “game fusion” done right – the game concept is original enough that I didn’t find myself bored to death, but the game also didn’t have a plethora of arbitrary bells and whistles over complicating the experience.

You can’t move on to the next level without gaining at least a one-star rating (out of a possible three stars). A one-star rating is achieved through unlocking the scarabs, who are hidden under several of the cards at the bottom of the pyramid.Some scarabs run away, so it’s important to be quick with the clicking to catch them.

There is obviously some luck as the basis for success in Pyramid Solitaire Saga, since no one can help what cards they draw. However, a keen eye for potential streaks is the best way to whittle the pyramid down. This is exceptionally difficult in the higher levels, because many of the cards are not visible until they have been at least partially uncovered. Throughout the game, one can collect various charms, but those all require credits. Those charms can include an “undo” charm and a “hint” charm. The “undo” may be the most vital – since being fast and on-the-ball is crucial, sometimes it’s easy to go one click too far.

One of the most vital players in your win is the Joker. Strategic use of the Joker is very important, though there are a few different ways to use the card. Of course, not using the Joker at all is probably the best strategy of all, since you will gain an extra 2000 bonus points for finishing a level without playing the Joker.

There are three crucial uses for the Joker if you absolutely must play him.

One strategy is to use the Joker to commence a streak that you can see. If a streak is long enough, it will highly outweigh the 2000 points you risk losing for playing the card. This is a strategy for the impatient – no one wants to flip through more than half of the deck hoping to find a certain card and then waste half of their cards. On the other hand, patience is a virtue – a 2000-point virtue.

The other strategy is to use the Joker for a single move to unlock one elusive card. It’s a risky move since you lose the points for what isn’t even a big streak, but in some cases it means the difference between completing the level and not.

The third and most practical use of the Joker is to play it at the very end with your last card in order to end the level still with a substantial amount of cards in your deck. There are also outside cheat helpers one can find through torrents or download sites which contain “full” versions of the game with unlimited levels and free power-ups.