The Gray Gamers

The hugely popular Jewel Quest Solitaire games came out with the third in the series today and is available now at IWin.
Combing the fun and beauty of the Jewel Quest match three boards with solitaire, players also get an ongoing story line and surprisingly good graphics.

When you finish a chapter you get flipped on to the next. With two modes of game play – quest or relaxed, you can go back and replay any hand at whim.

The cards suits are gems (the gems used in the Jewel Quest match games) and how you play your hand determines how jewels wind up on the match three board which has to be conquered at the end of every card game. The games story unfolds in a charming sepia toned  hand drawn and hand written dairy, adding to the colour and excellence of the card games.
Each chapter has a different background.

Jewel Quest Solitaire I has six games to every level (chapter). There are several chapters to get through which sounds simple, but you aren’t going to blow through this game or it’s sequels.

Jewel Quest Solitaire II divides the story through over 100 levels into two diaries, each telling the story of Emma and her daughter looking for Rupert.
Hard core match 3 and card players may find these games too relaxing.

One of the joys of the Jewel Quest Solitaire series is that there are multiple solutions to the hand you’ve been dealt and how you play determines you win your points. While levels get challenging, they are not discouraging. Another plus is the wild cards, Jewel Quest I and Jewel Quest II offer different wild cards assist you as difficulty increases.  The hints are well done, laid out at the beginning of play and available at a click.

I appreciate the sound tracks, the African music  is soothing adding in lots of animal and bird noises;even the swish of the swiftly dealt cards is pleasant. While the varied card layouts are repeated on levels, they get harder and a good trick is to watch how a familiar layout is dealt.

You can play quest mode or random in all three versions and a goal -(besides finishing) is to put a gold border around each of the pictures which go in the diary after you’ve completed a board. Part of the challenge can be to improve your score and the game lets you replay a hand in quest modes as much as you want.

I don’t like card games, but I admit I am hooked on Jewel Quest Solitaire I and Jewel Quest Solitaire II, they play well on my older computer, and whether playing for a few stolen minutes or longer, both have been games I keep coming back to. It took three years to find the boxed set in a store here in Northern Canada, it was worth the wait.

Head over to Big Fish games and have a look at their promo video for Jewel Quest Solitaire I or the video promo for Jewel Quest Solitaire II if you want to get a feel for what I’m babbling about.

Jewel Quest Solitaire I released November 2006
Jewel Quest Solitaire II released October 2007
Jewel Quest Solitaire III released March 2008

OS: Windows 2000/XP/VISTA
CPU: 600MHz or faster Processor
RAM: 128 MB
Rated: E
JQ I & II available for Ninetendo DS

I’m off to IWin to try Jewel Quest Solitaire III. Wish me luck.  One of the problems I find with IWin is they have not worked out tech issues with their game platform and for ever 5 games I want to try at least one doesn’t work.

Already early eager players are having platform issues, and while IWin tech support is working hard to make things easier for thousands of it’s players, like most, I just give up, even with anti-virus software I can click into game mode.  An hour of free play isn’t worth the hassle,  purchasing the game  allows you the option of ordering the disc and by-passing annoying game platform glitches. IWin accepts Paypal which is a plus for many of us.

Very good bang for your buck.

Jewel Quest Solitaires I & II are also available boxed, I found them at Amazon for a very good price. Just click on the Amazon link to the right here at Gray Gamers.

If you’d like to try Jewel Quest Solitaire I or II before tackling III or purchasing, there are several possibilities – IWin offers advertised online unlimited play to it’s club players – you can also  play online at game sites such as AOL and Yahoo, or download the free play for an hour from several sites.

The story line for Jewel Quest Solitaire III continues with Emma and Rupert’s friend Rata  discovering a mysterious tablet. Kidnapping and rescue occurs over 100 levels.

Looking at the screenshots I suspect Jewel Quest Solitaire has added hidden object play as well as match 3.  hehehe - I’ll go try it and find out.

 
P.S. Classic solitaire (A to K) with a new look to power-ups and the classy Jewel Quest graphics and sound.   Along with  match 3  there is a picture puzzle to put together. That’s as far as I got, the IWin platform froze on Vista which caused lost  free  time play.  Loaded the game on XP but would not play at all. It’s not Jewel Quest Solitaire III that has issues,  it’s the IWin delivery platform.
Went to buy it anyway (off Vista) and the purchase screen font was collapsed.  *&;^%!
I’ll wait until it comes out on a more reliable platform with disc purchase.
This is frustrating, major game sites rarely review casual games, and casual games won’t get reviewed if people can’t try them out. Casual and gray gamers play; coaxing them into writing professional style reviews is a lost cause.  I left a public comment at IWin,  their press releases claim 5.4 million visits a month;  filing support tickets has been spectacularly unproductive in the past and this  grumpy gray gamer  is not about to keep beating my head against that wall.