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Sid Sackson's Bowling Solitaire

Sid Sackson's Bowling Solitaire

Puzzle

Overview

Sid Sackson's Bowling Solitaire presents a free two-game package that delivers a sharply divided experience. Bowling Solitaire emerges as a clever, unexpectedly satisfying fusion of math puzzles and bowling mechanics, while Solitaire Dice frustrates with impenetrable scoring and steep learning curves. This duality creates a curious juxtaposition—one game shines with inventive design, while the other stumbles into near-unplayable territory. For zero dollars, it's a low-risk experiment where half the offering justifies the download, though the other half may test patience beyond reason.

Bowling Solitaire: A Clever Strike of Innovation

The titular Bowling Solitaire game defies expectations with its mathematically driven pin-clearing mechanics. Players select a target number (like 7) and strategically combine adjacent pins to form sums matching that target—whether 7, 17, or 27. This creates a tactile puzzle layer where spatial relationships and arithmetic blend seamlessly. The satisfaction comes from chaining combos to clear the board, mirrored by authentic ten-pin bowling scoring that rewards precision. What initially sounds like an awkward genre mashup reveals surprising depth, turning each session into a brisk mental workout where planning three moves ahead becomes second nature. It's a testament to experimental design that feels both fresh and instantly comprehensible.

The smashing together of two very unrelated genres has proved once again that experimentation is the key to success.

Gohst

Solitaire Dice: Where Confusion Reigns

In stark contrast, Solitaire Dice collapses under its own opaque systems. The scoring mechanics—vaguely tied to mysterious dots at the screen's top—produce baffling outcomes, with players reporting nonsensical negative scores like -2400 within minutes. Rules feel deliberately obscured, transforming gameplay into a frustrating exercise in guesswork rather than strategy. This lack of clarity erodes any potential enjoyment, leaving players bewildered and quick to abandon the mode entirely. While difficulty can be engaging, here it crosses into outright alienation, making Solitaire Dice feel less like a game and more like an unsolvable riddle without instructions.

Verdict

Clever bowling puzzle overshadowed by frustrating dice game

STRENGTHS

50%
Bowling Mechanics85%
Free Price100%
Innovative Concept75%

WEAKNESSES

50%
Opaque Scoring90%
Steep Learning70%
Frustration Level80%

Community Reviews

1 reviews
Gohst
Gohst
Trusted

Firstly, this game offers you two games at the cost of zero dollars. It’s free (like it should be on this site) and you get two games for the price of none. Double greatness. The first game is “Bowling Solitaire” which is a concept I found strange and confusing judging by its name, but in actual fact, it played surprisingly well. Essentially it’s a mathematics based game where you select a tile, for example a “7” and you add the numbers of up to three adjacent pins to form either “7”, “17”, or “27”. If you knock out all the pins in this manner, your score gets higher – scoring is based on typical Ten-Pin Bowling score. The second game is called “Solitaire Dice” which, as the rules say: “Scoring is quite difficult in this game” – and how! I only played this game a handful of times and managed to get negative 2400 points. I think it has something to do with those dots at the top of the screen. However, frustration and perplexity abounded and as such the game remains largely ignored in my mind. Never the less, the first of the two games is wholly interesting and perpetually exciting in my books. The smashing together of two very unrelated genres has proved once again that experimentation is the key to success. Download for two games. Keep for one.

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