Ahh Solitaire, a game that’s been rocking personal computers since their inception. We’re the first to admit that although Solitaire has aged rather gracefully, a modern Solitaire game needs to pack a bit more if it wants our attention. Thankfully Namco is there with their new twist on the same old game, Solitaire: Deck of Cods.

Deck of Cods is essentially the classic game of Golf Solitaire, with the twist being that not only are you playing cards your fishing for the big catch! As strange as this may seem Namco might be onto something because the game is surprisingly addictive. Your goal is to use the deck and the piles of cards to create card runs, for example 7,6,7,6,5,4,5. By creating larger chains of cards, the size of your catch increases. The game is progressed by playing individual levels each with their own objective such as, catch 3 fish, or land a 12 inch catch.

The game does what it promises, in that it is indeed a refreshing break from the same old solitaire games. However the games downside comes in its low difficulty. Although the game is beginner friendly, once you pick up on the fundamentals it becomes fairly easy. This is remedied somewhat by the inclusion of a trophy hall where you can post to Facebook and show off your most impressive haul. The game also lends itself to bragging rights through its Bluetooth multiplayer where you and a friend can faceoff in a card stacking fish luring brawl.

Graphically Deck of Cods works well for what its trying to accomplish, however a bit more animation in the backgrounds would help. The game supports iPod music library compatibility, but the soundtrack is quite satisfactory and downright entertaining in some stages.

Namco has done a great job creating an app that brings much needed entertainment back to Solitaire and with a variety of features and Bluetooth support, Solitaire: Deck of Cods is more then the $0.99 price tag. Because of the low difficulty but surprising fun and features we give Namco’s Solitaire: Deck of Cods Four Dimples.

Solitaire: Deck of Cods gets our AppSmile 4-Dimple rating: