A beginner's guide to Theme Solitaire - a new Solitaire-cum-tower builder for mobile

If you love traditional card games but wish for a bit of added excitement then Theme Solitaire has you covered. It's the latest casual card game from Buff Studio and it blends all the classic elements of Solitaire with the fun and creativity of a tower building game. Best of all, it's all been nicely packaged together with an extremely cute art style and an adorable ensemble of characters.

To make sure you and your tower have the perfect foundations to build on, we've put together this little introductory guide to get you started. Let's begin...

The basics

At its core, Theme Solitaire abides by the same rules and style as traditional Tri-Peaks Solitaire.

There are two sections to the play area; the stock pile nearest the bottom of the screen, and the tableau (the area with the overlapping cards) above the stock pile. The object of the game is to transfer all the cards from the tableau to the stock pile by taking cards that are 1 higher or lower in value than the face-up card in the stock pile, and placing them on top of it.

If you run out of options with your tableau cards, simply click on the stock pile to replace the current face-up card. If you still find yourself stuck or you make a mistake then you can always spend gold to undo your last move.

Think carefully about which cards you wish to play as there are combo rewards on offer for drawing three or more cards from the tableau in succession.

Each game will also come with a timer. Thankfully you won't be penalised for failing to complete a stage before it runs out, but there are extra bonus points on offer if you do manage to finish with time to spare.

Boosters and artefacts

If you find yourself stuck and don't wish to dip into your precious gold reserves to get out of trouble, don't despair. Theme Solitaire provides you with various boosters and artefacts to help you out. Artefacts in particular carry with them special abilities that you can equip before each stage.You'll also occasionally discover special material cards during play that you can use to craft artefacts.

Growing your tower

Construction isn't a cheap business. If you want to grow and renovate your tower it'll require time and money. Rubies and gold are your go to currency and the best way to get them is through clearing Solitaire stages. Luckily there are over 200 stages in total so you won't be found wanting for money.

You have the choice of adding new floors or customising the ones already built with new decorations and themes. There are eleven themes in total, each based on popular fairy tales like Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Pinocchio. The most charming part is that each theme comes with its own unique set of characters that interact with you as you play.

All in all Theme Solitaire is a very easy and creative spin on traditional Solitaire and the perfect antidote for those that have always struggled to master it.

If you'd like to give it a go then you can find it available to download right now from the App Store and Google Play.