Review: Peg Solitaire (WiiU eShop)

Today I’m going to tell you about a little game by RCMADIAX, called Peg Solitaire. I’m very familiar with these puzzles because they have them in some of our local restaurants to pass the time. However, I never thought I’d see a Peg Solitaire title in the WiiU eshop. In this strategic puzzle game you must jump each peg, taking them out one at a time. You can only jump pegs that are next to each other. The main goal is to get rid of all the pegs, except one. Simple right?

Well, maybe a bit too simple. When starting up the game you’re greeted by the title screen, which isn’t bad looking but it could definitely use a little more pizazz. When you press start you are taken to the level selection screen. Sadly there are no other options or gameplay modes. Just 14 levels which you can play in any order you prefer. The puzzle shapes and sizes change as the levels go up. Difficulty has to do with how good you are at Peg Solitaire. My girlfriend Patty, whizzed through all 14 levels in a little under an hour. So the pros won’t get much game time outta this one.

I actually didn’t mind Peg Solitaires simplicity, until I had played for a little while. It’s gets kind of stale after a short amount of time. I would have enjoyed it a little more if there was a timer or maybe some challenges. There’s just no real motivation for playing. Not to say it’s a horrible experience but it’s definitely not something I’d prefer to play on a console. I personally think the 3DS or a smartphone/tablet would have been much better for this type of game but that’s just me.

I assumed that once you had beaten a few levels the game would expand a bit more but I was wrong. There is no customization, extra levels or anything for that matter. Not even any options on the main menu screen. I thought it would be neat if you could customize your peg shapes, or colors. Even changing the background and music would be nice. All controls are done using the touch screen, which is appropriate for this type of game. Everything works well and is easy to figure out. If you don’t know how to play you can tap the info button to get a quick refresher on the rules. There is also a level restart button, and an undo button (Undo can only be used once after each move).

Visually the game isn’t anything exciting but it doesn’t need to be ‘extravagant’ seeing as it is a simple puzzle game. Like I said earlier though, a little customization and color wouldn’t hurt. The pegs are green in every level and the board is a white grid like pattern. So it can be a tad underwhelming. The music playing in the background isn’t bad though. It reminds me of the game Harvest Moon. Repetitive, but upbeat. However if you’re stuck on a level too long it can get irritating.

Overall Peg Solitaire is not a bad game. It does everything it needs to do, but in a very safe, semi boring way. I’ve reviewed a few of RCMADIAX’ previous games and I’ve had the same problem. Good attempts, but nothing to grab, and hold my attention. However If you do enjoy Peg Solitaire I recommend trying it out, seeing as the game is only $1.49, it wouldn’t hurt to give it shot.