If you enjoy solitaire games, then you should totally try Hot Streak Solitaire at Gamesville! It’s based off of tri-peaks solitaire, so named because of the three peaks (or pyramids) that form the playing field.
This isn’t a new game for Gamesville, but it recently got a complete makeover! Now you’re helping Poke move through the worlds. (He’s trying to get back home, poor thing!) Right now there are three worlds, but 4 & 5 are coming soon. At least, that’s what the map says. ^_^
Will there be more worlds beyond that? I have no idea, but I kinda hope so.
Each world has 12 levels. Basically, when you finish a level Poke waddles a little bit across the screen. ^_^ And in order to complete a level you’ll have to clear all of the cards from the playing field. How do you do that? Well…
The Basics
If you’ve never played tri-peaks solitaire, don’t worry! This is a pretty simple game. ^_^
Each round you’ll start with 28 cards creating the pyramids, and 23 cards at the bottom that create a “deal” pile.
There’s also one card that’s face-up in the bottom right corner. This is the discard pile, and this is where you’ll play all of your cards!
To play a card from the pyramids you just click on it, and if it’s a legal play it will automatically move to the discard pile. You can play cards that are either one step higher OR lower than the current card. For example, I could play either a 2 or a 4 on that 3 of clubs!
If you reach a point where you can’t play anything on the discard pile, click the draw pile to flip a card over. Play on the new card, if you can!
To finish a level you must remove all of the cards from the pyramids. The draw pile is just there to help you clear the level, and there’s NO penalty for having draw cards left over! However, if you run out of draw cards and you can’t play anything else, you lose the round and have to try the level again.
Rewards
For each completed level you’ll get 500 GVs and 1 sweepstakes ticket. On levels 4, 8 and 12 in each world you’ll win 10 sweepstakes tickets instead of 1!
This means that if you played all the way through the (current) three worlds, you’d earn 18,000 GVs and 117 tickets!! (Once you reach the end you start back at world 1.)
The sweeps drawing occurs each day at 12 am GMT (That’s 7 pm EST.) and is for a $10 prize. The prize is automatically doubled for Gold members, which means they win $20!
If you aren’t a Gold member but you like the sound of doubled prizes, well I have good news! Non-Gold members can get double winnings for a month!
This is completely legit, btw. You can read about it on the Hot Streak Solitaire rules page. ^_^
You’ll need a business size envelope, a 3x5 index card, postage, and something to write with. (I suggest a pen.) Write ALL of the following information on the card.
- Your full name
- Gamesville account name
- Your mailing address
- Date of birth (mm/dd/yyyy)
- Daytime phone number and e-mail address
"Gamesville Hot Streak Solitaire Automatic Prize Doubler "
c/o Lycos, Inc.
100 Fifth Ave.
Waltham, MA 02451-8703
As soon as they receive your entry you'll be eligible for a doubled prize for a MONTH!! Good luck to you! ^_^
Tips & Tricks
Score doesn’t affect how many GVs you’ll get, but the player with the highest score for the day is featured on the game page!
I haven’t been lucky enough (yet) to be the daily high score, but I came darned close!
Getting a HIGH score requires two abilities:
- Successfully clear levels one after the other.
- Create long streaks of cards.
Item #1 is the most important because you carry your score from one level to the next, but only if you clear the board. The first time you can’t finish a board, your score goes right back to zero and you start over. >_< (You only start over with score! You’re still on the same level, and Poke doesn’t take a step back or anything!)
Here are two tips for clearing the board.
1. Free the masses! Pick cards that reveal the most new cards.
Often in Hot Streak Solitaire you’ll have to choose between several paths. Whenever you have to choose between two (or more) cards, pick the card that will reveal the most cards directly below it.
In the picture below we can only play a 9 on that 10. (No Jacks around.) With two 9s on the board, which should we go for?
Oooh! Oooh! I know!!! *Waves hand*
The 9 of spades will reveal two new cards, whereas the 9 of clubs will only reveal one new card. Since we want to keep options open, we should pick the 9 of spades. Most likely we’ll use the 9 of clubs in a streak, but we still should use the 9 of spades first.
2. Free the populace! Pick cards that free up the lowest tier.
Sometimes your options will all reveal the same amount of cards. When that’s the case, go for the card that’s on the lowest tier.
In the picture below we have to choose between two 10s. Both will reveal only one card.
Mmhmm. I see!
However, the 10 of spades is on the lowest tier, which means that more cards are “trapped” by it. (Three trapped cards, vs the 10 of diamonds’ two trapped cards.) In this case, I would definitely opt for the 10 of spades.
Take time to look at what’s below each card before you pick it. You don’t want to end up with a board that looks like this! *Points down*
That Jack has five cards pinned under it and no other cards to play off of. Even if we’re lucky and get a 10 or a Queen, it’s unlikely that we’ll get exactly what we need to clear the remaining cards.
And for the record, I lost that hand. XD
Let’s move on to streaks!
A streak is when you play two or more cards in a row, without needing to flip a card over from the draw pile. The longer a streak is, the more points it’s worth!
I tried to figure the formula out, but I got confused. *^_^* (If someone else has figured it out, please tell me!)
In addition to the awesome points, creating a streak fills up the multiplier bar!
Once your streak is over the multiplier bar stays where it is, so you can get the bonus on the next cards you play! However, the multiplier bar empties a little for every card you pull from the draw pile. Creating a new streak will fill it up again!
To give you an idea of how powerful streaks are, I have a little story for you. ^_^ (No pic because I didn’t think to take one. So sorry!)
I got on a roll with the cards and created a streak of 18! Then I looked at my score and nearly fell out of my chair. I had over 200,000 points, and that was my first hand!!! o_O Streaks are definitely worth taking time for!
So, how do you build better streaks? Well, the first step is to stop thinking of card order as linear. (A2345678910JQK) Instead, think of the card sequence as a circle.
It all connects! Every card has two other cards that it can be played on. And you can create streaks that move up and down. For example, you might play a streak similar to this: Q-J-Q-K-A-2-A-2-3
Here’s a simple streak for an example. We have a 3 on the discard pile and we also have a 4 and a 2 on the board. Which should we play?
If we play the 2 then the best streaks we could build are 2-3-4 or 2-A-K. But if we play the 4 we can make a streak that goes 4-3-2-A-K. That’s definitely the better option! And if we’re lucky, there might be cards underneath to extend the streak. *Crosses fingers*
Learning to build long streaks takes patience and practice. But you can’t forget everything that you learned about clearing the board too! If you ever have to pick between extending a streak over freeing buried cards, free the cards. The bonus points from the streak are useless if you can’t finish the board!
Final Rating
I’ll admit, I had a hard time writing about the new Hot Streak Solitaire. Why? Because whenever I sat down to play and get some pics I’d completely lose track of time. Seriously, hours would fly by before I remembered what I was supposed to do. Oops. *^_^*
So yes, I really enjoy this game! It’s addictive, easy to play, and looks great! I kinda want to finish this guide so I can play a few more rounds before bed. *Innocent whistle*
I rate Hot Streak Solitaire 5 out of 5 stars!
How about you? What would you rate it? Any tips to share? What other worlds should Poke visit?
For a glimpse of what it took to put Hot Streak Solitaire together, check out the Free2WinGames’ interview with the artist, Nick Sherman!
Similar Games
If you like solitaire-type games then you should give some of these a shot too!
- Pyramid Solitaire at IWON – Clear the pyramid by pairing up cards that equal 13! (It’s really freakin’ hard.)
- Treasure Hunter at Spigo – This is part tri-peaks and part bejeweled. Very fun!
- Rainy Day Spider Solitaire at Pogo – If you like Spider Solitaire you should definitely try the Pogo version. It’s really cute. ^_^