Difficulty - am I missing something?

[visighost]

I sort of breezed through Knight Solitaire, which is very similar to this game, but I have to replay most levels several times in order to progress here, and that only when using jokers et al. Am I missing something or is this much harder/luck-dependent?

 

-Answering my own question here: most levels are impossible to finish without jokers, especially if you're going for the single shuffle in order to obtain Filled Hold. I would recommend a playthrough on Junior where you don't spend too much money, which should net you enough to be fairly liberal with your purchases on your Seawolf playthrough. As an indicator, I think I started Seawolf with 350k, and finished it with the same amount (most levels will net you roughly 10k, or the equivalent of 2 jokers). You don't need nearly as much, but that's what I obtained naturally through Junior. Good luck!

Edited June 29, 2018 by visighost
answered my own question

[ladynadiad]

I know you answered your question mostly and are likely long done with this but anyone else coming by may want to know why this game is harder than Knight Solitaire.

 

Pirate Solitaire is Match 2 type and Knight Solitaire is more like Pyramid Solitaire.  Match 2 solitaire games are very luck dependent because the majority of games out there don't ensure each shuffle is beatable.  I've seen some that don't even provide matches for every card dealt, as in you can be left with one special card and nothing to even use a joker on (Pirate Solitaire at least doesn't appear to have this issue, but I have played one on Steam that did have this issue).  A big part of why Match 2 is harder is because you only can use a card with one that matches the number, but any suit.  With Pyramid Solitaire type games you are looking for a card that is one higher or lower, of any suit, so you have more possible cards to use and a much higher chance of getting the card you need when only a few are left.  Match 2 types don't even guarantee the card you need can be found in the pile to draw from, the only matches could easily be under the card you need to match.

 

So yeah, pretty much it's going to be a matter of patience and retying a lot until you luck out and get what you need or the game takes pity on you and instead of yet another 499 coins it removes all the special cards, which is very rare but can happen.  And it's partially the type of solitaire this is, and partially the fact that this type of solitaire game tends to be so poorly made that you can't win every hand dealt without jokers or shuffles.

 

Best of luck to anyone playing this game because you'll need it!