Fairway Solitaire Blast features the return of the famed gopher McDivot and his band of woodland friends. Flanked by a sexy gopher, an aviating pelican, and a hat-loving snake, McDivot continues his quest to wreak havoc on the golf course that took over his lovely home.

Fairway Solitaire Blast is an interesting combination of a traditional card game backed by a Caddyshack-like storyline.

Each hole in Fairway Solitaire Blast is laid out with an array of cards you must clear by playing one higher or lower than the card displayed at the bottom. Work your way through the cards to clear the board and advance to the next hole.

The concept itself is very simple, and it doesn’t take much to catch on to the gameplay. After the first few holes, you will need to incorporate some strategy to complete the courses without losing lives.

Fairway Solitaire Blast is full of unique bonus cards and power ups that help you clear the board without relying on the deck of cards at the bottom. There are limited deck cards available, and they need to last through all three rounds, so if you hit a dead end with your solitaire, you will need to rely on bonuses to avoid going through the entire deck.

If you deplete the deck of cards before clearing the board, you lose a life and have to play the board over. Power ups won’t stay with you as you advance boards so don’t hesitate to use them when necessary.

As with any free to play game, you can, of course, purchase power ups and extra lives through in-app purchases to increase your chances of completing the holes.

Fairway Solitaire Blast also contains a social component that allows you to connect with Facebook friends and ask for bonuses. I’m both cheap and anti-social so I would rather just wait for the lives to regenerate after a period of time.

The storyline behind Fairway Solitaire Blast is cute and whimsical with the cartoon mascots. The music is similarly child-like and drew the attention of my two-year old. She then insisted that she could do it herself if I would give her my phone. Honestly, she probably could navigate through the first few rounds because they are so easy.

Once you advance beyond the basics, the holes get much tougher, and you eventually get to a point where it’s nearly impossible to advance without falling back on in-app purchases. At that point, I lose interest in the game, as I refuse to pay for something that’s promoted as free. In all, the game is fun to play as long as you don’t set out to conquer every level.