Solitaire Cruise Guide: Tips, Tricks & Strategies to Never Run Out of Gold and Clear Levels Quickly

Solitaire Cruise is a mobile game that puts a fresh spin on the classic tripeaks card game we all know and love. Developed by Belka Games, the studio behind titles such as Clockmaker and Bermuda Adventures, the new arrival takes you on a series of trips across the world, while putting your card game skills to the test.

Have you ever wanted to embark on a cruise? Solitaire Cruise takes you on a virtual sea voyage during which you’re invited to solve all kinds of solitaire puzzles in order to discover colorful new locations all over the world. There are also hidden side stories waiting for you at each new stop for further entertainment.

If you played mobile solitaire tripeaks games before, Solitaire Cruise doesn’t really diverge much from the norm in terms of gameplay. The only real variation comes from the special cards which populate the challenges and make beating levels a more complex affair.

That being said, Solitaire Cruise is a game that can get hard fast. If you too are having issues clearing stages with ease, then you have come to the right place. We’ve put together a Solitaire Cruise guide in which we detail a list of tips and tricks that are meant to help you better understand the mechanics at play here and give you some insight into how you can improve your strategy. Keep reading below to find out more.

1. Don’t Be Hasty When Deciding Your Next Move

You might be tempted to rush through a level, but our recommendation is to try and slow your pace down, so you can ensure making the right decisions regarding what card to choose next.

In Solitaire Cruise, like in any solitaire tripeaks game, you will deal with all kinds of diverse card layouts. A level starts with only a few cards face-up, but your goal is to open all cards on the playfield and move them to the waste pile by following a very simple condition – pick the card that is one point higher or lower than the top card in the deck underneath.

In case you can’t match the top card with anything on the board, you have to draw another one from the deck and so on until you get one that you can use. The aim is to remove all cards from the board until your deck runs dry.

You can achieve this result by paying extra attention when deciding which card to remove next. Don’t just match the top card with any other cards on the board. Try to think with a few moves in advance in order to determine the best path. If you don’t concentrate enough, you might even end up overlooking a match because you didn’t pay attention to the playfield long enough. Sure you can fix the error, but that will cost you precious boosters, as we will explain later in this guide.

2. Create Long Sequences Of Cards

Now you’re probably thinking: how can I ensure I’m picking the right cards? First of all, there will be instances when the main deck card is compatible with only one other card from the playfield, in which case there’s really no choice involved. All you have to do is locate the card on the tableau and remove it by matching it with the deck card below.

But what happens when the deck card is compatible with multiple cards on the playfield? Which one do you pick? Here’s where things get a bit more complex. One way to determine if you should pick a certain card is to check what other cards are currently face-up and see if you can continue to match with them. Let’s look at an example where you have a 9 as your main deck card. By looking at the tableau, you’ll notice that you could pair it with an 8, but also with a 10 (check out the outline in the screenshot below). So which one do you go for? Our suggestion is to select the one which leads towards the creation of a longer sequence of cards.

Another reason you should make it a goal to create longer sequences of cards is this: you can create streaks.  Build sequences of 4, 5 cards or more and you’ll earn a Star, as well as additional cards which will be placed in the deck below thus boosting your chances of clearing the level. Stars are a currency needed to unlock your next travelling location in the game, so the more you can score during a level the better.

Note that any card you remove from the tableau counts towards the streak – be it red of black. However, if you can build an all-black or all-red streak all the better, as the prizes will increase. Unfortunately, the chances of you being able to achieve that are pretty slim, but it’s something to strive towards nevertheless.

3. Uncover All Face-Down Cards Quickly

Another important aspect to keep in mind when deciding which cards to remove next is to opt for those which are sitting on top large piles of other cards. It’s crucial that you uncover all the face-down cards as quickly as possible, and so when given the choice between two cards make sure you go for the one that’s hiding more cards underneath. If the other choice is a single card, just pick the other one. Unless you can use the former to build a large sequence.

Let’s look at an example, as illustrated above. The main deck card can be matched with the 4 card, but also the 6 card. The sequences you can make are of the same length as follows:

1. 5 – 4 – 3
2. 5 – 6 – 7

So based on this evaluation, which one of these options should you pick? By looking at the tableau, you’ll see that the fist sequence ends up uncovering 3 new cards (including the one in the middle sitting between 3 and 4), while the second one only reveals 2. Without knowing which new cards will get revealed in the process (maybe the 6 sits on top of an 8, which would allow you to continue the sequence) the first variant seems to be the better choice here.

4. Log In The Game As Frequently As Possible To Redeem All The Free Cash

Solitaire Cruise suffers from a major inconvenience – it makes you pay with gold coins for each new level you wish to take up. That’s all nice and fine in the beginning when you can balance these costs out by clearing levels without any additional aids and win back the cash you’ve spend in the first place (plus a little extra), but as you progress the fee gets increasingly larger and the levels exceedingly harder to pass.

Randomness is also a major component in games such as Solitaire Cruise. That being the case, you’ll often have to deal with decks filled with unusable cards that force you to shuffle through them at the speed of light. Honestly it does seem like the game is plotting against you sometimes.

We’ve experienced many instances during which we just kept drawing the “wrong” cards from the deck, while we had only a few cards left to remove from the playfield. Even with a couple of power-ups, we couldn’t manage to complete the level. It got frustrating. In cases like these, no amount of planning and strategy will help really.  So you are left with two choices – either accept defeat and spend cash on a new level or use the boosters the game puts at your disposal to prologue the current gaming session – for as long as it takes. The trouble is, both options cost money and lots of them.

To make sure you’re getting a steady supply of cash, we encourage you to log into the game as frequently as possible (ideally on an hourly basis) and redeem the free cash rewards. In addition, make sure you take up the free ad offers in the shop which get refreshed every hour to supplement your finances. We know that not everyone will have the patience to do that, and it’s understandable. Solitaire Cruise bombards you with all sorts of ads all the time, so some players might want to do everything in their power to reduce the numbers they watch just to retain their sanity.

But if you like playing the game, taking up our suggestion will only improve things for you. Moreover, don’t hesitate to take up the sporadic “increase your earnings” ad offers which might pop up at the end of some levels. The point is to maximize your coin flow, because you’re going to need a lot of cash if you want to get far and visit all the 25 venues the game has to offer.

5. Don’t Spend Coins On Furniture, But Do Take Advantage Of Other Events

Hoarding gold coins like a dragon should be your main focus in this game. For this reason, it would be best if you could ignore all the invites from various in-game characters to spend cash on decorating rooms during certain events. Indeed, participating in these challenges might win you additional prizes (in the form of Boosters, coins and more), but honestly pouring funds into following the main story line, as well as alternate ones is simply too much.

You should rather focus on those types of events that offer access to rewards without getting you to spend extra. For instance, while the Cooking event is going on you’ll be automatically collecting ingredients when playing solitaire levels. Then you can go back to the event and use these food stuffs to cook delicious dishes. Make enough and you’ll be able to unlock various prizes which may consist of coins. In addition, you should make it a point to visit each event every day and spend whatever in-event currency you might have accumulated so far. Don’t just forget about them, you might miss out on some nice rewards.

So remember, abstain from spending additional coins on events. Target those that don’t ask that you invest more money, and reap the benefits. Sure, if you ever reach a stage in the game where you don’t have to worry about cash anymore, you’re welcome to invest in the other story arcs. But at least during the initial stages of the game, you should focus spending your finances on moving the main storyline forward.

6. Spend Boosters In A Controlled Fashion

Solitaire Cruise can get quite frustrating at times as instances where you won’t be able to finish a level from the first get-go are pretty common. Actually the game seems designed to encourage booster use as much as possible which come in all shapes and sizes.

For starters, there are the power-ups that can be activated while in-game. The first one is the Back booster which can recall the previous main deck card. If you realized you’ve glossed over a potential match, bringing back the previous card in the deck can be extremely useful. Despite having this option at your beck and call, we recommend not becoming overly reliant on it. Instead, concentrate and scan the tableau carefully before deciding what your next move should be. If you concentrate a little bit, you won’t make mistakes. Save the booster for exceptional situations instead.

Another power-up becomes available once you failed to beat a level on your own. It can add 5 extra cards to your deck. While this option can be quite useful, it makes sense to use it only in instances where you have a handful of cards left in the tableau. If you have more than 3 left, it would be a stretch to assume that you’ll find matches for all of them in the extra 5 card bundle.

Lastly, Wild Cards are another type of booster you can use while playing a level. These basically act like Joker cards, meaning you can match them with anything you have on the tableau. They can do wonders for your gameplay, but they are come at a cost.

While all these boosters have its uses, remember that most are quite expensive. What’s more, as you use more and more of them, the price just goes up. It’s tempting to keep on using these helpers, but if you continue doing so you soon won’t be able to sustain the habit financially.

That being said, failing a level will entail spending additional money to unlock a new one. Just keep in mind that in Solitaire Cruise you don’t get to replay the same level. If you’ve failed a level, you won’t be able to return to it and give it another shot. Instead the game generates a new challenge for you. Sometimes these are easier to beat, but we can’t be sure whether the game is geared towards offering you breezier follow-up challenges. It’s up to you to decide if you believe you have a better chance of beating a new level or whether you should stick to the game you already invested in.

By the way, you don’t always have to pay to use these boosters. You can also win some. Make sure you redeem the daily gift and spin the fortune wheel once you’ve accumulated enough stars. You also get access to a nice bundle of goodies every time you unlock a new location in the game. If you have free boosters to spare, then you can go ahead and use them without a problem whenever you feel the situation calls for that.

Furthermore, the game also offers an extra set of boosters which should be equipped before starting a level. These include options such as Gold Rush which brings 50% more coins in levels and Color Chaser that will remove all cards of a certain color from the board.

The only problem is that these power-ups are super expensive. For instance, the Color Chaser will take you back with 25,000 coins which is way too much. Again, once you’ve secured enough cash by all means go ahead and spend it however you like, but at least during the initial part of the game you should stay away from making these kinds of purchases.

7. Get Rid Of The Obstacle Cards Immediately

Like all Solitaire tripeaks we’ve played so far, Solitaire Cruise comes with its own share of obstacle cards which show up on the tableau making it harder for you to complete the puzzle. When playing such challenges, you should focus on removing these special cards as soon as possible.

This holds especially true if you’re dealing with the Time bomb card which, if left unattended, will explode and obliterate everything in its wake, subsequently causing you to fail the level. In other situations, not getting rid of the obstacle card in time might not have such grave consequences but it could still hinder you chances of beating the level.

So whether you’re dealing with the Frozen obstacle card or the Monkey card, you need to focus your attention on them first. Ignore the fact that another card might be a better match for the main deck card, and just remove the obstacle from the equation.

Not all odd cards are obstacle cards. Some can be helpful. For instance, removing the green cards from the tableau will add an extra 2 cards in your deck for each. In addition, the Jackpot card can get you an additional cash prize once released into the wild.

This concludes our Solitaire Cruise guide. If you’ve uncovered any other tricks while playing the game yourself which you weren’t able to find in this guide, don’t hesitate to let us know via the comment section below!