Game Review: "Disney Solitaire" Puts a Fun and Fresh Spin on a Familiar Mobile Game Staple

A new Disney-inspired mobile game is making its way to your phone this week as Disney Solitaire is now available to download from the App Store or Google Play Store. In this game, you’ll draw cards and make connections to add all of the cards on the board to your deck — navigating a few other elements along the way (and creating streaks to earn bonuses). Plus, with Disney Solitaire, you’ll be plopped into scenes from your favorite Disney stories and, as you complete levels, you’ll be able to add to those scenes until they’re complete.

The game starts off with a tale as old as time: Beauty and the Beast. You’ll also enter the world of Disney Solitaire with a handful of coins, which you’ll need in order to try a level. By the way, if you do run out of coins, there is an hourly bonus so you won’t be left out for long.

Back to the story, as you complete levels, you’ll collect stars that can then be used to add to the scene. For example, in this first scene, I was able to use my stars to decorate the ballroom and, eventually, activate Belle’s grand entrance. Once I’d completed all of the levels in the scene and redeemed my stars, the power couple even shared their iconic dance. And with that, I was off to the next scene, The Little Mermaid.

When I first saw screenshots of Disney Solitaire, it heavily reminded me of the Solitaire Grand Harvest that I admittedly play frequently. Sure enough, having explored the first few levels of Disney Solitaire, there are some definite comparisons to be made in terms of boosts, features, and even paid products. That said, they're far from identical. I won’t bore you by listing all the ways in which they differ, but I will note that, even just a few levels in, I encountered some gameplay elements that felt fresh and didn’t have a direct parallel to my other game.

I’ll also say that I enjoyed the overall look and aesthetic of Disney Solitaire. On my iPhone 16e, the game was snappy and responsive. In fact, it may even be a little too responsive as there are multiple instances where I accidentally drew two cards instead of one. I eventually learned to be a bit more careful, but just a heads up if you’re one to speed run through these types of games.

At launch, there are 20 available scenes going from Beauty and the Beast to Coco (with Encato being the most recent property represented). However, the arrival of several more are teased — including some featuring non Walt Disney Animation Studios or Pixar properties such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, A Goofy Movie, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Since there are so many listed, I wouldn’t be surprised if these rolled out slowly throughout the year. Perhaps that means we'll see Nightmare around Halloween? That’s just my guess.

While Disney Solitaire is free to play, as mentioned, it does offer some paid powerups with various supplies. These start at $1.99 (for 10,000 coins) but go up to $49.99 (a package that includes 340,000 coins, 8 wild cards, 8 extra card packs, 8 undo moves, and “free" play tickets). However, the trade off here is that the game is free of third-party ads, which is nice. Additionally, although you will get some pop-ups for various in-game promotions and purchase opportunities, I haven’t ever felt bombarded with these during my short time playing the game.

All in all, I’ve found Disney Solitaire to be really fun so far. For me, it definitely scratches the same itch as similar games while adding well-integrated Disney elements. In fact, I’d say I prefer the gameplay of this option (so far) since there don’t appear to be as many different side missions I need to navigate. Ultimately, if you’re a Disney fan, I think you’ll find something to enjoy in Disney Solitaire — but, as always, do beware of the in-game purchases.