Fairway: patience golf over nine holes in Games by Zaweba

Fairway is patience played like a round of golf. Over nine holes you try to clear seven columns of cards onto one pile in as few strokes as you can, and as in golf, the lowest total wins. It is a one-player game on the Cards shelf of Games by Zaweba, and the par for the round is 36.

What makes it lovely is how quickly a hole goes. Each one is a short burst of play, and the scorecard over nine holes gives you a reason to keep going.

How each hole is played

The cards are dealt into seven columns, with a stock and a waste pile. You may play the bottom card of any column onto the waste if it is one higher or one lower than the card showing there. Suits do not matter. A seven can go on a six or an eight, whatever the suit, and then the next card can be one either side of that seven.

When no column has a card that fits, turn the next card from the stock onto the waste. That gives you a fresh card to build from, but it uses up the stock, and the stock is your safety net.

Strokes, stock and par 36

Each hole scores the cards left in the columns. Fewer cards left means a lower, better score. If you clear every column, the cards still in the stock count off your score, so a hole finished with stock to spare can go below zero.

After nine holes the scores are added, and the lowest total wins. Par 36 means an average of four cards left on each hole. Beating that is a good round.

Clicking, dragging and the Space key

You can click or drag a bottom card to the waste, and click the stock to turn a card. Space does two jobs: it turns the stock, and at the end of a hole it moves you on to the next. Z undoes a move, which is handy when you realise a different card would have kept a longer run going.

Looking for runs, not single plays

The trick in Fairway is to look for runs rather than single plays. If you have a choice between two cards that both fit, think about what each leaves you. Playing a five onto a six might open a four in the column behind it, which then lets you play a three from somewhere else. Picking the card that keeps the chain alive is usually better than picking the first card you see.

Remember that you can go both up and down. A run might go six, seven, six, five, four, and each step can come from a different column. Keeping both directions in mind finds moves that are easy to miss.

Try not to turn the stock too early. Every card in the stock is a card that can count off your score if you clear the hole, so it is worth playing every column card you can before you reach for a new one.

Why it suits short sessions

Fairway in Games by Zaweba fits neatly into a few spare minutes. A single hole is over quickly, and Esc pauses the game if you need to stop between holes. Your best score is kept on the game's tile in the library, which gives you a target for the next round. It makes a pleasant contrast with the longer, more patient games on the Cards shelf, and it rewards a sharp eye more than careful planning.