Solitaire Royale Review [2024]: I Won, Sort Of

What I learned from playing

• Solitaire Royale is easy to use, especially if you already know how to play Klondike Solitaire.
• The app sends withdrawals to your payment method on file first (anything over that will go to PayPal), but you must have at least $5 in winnings before you can check out.
• You must play the low-level tournaments until you unlock the higher-value options at levels 10 and 15.
• Playing quickly in Solitaire Royale is more important than completing the deck.
• All bonus cash is forfeited when you make a withdrawal.

Is Solitaire Royale legit?

Solitaire Royale is a legitimate, skills-based app that allows players to compete in cash tournaments to win real money. Lucky Day Entertainment, Inc. developed the app, and it is available on the Apple App Store. Solitaire Royale has a 4.9 out of 5-star rating and more than 63,000 reviews. It is not available for Android devices.

You must pay an entry fee to enter each tournament. Players will likely need to play for a long time or deposit cash to cover some of the larger fees. Unlike some other gaming apps, Solitaire Royale will pay out, but it could take up to 14 days to receive your money.

What is Solitaire Royale?

Game	4.6 FinanceBuzz writers and editors score products and companies on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence our ratings.
Developer	Lucky Day Entertainment, Inc.
Compatible systems	iPhone iPad
Minimum entry fee (for cash tournaments)	$1
Minimum withdrawal amount	$5
Withdrawal processing fee	$1
Withdrawal methods	Refund to the original deposit method PayPal for additional balances
States that prohibit cash tournaments	Arizona Louisiana South Carolina
Game Modes	Token games: 20 tokens entry fee Rookie: $1 entry fee Combo: $1 + 500 tokens entry fee Transfer: 1,000 tokens entry fee (cash prize) Expert: $3 entry fee Master: $5 entry fee Pro: $15 entry fee Genius: $35 entry fee Jackpots: varies
	Download Solitaire Royale

Solitaire Royale is a classic Klondike Solitaire game. Like the original card game, players must sort a deck of cards into four suits in ascending order from Ace to King. As you play against a five-minute clock, you arrange cards by alternate color in descending order and move cards from the main area, called the “tableau,” into four piles at the top.

The faster you sort the deck into the four piles, the higher your score will be.

Solitaire Royale matches players of similar skill in tournaments to win cash prizes. There are multiple tournament options for cash games, or you could play for the in-app currency of tokens if you don’t want to play for cash.

Solitaire is my favorite online game, and Solitaire Royale is a good option for people who want to play for money. The game is challenging, but you could win if you play for long enough and develop some strategies.

One of my least favorite things about the app is that it pushes you to deposit cash to enter higher-stakes tournaments faster. Otherwise, Solitaire Royale doesn’t have ads, which is nice compared to some other gaming apps I’ve tried.

My gameplay experience with Solitaire Royale

Solitaire Royale works like other Solitaire games I’ve tried. It has nice graphics and plays easily on both the Apple devices I used for testing.

I played Solitaire Royale for five hours across three days. During that time, I played in 18 tournaments against groups of five to six other players and two Jackpot tournaments with thousands of players.

After downloading the game, I received a brief tutorial and entered a practice match. As a welcome gift, I received tokens and a little bonus cash, which helped me enter my first tournament against four other players. The entry fee was 20 tokens, and the prize pool was $1.

After your first game, the lowest cash tournament is called Rookie, with an entry fee of $1 and a prize of $4. The highest level is Genius, which has a $145 prize pool for a $35 entry fee. This tournament only unlocks after you reach level 15.

One thing I didn’t like about Solitaire Royale is that it doesn’t have a large tournament selection compared to other apps I've tried. It only has nine games, including a token-only match, a mixed token and cash game, and a limited-time jackpot.

It has four small cash tournaments with entry fees of $1, $3, and $5, or $1 and 500 tokens. These small amounts make it accessible to people who want to play for fun and earn a little cash. However, after the $5 entry fee, it jumps to $15 and then $35 with no other game options, so if you want a bigger challenge, you have to risk more money in entry fees.

Additionally, Solitaire Royale does not offer head-to-head or small-group tournaments. It only offers games for six, seven, or ten people or jackpot games for unlimited players. This limits your earnings because Solitaire Royale splits the prize pools among the highest scorers in a tournament.

Tips for getting higher scores in Solitaire Royale

While Solitaire Royale is one of the legit games that pay real money, you still need to develop a strategy that helps you earn the highest scores possible.

To help you have a better chance at some prize money, consider the following things.

Play fast

Your goal in Solitaire Royale is to finish the deck of cards as quickly as possible. Each game lasts five minutes, and if you finish before the clock runs out, you’ll receive a time bonus added to your final score. The faster you finish, the higher your time bonus will be.

Practice completing the deck as quickly as possible to maximize your game points and take advantage of the time bonus.

Don’t be afraid to end early

Solitaire Royale allows you to cycle through the draw pile in the top right corner only once per game. After that, it deducts 20 points every time you reshuffle the pile.

If you run out of moves, consider ending the game early. You’ll preserve the points you earned and get the time bonus, adding to your final score. You won't be able to complete the game deck by ending early, but you may still win or place in a tournament if your score is higher than your competitors.

Use tokens to practice

In Solitaire Royale, tokens are easier to earn than cash and could be a great way to practice without losing your deposited money or bonus cash.

You earn tokens by logging in daily, participating in short-term events, or as bonuses for reaching higher levels in the game. The app will even award you ten tokens for watching an ad through the Gifts section of the main menu.

Look at prize breakdowns before entering.

Solitaire Royale splits its prize pools, so you never win the advertised amount. Each tournament has a different prize distribution depending on the size of the prize pool and the number of players.

Before entering a tournament, tap on the information to see the prize breakdown and ensure it's worth your time. You might find that some tournaments don’t earn you enough to spend time playing.

For example, the Rookie game, which costs you $1 to play, only awards $2 for first place, meaning you only make a $1 profit. Second place receives $1.50, so the profit is only $0.50. Third place only wins $0.50.

While I like that more people make money by splitting the pool, seeing that you only won $2 after seeing a $4 prize advertised can be disappointing.

Bonus opportunities

In addition to the basic tournaments, Solitaire Royale has ways to earn tokens or bonus cash that aren’t necessarily related to Solitaire. These are:

• Jackpots: Jackpots are limited-time tournaments with a bigger prize pool and theoretically unlimited players. One jackpot I played in offered a $1,000 prize pool for a $5 entry fee. The first-place winner received $100, the second-place winner $60, and the third-place winner $40. Fourth and fifth place received $30. The 81st through 100 place players each received $2.

That’s a much better potential profit than most of the other Solitaire Royale tournaments, but you are competing against potentially thousands of other players. The Jackpot game I played had 1,895 players and I came in 985th (so I didn’t win anything).

• Bonus cash: In addition to awarding you tokens, Solitaire Royale will give you bonus cash for some activities. The fastest way to receive bonus cash is to deposit your own money. The more you deposit, the more bonus cash you’ll receive. In addition, if you invite friends, you will receive $1 in bonus cash.

  You could use bonus cash to enter tournaments but can’t withdraw it. When you withdraw your winnings, you will also forfeit your bonus cash, so weigh your options carefully.

• Card albums: As part of the side activities included in Solitaire Royale, players can collect cards after reaching level 15. You’ll receive bonus cash and tokens if you complete all albums within a specific time frame. However, to complete the album on time, you likely need to purchase packs of cards.
• Teams: If you’re on a team in Solitaire Royale, you could work with your teammates to win bigger prizes and create a sense of community within the app. You could work together on side games to find keys and open treasure chests that grant the entire team additional rewards.

How much money can you make on Solitaire Royale?

As part of my testing, I deposited $15 and received $15 in bonus cash as a reward for making the deposit, so I had a wallet total of $30.

As I looked through my tournament history, I was excited. I won $20 over 14 games (the other six games I played for tokens).

However, when I added up all the cash entry fees, I spent $24.00. I ultimately lost $4 playing Solitaire Royale. I was disappointed, but I still enjoyed playing.

It was a good reminder that even though you might feel like you’re winning, you must factor in what you're spending to do so.

For example, the Genius tournament has an entry fee of $35 and a prize pool of $145. At first glance, it sounds like someone who won the game would make a profit of $110.

However, with the split prize pool, first place receives $75 (a $40 profit), second place receives $45 (a $10 profit), and third place receives $25 (a loss of $10). The fourth, fifth, and sixth places don’t receive anything, even tokens, and lose their entry fee.

If you want to make money quickly, you’ll probably be better off with a side hustle or part-time job rather than relying on a game app.

How do you withdraw money from Solitaire Royale?

Solitaire Royale’s withdrawal process is straightforward, but you must wait to receive your money, even after approval.

You must have at least $5 in withdrawable balance (not bonus cash) to qualify for a withdrawal. Solitaire Royale will take $1 of every withdrawal as a processing fee.

To start the withdrawal process, tap the three horizontal lines in the upper right-hand corner of the app.

Then click on Account. A menu showing your transaction history will appear, and the withdraw button will appear on the right.

Tap the button, enter the amount you’d like to withdraw, then enter the email address associated with your PayPal account.

Despite having to enter the email address associated with your PayPal account, Solitaire Royale will send your winnings back to the payment method you used to make a deposit first. Any overage is sent via PayPal if you withdraw more than you initially deposited.

Solitaire Royale says withdrawal requests could take up to 14 days to process and can only be made one at a time.

I entered my withdrawal request for $25 ($20 winnings and $5 of my cash deposit) and, a day later, received an email saying Solitaire Royale had approved it. However, it took an additional four days to see the deposit reflected on my credit card.

What are other users saying?

Solitaire Royale has a 4.9 out of 5-star rating on the Apple App Store, one of the highest ratings I’ve seen. It has multiple five-star reviews, saying it's a good game and lives up to its claims.

User wannabeasportsfan said, “I’ve been enjoying playing solitaire. This game is better than other solitaire games I’ve tried because it awards prizes regularly, whether it’s a few cents or tokens. I like how they allow people like me to play cash games with odd amounts of money, such as $2, $3.5, $4, etc. Sometimes, it will allow you to deposit an odd amount of money. Some solitaire games only use whole dollar amounts, like $1, $3, $5, etc. So far, I’m enjoying it.”

However, some players have encountered issues with the game. Some of the complaints in the app store reviews are from people angry about not making money.

User Gg alllin left a two-star review, saying, “It’s fun to pass time and keep your mind sharp. If you have a few extra coins it’s fun, but don’t expect to make any real money. I’ve won top at a few championships and never saw a quarter back. Just be careful and don’t expect you’re [sic] bet is going to amount to anything! Still fun though!”

Additionally, user Tiny blox prep said, “No winnings! Have to deposit. All lies! DO NOT believe their LIES!”

The developer responded, “You don’t have to deposit, but it makes it a faster road to winning cash. That said, we do have hundreds of players withdrawing cash every day, both free players and paying ones!”

From my experience, you don’t have to deposit money to play, but it will take much longer to enter (and even longer to win) the bigger tournaments if you don’t deposit cash. However, winning enough money to withdraw, even if you make a deposit, is not as easy as Solitaire Royale says.

Alternatives to Solitaire Royale

Although Solitaire Royale is a good option for players, multiple Solitaire games are out there to play, such as:

Solitaire Cash

Solitaire Cash by Papaya Gaming, Ltd. is another Klondike Solitaire game with multiple small-stakes tournaments. Like Solitaire Royale, you could play for cash or the in-app currency called “gems.” The minimum entry fee is $1, while the minimum withdrawal amount is $5 with a $1 processing fee. The game will refund your winnings within 14 days to your original deposit method and then to PayPal for any overage.

If Solitaire Cash sounds a lot like Solitaire Royale, it's true; they are remarkably similar. However, unlike Solitaire Royale, Solitaire Cash is available for Android on the Samsung Galaxy store.

Download Solitaire Cash | Check out our full Solitaire Cash review.

Solitaire Cube

If you like playing Solitaire but want something slightly different from Solitaire Royale, check out Solitaire Cube. It was developed by Thether Studios and is on the Skillz platform, available on the Apple App Store and Samsung Galaxy Store.

While Solitaire Cube plays similarly to Solitaire Royale, the Skillz platform offers head-to-head competition and bracket games that earn bigger prizes. However, competition is fierce and you must devote time and energy to winning tournaments, especially if you enter a bracket and have to play multiple games back to back.

Solitaire Cube doesn’t list a minimum withdrawal amount but charges a $1.50 fee on withdrawals under $10.

Download Solitaire Cube | Read our full Solitaire Cube review for more.

FAQs

Bottom line

Playing Solitaire Royale can be a lot of fun, and you may earn a little money while you play. But it has some drawbacks. You’ll likely need to deposit cash to have a chance at earning money quickly, and the tournament options are limited compared to other Solitaire games that pay real money.

Before you sign up for this or any game app, read the app store reviews to confirm that it's legitimate and learn about the problems other players may have experienced.