Microsoft Card Games
Aug 30, 2020 Microsoft Solitaire Collection is a cards video game that comes pre-installed on all iterations of Windows 10 and is also available for Windows 8 and 8.1 as well as a number of mobile platforms. Here are the top free Card games for PC for 2020, including Dreams Keeper Solitaire, Jewel Match Solitaire Winterscapes, The Far Kingdoms: Forgotten Relics, and more. Download only unlimited full version fun games online and play offline on your Windows 7/10/8 desktop or laptop computer. Fast and secure game downloads.
The classic card games have been a nice complimentary addition to the many generations of the Windows OS for years. In fact, it's hard to imagine one without the legendary Solitaire - it'd be as good as a Happy Meal without French fries or a cup of hot cocoa without marshmallows.
However, if you want to enjoy the good old card games from the Windows 98/XP etc. now, you'll have to start Microsoft Solitaire Collection download, since it's not included in the OS packages anymore.
What's on the menu?
Microsoft Solitaire Collection game isn't a single game - it's a whole bundle of innocent looking time-killers. All in all, you get to savor five timeless card games.
The bundle includes:
1) Solitaire aka Klondike - alternate red & black numbers in a descending order to pinpoint the 4 aces and build upon them.
2) Spider - you have 8 card columns (104 cards in total) to clear off the table. But the fewer moves you employ - the bigger you triumph is. You can switch between single/all four suits modes.
3) FreeCell - another immortal classic. Just like in Klondike, you must locate the aces, using the red & black principle. However, you can only use four cells for moving the cards around in. This game rewards strategic thinking and if you're experienced at chess even a bit, your superiority will be unquestionable.
4) TriPeaks - choose cards in a sequence either up or down to wipe them off the table. But here's the catch: your moves or deals are limited. A great portion of randomness is present in TriPeaks too.
5) Pyramid - a lovely brain-twister, in which you should pair two cards that add up to 13 in order to get rid of them and reach the top of the pyramid. Passionate, a bit addictive playing is guaranteed.
At first glance, some of the games may seem to be knotty and perplexing just a bit. But don't fret: in actuality, you'll master them after one or two practice rounds.
Should you be bored of playing solo, the game has a little competitive element to make things spicier and more fetching. Every game in the bundle has an online leaderboard assigned to it. In order to conquer an eminent position in the Leaderboard, you're supposed to complete daily challenges and earn the Honor Badges. Although the cornucopia of the high score tables for every single game kind of torpedoes the idea: they are not that much densely populated because of that.
As you become a champion by completing challenges one by one (chiefly they are endurance challenges) you will be awarded with the Stars. The Stars will, in turn, unlock even a bigger multitude of new challenges as a part of Star Club.
The pretty suites
The interface of Microsoft Solitaire Collection is clean, neat and plain. Landscape/portrait mode switching works finely at your command.
You have the colorful suites, laconic green table, and selectable themes, some of which, like Aquarium are animated. Or you can pick a nicely atmospheric Fable theme, in which the table is covered with yellow parchment, cards are shabby, Joker is represented as the Grim Reaper and you can hear some vintage pizzicato music in the background along with chickens clucking. Only a mug of ginger red ale and a walnut pipe are missing.
Controlling the game is marvelously easy, especially on mobile devices. Elementary tapping & dragging do the trick and it all feels pretty smooth, maybe because you're the only one to decide at what tempo to play.
And of course the Microsoft Solitaire Collection review wouldn't be full without mentioning what platform are compatible with it:
Android.
Windows 8/8.1.
Windows 10
Windows 7
Windows Server 2012/R2.
Windows Phone.
Xbox Live.
If you're a proud iPhone/iPad owner then don't be discouraged - iOS version exists as well.
The game is free to download, but you'll have to watch 30-seconds long ads on a regular basis. There's no one-time payment to remove that eyesore - you can only buy a monthly/yearly subscription - $1.49/$9.99 respectively.
| Original author(s) | Wes Cherry |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Microsoft Casual Games |
| Initial release | May 22, 1990; 30 years ago |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Platform | IA-32, x86-64 (and historically DEC Alpha, Itanium, MIPS, and PowerPC) |
| Successor | Microsoft Solitaire Collection (Windows 10) |
Solitaire is a computer game included with Microsoft Windows, based on a card game of the same name, also known as Klondike.
History[edit]
Microsoft has included the game as part of its Windows product line since Windows 3.0, starting from 1990.[1] The game was developed in 1988 by the intern Wes Cherry.[2][3][4] The card deck itself was designed by Macintosh pioneer Susan Kare.[5] Cherry's version was to include a boss key that would have switched the game to a fake Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, but he was asked to remove this from the final release.[6]
Microsoft intended Solitaire 'to soothe people intimidated by the operating system,' and at a time where many users were still unfamiliar with graphical user interfaces, it proved useful in familiarizing them with the use of a mouse, such as the drag-and-drop technique required for moving cards.[1]
According to Microsoft telemetry, Solitaire was among the three most-used Windows programs and FreeCell was seventh, ahead of Word and Microsoft Excel.[7][7] Lost business productivity by employees playing Solitaire has become a common concern since it became standard on Microsoft Windows.[8]
In October 2012, along with the release of the Windows 8 operating system, Microsoft released a new version of Solitaire called Microsoft Solitaire Collection.[9] This version, designed by Microsoft Studios and developed by Arkadium, is advertisement supported and introduced many new features to the game.
Microsoft Solitaire celebrated its 25th anniversary on May 18, 2015. To celebrate this event, Microsoft hosted a Solitaire tournament on the Microsoft campus and broadcast the main event on Twitch.[10]
By its 30th anniversary in 2020, it was estimated that the game still had 35 million active monthly players and more than 100 million games played daily, according to Microsoft.[11]
Microsoft Card Games Free Download Windows 7
Features[edit]
On winning the game, the player is treated to the cards appearing to fall off each stack and bouncing off the screen.[6] This 'victory' screen is considered a prototypical element that would become popular in casual games, compared to the use of 'Ode to Joy' on winning a level of Peggle, and makes Solitaire one of the first such casual video games.[12][13]
Microsoft Solitaire Collection Online Games
Since Windows 3.0, Solitaire allows selecting the design on the back of the cards, choosing whether one or three cards are drawn from the deck at a time, switching between Vegas scoring and Standard scoring, and disabling scoring entirely. The game can also be timed for additional points if the game is won. There is a cheat that will allow drawing one card at a time when 'draw three' is set.
In Windows 2000 and later versions of Solitaire, right-clicking on open spaces automatically moves available cards to the four foundations in the upper right-hand corner, as in FreeCell. If the mouse pointer is on a card, a right click will move only that card to its foundation, provided that it is a possible move. Left double-clicking will also move the card to the proper foundation.
Until the Windows XP version, the card backs were the original works designed by Susan Kare, and many were animated.
The Windows Vista and Windows 7 versions of the game save statistics on the number and percentage of games won, and allow users to save incomplete games and to choose cards with different face styles.
On Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows Phone, Android, and online the game was issued as Microsoft Solitaire Collection, where in addition to Klondike four other game modes were featured, Spider, FreeCell (both of which had been previously featured in versions of Windows as Microsoft Spider Solitaire and Microsoft FreeCell), Pyramid, and TriPeaks (both of which were previously part of the Microsoft Entertainment Pack series, the former under the name Tut's Tomb).
References[edit]
Microsoft Card Games/spider
- ^ abGarreau, Joel (March 9, 1994). 'Office Minefield'. The Washington Post.
- ^Farokhmanesh, Megan (April 13, 2017). 'A bored intern created the original Windows Solitaire'. The Verge. Vox Media.
- ^Cherry, Wes. 'Interview with Wes Cherry - B3TA.com 2008'. B3ta.com. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
- ^'Wes Cherry on Reddit about Solitaire'.
- ^'Susan Kare personal website showing her design for Microsoft Solitaire'. Kare.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
- ^ abWarren, Tom (May 22, 2020). 'Microsoft Solitaire turns 30 years old today and still has 35 million monthly players'. The Verge. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ abDear, Brian (2017). '27. Leaving the Nest'. The Friendly Orange Glow. New York: Pantheon Books. pp. 502–503. ISBN9781101871560.
- ^Church, George J. (October 12, 1998). 'Quarterly Business Report: Do Computers Really Save Money?'. Time. Time Inc.
- ^'Microsoft Solitaire Collection'. App Store. Microsoft.
- ^'Celebrating Microsoft Solitaire'. Blogging Windows. Microsoft. May 18, 2015.
- ^Dent, Steve (May 22, 2020). 'Microsoft's classic Solitaire game is 30 today'. Engadget. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ^Trefry, Gregory (2010). Casual Game Design: Designing Play for the Gamer in All of Us. CRC Press. pp. 2–4. ISBN0080959237.
- ^'Casual Gaming Worth $2.25 Billion, and Growing Fast'. October 29, 2007. Retrieved August 11, 2008.