Playing Solitaire has never failed me when I needed to pass time or would want to relieve myself of everyday stress (especially in between hours-long meetings). But ever since I moved to use a Mac, I was left with rather boring solitaire apps that needed to be installed on my machine, not to mention that most of them are not for free.
The card game that we know now as “solitaire” has been around since the late 18th century, with many saying traces its roots to a form of fortune-telling. No wonder, some of our elders will often associate this card game with being mystical and the like.
Going back to the modern computer age, the popularity of solitaire, being a card game is unmatched by any software in its category. The game teaches the player how to be patient that in some cultures it is actually called the “patient card game” instead of “solitaire.”
I recently stumbled upon this website solitaire.org and it has a nifty set of games (not just Solitaire) and features worthy of exploring during your free time.
Website Interface
As a first-time visitor to the website, it brings a nostalgic feeling as if I was transported back to the Internet of yesteryears. It is very easy to navigate even someone without much technical expertise or experience can have fun going around the website.
The website offers several games that you will surely enjoy:
- Solitaire (Classic, Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, Tripeaks, and Golf)
- Card (Blackjack, Crazy Eights, Euchre, Gin Rummy, Hearts, and Spite & Malice)
- Mahjong (Solitaire, 3D, Animal Connection, China, Cooking, Golden Autumn, Panda)
- Hidden Object (Castle, China, Circus, Garden, Hotel, Kitchen, Pirate, Princess)
- Match3 (Candy Fiesta, Candy House, Same Game, Treasure of Atlantis, Zuma Ball, Zuma Legend)
- Logic Puzzles (Battleships, Chess, Crossword, Minesweeper, Nonograms, Sokoban, Sudoku, Tetra Blocks)
- Word (Crossword, Word Search, Letter Logic, Letter Scramble, Wordoku)
If you are not a fan of card games, popular word and mental games such as Battleships, Chess, Crossword, Minesweeper, and Sudoku will truly appeal to you.
Solitaire Gameplay Experience
I personally find the Solitaire game from this website very challenging (because I am not able to finish a deck hehe). But the card design and ease of use make playing this online game enjoyable. I even tried playing it on an old Chromebook, and it works without any hitch!
Other Games from the Website
I must admit, I am not that familiar with some of the games this website has to offer. But I do know and am familiar with some classic games like Minesweeper.
I gave it a try, and I was amused! With a refreshed interface (comparable to the Candy Crush mobile game), I found it enjoyable to play this game on different screen sizes using any web browser — yes, the website is mobile responsive (instead of shrinking everything down, clickable items are enlarged and pictures are resized or reformatted to adjust automagically for your viewing pleasure). When you click on a tile that has a hidden bomb underneath, there’s a “boom” sound effect that goes with it — pretty kewl!
For the serious gamer in me, I also tried their online Chess game. Though this game can only offer a single-player option, you can have a quick match against the computer or play more than 1,000 different puzzles that you need to complete within 2, 3, or 4 moves. How I wish that they will have a multi-player option, not to mention having competition-type games (complete with leaderboards) soon.
In general, I was happy to have stumbled upon Solitaire.org — a great source to entertain myself especially when I am on travel or simply finding myself with spare time to pass.