Why Windows Solitaire Eats So Much Time 261
An anonymous reader writes "This article suggests that Windows Solitaire may be the most-often played computer game. It's not so much an article about Solitaire, but rather an article about Windows and human nature and socialization. If you play FreeCell, there's a interesting paragraph about its inventor." Can Solitaire really eat up more hours than have been sacrificed to Tetris?
"Read more" (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, I think I'll wait until tomorrow...when I have work to do.
More truth than humor here. (Score:2, Insightful)
People who use computers at home do something better with them than Solitare but it is still some kind of common lowest denominator.
Solitare is "popular" because it's on every corporate desktop at every big dumb company where people are better at looking busy than they are at getting work done ... when they have any to do. Everyone also knows that the really fun things you can do with a computer will get you fired. For some reason, people big dumb company types let anti-social wastes of time slide but an
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However... I came away with the impression that Windows "still included" the games (this was XP release era) because of the reason that it has always included the games. The games were there as a test for graphics and the ability to create random numbers. I am unable to find anything online to a
Re:More truth than humor here. (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know why Windows still includes games, but I do know what Solitaire is awfully good for: education.
All the computer-illiterate people I've taught found Solitaire an invaluable aid in learning how to use the mouse.
While to us geeks, the mouse is a natural extenstion of the hand, computer newbies have a really hard time with it; instead of looking at the screen, they look at the mouse, and left and right click are higher math. With Solitaire, they get something unimportant, yet interesting to look and click at; the game absorbs them and they forget about the mouse in the hand. Minesweeper is also great, but for advanced newbies -- after they've learned the basics of mouse usage, they can achieve precision playing Minesweeper.
For that reason, I use similar games under Linux as well when introducing newbies to the computer. First learn how to use the keyboard and the mouse, then we can get on with some real work. I found there was no use in teaching people advanced concepts when they still lose their way on the input devices.
Kind of like teaching aphasiacs the finer points in grammar.
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All the computer-illiterate people I've taught found Solitaire an invaluable aid in learning how to use the mouse.
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Re:More truth than humor here. (Score:5, Insightful)
As for me, I've noticed a lot of this lunacy over the last months, where posts went flamebait just for the fact that someone pointed them out as stemming from twitter, something that wasn't obvious from what the post in question was about. There are hundreds of thousands of active accounts here on slashdot, why don't you do what the rest of us do: ignore the ten or whatever twitter account's postings unless one of them posts something interesting, instead of creating tenfold more inappropriate and offtopic posts because of your little paranoia? You and your kin don't even log in any longer because you are afraid twitter will mod you down? Let me tell you something: if I had had mod points now, I would have modded you down just as well.
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It seems that Wes would himself prefer Robotron 2084 to Solitaire.
Can It? (Score:5, Insightful)
On a Per-Person level, I think there are more people that have spent 20 hours in a day playing Tetris, than Windows Solitaire.
But, I think more people play Solitaire than play(ed) Tetris, so collectively its more hours.
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Re:Can It? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Can It? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Can It? (Score:4, Funny)
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Luckily, there's also an antidote to Rick Astley [youtube.com].
Re:Can It? (Score:5, Interesting)
On a Per-Person level, I think there are more people that have spent 20 hours in a day playing Tetris, than Windows Solitaire.
But, I think more people play Solitaire than play(ed) Tetris, so collectively its more hours.
now personally, i have over 13,000 games of WC3TFT, which translates to roughly 135.416*(infinitely repeating 6s) days of warcraft 3... and i know free cell is probably not even the second game, for my list, that right belongs to the first (us release) of Advance wars, with well over 1000 hours (over 41 days straight) free cell isn't even my third favorite game, I've probably only done 500 hands of it in total, but i am an atypical player.
It makes me wonder, how exactly did Microsoft figure out which programs are used the most? does windows XP and later 'phone home' the top 10 most launched applications? if it does that, that number can be skewed, if the Microsoft coded apps are going by 'games played' using built in statistics, then how can they compare to ordinary video games that don't provide these statistics to Microsoft? after all, i would only launch wc3 once a day, and get in as many as 50 games a day... but if the statistics are of launching the application, I've known some people who 'think' they get better game hands by exiting and restarting free cell than by normal means of getting a new game...
seriously How is Microsoft getting their numbers?!?
* = based on an average game length of 15 minutes, but my average game length might be longer, i can't recall and the statistics are only for one season, not the whole time I've been a warcraft player.
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I Dont think XP does, or it would have shown up on my firewall somewhere (although I rarely play them, maybe it tries to phone home after X amount of hours played or something)
Vista, I really wouldnt doubt that it does, considering its already got other internet-connected stuff in its "Games"...thingymajiggy (has a centralized Control panel for the the default games, aswell as most you install afterwards)
But I havent used Vista much, so I dont know personally if
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Re:Can It? (Score:5, Interesting)
Some quick calculations [google.com] using stats from the xfire [xfire.com] site show that on today, a non-holiday sunday, approximately 44 man-years of time have been played only in the game World of Warcraft. Not to mention that leaves out all Mac WoW'ers (we do exist), and ever so rare wine linux WoW'ers. And even on top of that, all the people who did play on windows today but don't have the Xfire client installed.
Re:Can It? (Score:5, Insightful)
THAT is how Solitaire gets played.
Also, I recall the games were added to promote hand-eye co-ordination because, back when they were written, a mouse was a novel thing to have on a computer.
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Re:Can It? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Can It? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Can It? (Score:5, Funny)
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"Can Solitaire really eat up more hours than have been sacrificed to Tetris?" On a Per-Person level, I think there are more people that have spent 20 hours in a day playing Tetris, than Windows Solitaire. But, I think more people play Solitaire than play(ed) Tetris, so collectively its more hours.
Alternatively, we can blame Microsoft's monopoly for this one --- after all, Tetris isn't bundled, so it won't get played as much... ;)
I think it adds up in more ways than one, though. I spent a few weeks playing Tetris obsessively during my early teens. On the other hand, I can't even count the amount of time I've spent playing a "quick game" of Solitaire here and there in the two decades since that time.
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Most of the designers have a copy of bomberman for when we play out of hours network games while I rebuild servers, and Tetris and online poker and any number of games, yet time and again they play Solitaire (or MineSweeper). Why? Because you can swap out your window and it doesn't really matter - with Tetris generally the game doesn't pause (perception might not reflect reality), and requires a lot more concentration as you get into the higher levels.
And let
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I've spent several times the amount of time I played solitaire playing the original dos netris.
bombs, big bombs, lasers, mashers, and inverters. What a great freaking game!
Screw Card Games! (Score:4, Interesting)
Seriously though, I have Quake, SimCity2000, and Diablo on any computer that I use just in case I do get bored. Those titles will run on pretty much anything.
Re:Screw Card Games! (Score:5, Insightful)
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CPS can't come get them... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:CPS can't come get them... (Score:5, Funny)
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So if Windows came pre-installed with "Alien Munchies" [goodtimeretrocafe.com] or "People Pong" then THOSE would be the most played computer games ever??
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Re: Solitaire Variants ForTheWin! (Score:3, Informative)
Then you, sir, have never actually played the more obscure variants which have addressed this problem. The Victorians mastered the art, and created a whole spectrum from pure luck to 100% solvable.
Windows has included the now famous Klondike variant. However, if you're a skill maven, look up the Spider family of variants which were always my favorites. I think I even saw a Windows port somewhere too. (If not, it's a snap to program them.)
Try this... (Score:3, Informative)
Andy
Re:Screw Card Games! (Score:5, Informative)
-David
Re:Screw Card Games! (Score:5, Funny)
Obligatory (Score:3, Informative)
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Vista not necessary (Score:5, Funny)
Just grab GNU chess Windows port. [tim-mann.org]
Funny story about GNU chess.
Back when I was in college I had two friends that were sharing an apartment. One worked in the day, the other at night. Their only communication was a chessboard on top of the TV. Each person would take a move before going to bed.
One friend cheated. He compiled GNU chess on his Linux box, inputted the board, cranked it up to nearly maximum, and left it to calculate the next move. It would take about 10 hours or so to calculate its next move.
He'd come home from work, make a sandwich, login and get his move, and go to bed. Needless to say he was kicking much ass, and his friend was mightily puzzled at his ability to do so.
He finally came clean though - it was a pretty funny scene when he did. =)
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In some there is a lot of luck but in freecell all the cards positions are known at the start of the game and almost every game is solvable.
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Re:Screw Card Games! (Score:5, Interesting)
The unsolvable game is #11,982. (And yes, I know that it hasn't formally been proved to be unsolvable, but there are a zillion solvers out there and all of them has failed, so for all practical purposes it is unsolvable.)
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If I were stranded on a deserted island... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:If I were stranded on a deserted island... (Score:5, Funny)
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So, yahtzee it is!
TOD is like Tetris on drugs (Score:2)
Perfect steps... (Score:5, Insightful)
People waste time because they don't know how to cheat! Here are the vista Solitaire [tech-recipes.com] and XP Solitaire [tech-recipes.com] cheats.
Honestly, solitaire has the perfect assets to be the most popular computer game.
1. Anybody can figure it out. My children picked it up in 5 minutes.
2. It's available on to a huge population. Everybody with a windows box has it installed and staring them in the face. Any system is powerful enough to run it.
3. It fills downtime while other processes are loading. Need a few minutes to download that huge iso? Heck, you can probably get in a game of solitaire!
Interestingly enough, solitaire is probably the most popular card game as well... for similar reasons.
"It is the cockroach of gaming, remarkably flexible and adaptable..."
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And to sorta nitpick, most Linux distros include some version of solitaire too. Its even on Emacs! http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/athena/contrib/games/elisp/solitaire.el [mit.edu]
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There's a tetromino game in Emacs too (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Perfect steps... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Perfect steps... (Score:5, Funny)
And the inverse to that is:
Several small, individual, standalone files that do one thing each and do it well, vs one bloated monolithic pile o crap that tries to do everything.
Re:Perfect steps... (Score:4, Insightful)
In comparison, on Windows 'sol.exe' is 56,832 bytes, freecell 55,296 bytes, and Spider (AsileRiot has 3 versions of spider, btw) is a whopping 538,624 bytes, but you know the fireworks at the end are clearly worth it, right?
AisleRiot For what it's worth, in it's 151,904 bytes of glory has exactly 82 version of solitare. many with multiple rule settings...is only 25% of the file size of 'windows top three games' (as per TFA) even though it supports a whopping 79 'extra' games that windows users don't have.... just imagine, if the card engine were expanded to the same file size of those three executables by adding perhaps, a generic computer multiplay game engine the likes of 'hearts' and ' internet spades' that XP has... then you might have over 200 games in one 600 k executable...
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I wrote a little card game for my wife based on an unusual version of solitare she plays, and a little research on the web lead me to the API for cards.dll which made the project a doddle.
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but installing 2 large ported windows apps to get a small, basic '82 game' version of solitaire on windows is almost as much work, as just switching to Linux...
Re:Perfect steps... (Score:4, Funny)
How to install vi in Emacs (Score:2)
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Turned into?
I always thought... (Score:2, Funny)
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Another version of Solitaire that I play a lot of is TriPeaks [wikipedia.org]. An early version was shipped with the now ancient Windows Entertainment Pack [therhogue.com] and you can still grab a copy of the original game [therhogue.com] (near the bottom of the page or direct link [therhogue.com] and manual [therhogue.com]). It's a great break from normal (Klondike) Solitaire because you're trying to accumulate points and streaks instead of just beating a clock. It's also pretty pretty cool (and depressing
Seriously? (Score:2)
Pack-in Tetris (Score:5, Insightful)
Tetris Worlds (Score:2)
(I loved the original Tetris, Tetris Worlds for the GB advance is no competitor)
Was it the infinite spin [ytmnd.com][1], the T-spin triples [epictetris2.com][2], or the piece randomizer that lets you keep playing forever [tetrispwned.com][3]? In fact, all three of those "features" have been mandatory in new versions of Tetris [tetrisconcept.com] for the past half decade, including Tetris DS, Tetris Zone, and Tetris Evolution.
For me, it was the control lag that killed the joy in Tetris Worlds for GBA. It bothered me so much that I learned how to program for the GBA [coranac.com] and made TOD [pineight.com].
[1] Infinity [tetrisconcept.com]
[2] Super Rotation System [tetrisconcept.com]
[3] Random Generator [tetrisconcept.com] and P [tetrisconcept.com]
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Origins of Solitaire? (Score:4, Interesting)
A few years ago I was cleaning out the records room where I worked. Among all the old manuals of long dead software, I found a four floppy install set of Windows 3.1 (or 3.1.1? It was a very long time ago). On its list of features was Solitaire, listed as mouse practice software of all things. Needless to say, a joke quickly circulated in the office, that we weren't playing games; we were training for better hand-eye coordination with a computer mouse.
That aside, if anyone has an old copy, or knows of an image online, I would very much appreciate the correlation of ecidence.
Re:Origins of Solitaire? (Score:5, Insightful)
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It is an addiction (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:It is an addiction (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd sit down to write a paper and get in a sentence or two. Just as soon as I didn't immediately know what to type in next, I'd open freecell and start a game. 2 hours later, I might have only written a few more words. It was bad enough that starting up the program became instinctive (thank you windows "most recent programs used" list). I distinctively remember catching myself on several occasions where I didn't remember starting up the game; much less what I was supposed to be doing instead. Of course, once you had started a game, you had to finish it. Heaven forbid you quit the game half way through and damage your winning streak.
7 months without the game, and I more or less lost interest in freecell. Instead, I've ended up playing a lot of Go [smart-games.com]. (no, I'm no afiliated or pushing an agenda here; just merely admitting to my most recent game addiction.) As of yet, it's not as bad as solitaire or freecell.
Honestly tho, I think I just feel like I need to be addicted to *something*. It would probably be World of Warcraft if that one would load up a little faster.
It's the ultimate casual game (Score:5, Interesting)
One can have similar experiences from playing board games vs. computer opponents, or from the crafting aspect of MMOs. But solitaire is by far the simplest way of achieving them.
I'm ridin' spinners, they don't stop (Score:5, Informative)
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In any case the game still controls the schedule. If you don't keep spinning that peice (or pause but that tends to require moving your fingers away from the main controls limiting when you can safely do it) it will drop.
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That's one thing that I've always wondered (Score:3, Interesting)
E.g., the biggest madness in console gaming that I've personally experienced was a game where I didn't find a save point for 10 hours straight. Luckily it was on a Sunday, but I can tell you that by the end of it I had almost lost even the will to live, not just to play that stupid game any more.
Other games prey on people's social instincts, and essentially create situatio
Solitaire vs. Sid Meir Games (Score:4, Funny)
I won't even touch the MMORPG's like Evercrack and WOW.
Can anyone get me a pre-release demo of StarCraft II ? That is the one I really want to waste a lot of time on.
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I Love Company of Heroes and Opposing Fronts.
Especially with the Authentic Weapons Mod.
After 6 months of nastly playing, i can now beat the Computer at Normal Computer setting easily.
8600 GT and AMD X2 are a deadly combination.
Inaccurate Summary (Score:5, Funny)
George W Bush plays Solitaire? (Score:5, Funny)
Just imagine, sol.exe could be the only thing to stop GWB from getting bored enough to push the Big Red Button.
Re:George W Bush plays Solitaire? (Score:5, Funny)
Unless there's a MS Whitehouse edition? "Who do you want to bomb today?" and "Ah I see you're trying to waterboard someone. I can help with that!"
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Windows Solitaire was for mouse training at first. (Score:2)
How did Solitaire work in a Casino? There is mode, (Score:3)
Solitaire is a good thing... (Score:4, Interesting)
Although it probably seems foreign to most of us here, mouse hand-eye coordination is not automatic.
And for new users or even new users at a business, our IT people encourage people to start with something like solitaire and just let people goof off until it becomes automatic. (Notice the stores or businesses that have mouse driven software and the users take FOREVER to move the cursor on screen to make selections. Giving them a week of play time on something like Soitaire would increase their productivity in the long run, and reduce customer frustration. (Not that I recommend a Mouse UI for checkstands or small business invoicing, but there is a lot of crap software out there in specific industries that rely on it.
It is also a good tool for users moving to touch pads, pens, thumbsticks, etc as it is simple, mindless and yet lets people master the abstract motor neural control of input devices.
Everytime we have a proficient tech that 'hates' an input device, our policies are to make them use that input device, at least for stuff like solitaire if not general work until it becomes second nature. Especially if the tech is ever going to be using it in public or assisting corporate clients where the device might be widely used. (Touchpads and Thumbsticks being #1 on this list.)
There is one simple reason for this.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:There is one simple reason for this.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Infact all the windows games have been re-written using WPF and look very sweet.
I spent 1991 playing Tetris. (Score:5, Funny)
Hmm (Score:2, Funny)
In Soviet Russia, games play YOU!
That's better.
it's a progression (Score:2, Interesting)
(going to domino night was a special treat while growing up because I c
MS forces name change (Score:5, Insightful)
The really significant thing about the Windows Solitaire program is that it has probably permanently changed the name of the card game Patience to "Solitaire".
Not surprising (Score:2)
IF you get a computer (since '96) it probably will have some version of windows preinstalled, and a very few applications, and of those, the one that can be used by everyone and in any moment is solitaire.
What else is there? Minesweeper? You have to THINK? If you use to do that, then why you got windows in the 1st place?