Card games as a genre have existed for hundreds of years. Most of the well-known card games have a long history behind them. The extremely popular card game genre Solitaire is no exception – it is at least two hundred years old by now, with some of the earliest mentions being recorded around the beginning of the 19th century.
Solitaire is actually the North American name of the game, with Patience being used in multiple European countries instead. Some of the first recordings of this card game genre in history were of European origin, which is why Patience is also a famous name. However, the appearance of Solitaire as a built-in game for Windows PCs since 1990 (Windows 3.0) made the North American name “Solitaire” far more prevalent and relevant to users worldwide.
Since Solitaire is a game genre, first and foremost, it includes a lot of different variations. Some of them are extremely old, while others are relatively new – and the total number of existing Solitaire variations is over 500 at this point.
At the same time, many people think of just one game when they mention Solitaire or Patience. The game in question is called Klondike Solitaire – it is also referred to as “Classic Solitaire” on a regular basis. This exact version of Solitaire managed to bring something of a renaissance into the genre by introducing it in an operating system (Windows) for personal computers.
That’s not to say that Classic Solitaire is the only popular version of Solitaire – far from it. Other notable versions of Solitaire are FreeCell, Spider, TriPeaks, etc. The widespread development of the Internet quickly led to the creation of an entire subset of websites that offer the ability to play different versions of Solitaire using nothing but a web browser.
At the same time, most of these resources still offer the ability to play Classic Solitaire online for free – it is very rare for a Klondike Solitaire not to be included in such a website. Plenty of websites also try to build their functionality around this single card game type – and Solitaire Social is one such example.
The Classic Solitaire is played in a relatively simple fashion. There are 28 cards involved in total, and the tableau consists of four columns and seven rows. There are seven cards in total that are placed in a row, with only one of these cards lying face up. The goal of the game is to move all of the cards from the seven rows and the stockpile in a specific order – the Ace is the first one, followed by #2, #3, and every other card in ascending order, with the King being the last card.
Due to the nature of the game, it is always recommended to start with cards that are facing up on the tableau – moving these cards allows for other cards to be turned up within the same column. Other helpful tips for a Classic Solitaire game is only to use empty spots on the tableau for the King cards, as well as to prioritize revealing the cards that are turned down.
The average winning rate for a Classic Solitaire game is challenging to calculate, but the general assumption is that around 40-60% of the games are winnable for an average player. Accepting that not all of the Classic Solitaire games can be won is a good first step in learning this game – although there are some versions of the Classic Solitaire that can still be solved using some form of a booster or a trick (if the website can offer this – Solitaire Social is a good example).
Solitaire Social is a multiplayer version of the Classic Solitaire game with many exciting features. The game mainly operates using tournaments that set up pairs of players against each other. Each pair of players is given the same card arrangement, and there is also a point system to make it easier to calculate the winner.
The points are assigned to players who are putting cards into the dock, and the player who puts a specific card into the dock first receives double the point amount. Other features of Solitaire Social include a virtual garden, a system of regular challenges, a virtual scoreboard, and a system of rankings.
Solitaire Social has thirteen ranking levels, including Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crystal, VIP, Star, Mastermind, Champion, King, Ace, and Legend. Solitaire Social is a Player-versus-Player game first and foremost, meaning that the only way to progress in these rankings is to win tournaments.
Solitaire is a very popular card game right now, and many different websites offer multiple Solitaire versions to be played for free. At the same time, there are also plenty of websites that may attempt to scam users looking for an online version of their favorite game. It is always a good idea to investigate and look for reviews about a specific website online, just to be sure that the resource is not a scam and it would not try to steal your money or personal information.