Slate's John Levin on computer solitaire
Josh Levin of Slate writes about the world's strange obsession with computer solitaire.
The game's continued pre-eminence is a remarkable feat—it's something akin to living in a universe in which Pong were the most-popular title for PlayStation 3. One reason solitaire endures is its predictability. The gameplay and aesthetic have remained remarkably stable; a visitor from the year 1990 could play the latest Windows version without a glitch, at least if he could figure out how to use the Start menu. It also remains one of the very few computer programs, game or nongame, that old people can predictably navigate. Brad Fregger, the developer of Solitaire Royale, the first commercial solitaire game for the Macintosh and the PC, told me that his 89-year-old mother still calls regularly to brag about her high scores.LinkThe game has also maintained a strong foothold in the modern-day cubicle. Despite the easy availability of other cheap amusements, five minutes of dragging cards around on the screen remains a speedy route to mental health and a mild form of workplace disobedience. (Just don't do it when Mayor Bloomberg is around.) Since solitaire doesn't take up the whole screen, it's easy to click over and play a hand or two when you get tired of data entry, then quickly toggle back over to your database program when your manager happens to walk by. This sort of multitasking, the ability to minimize and hide applications, is the most essential feature of the Windows OS. And solitaire taught us how to use it.
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I still know older people who play the "analog" version of solitaire (with an actual physical deck of cards) regularly. The landlord at my old office space ran a small trucking company out of the 1st floor, would sit at his desk all day playing solitaire on slow days. Analog or digital, there is something soothing about the game: it's like you're "putting everything in it's proper place."
My father spent the last five years of his life doing nothing but playing Solitaire. He was waiting for a heart transplant and could do little else. It kept him sane and gave him a challenge.
I always think of him when I play it.
What do Americans call the game we Brits know as Solitare?
I've moved on to internet chess. The only problem is I've broken several mugs after unexpectedly losing. I don't mind losing, but it still makes me angry.
@3... What do Americans call the game we Brits know as Solitare?
Solitaire.
Is there another game you'd care to shed light upon?
@3 -- I guess I should state that I'm Canadian. I've always assumed that Solitaire was the same as in the US and UK.
#5, maybe he's afraid he'll get tossed off BB for explaining it. I hear they've been tossing off a lot of people these days.
@7 -- We are just talking about solitaire, aren't we? Is there some sort of civil liberty angle I'm missing here?
Scary is refering to the board game Solitiare..
http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/solitaire/index.htm
However, I'm living in England and am Irish, the card game you are all talking about is also known as solitaire in both of those places, as it was when I was in Australia..
#8
" hear they've been tossing off a lot of people these days"
or some porn angle?
..sorry (it really wanted to get said)
Wankery is what I thought he meant by "the game we Brits know as Solitaire," Ark. Mind --> gutter. My excuse is that I'm American.
See, now that's funny. A little cryptic, but your clearly working on a couple of levels above me... I didn't know inuendo worked at that altitude :)
Many jobs and many years ago my company was looking at some software which generated very informative error information when a program crashed. As a promotional tools, they shipped "Mission Critical Software", a solitaire game which would play normally for a few minutes, then crash leaving an excellent crash dump.
They explained in their documentation that solitaire was the one critical computing application the modern world could not do without. And if you bought their software, they threw in a workig copy of the solitaire game :)
See, now, maybe this is the BOFH speaking, but I'd just put the Mission Critical Solitaire version on all the workstations. Preferably configured to display the beautiful crash dump to the user.
If your users don't fear their computers, you're doing your job wrong.
There's Solitare that you play on a windows computer (known here as patience)... and there's Solitare with little pegs in holes that you have to jump over each other.
Just curious what the peggy-type game is called elsewhere
@15: It's called peg solitaire here in Canada, but it's pretty rare now. I haven't seen a board since I was a kid in the 70s.
"That peggy game" is what I'd call it... I know exactly what you are talking about, and have played it many times growing up in the US, but I haven't a clue what it's called.
Peg solitaire is always at the Cracker Barrel and my grandparent's home. I used to love that game. I still would if I had a board. I may make one.
Peg solitaire can also be played on the web.
I have a lovely wooden solitaire board that uses marbles instead of pegs, and has a groove around the edge for 'dead' marbles.
What do Americans call the game we Brits know as Solitare?
Impatience?
See, because what we call solitaire you call patience, so what you call. . .
I'll shut up now.