‹ BackHN Continuity

Thread

Solitaire Alone Together

162 points · 33 comments · eieio

Loading the complete thread in the background. This saved snapshot is available now. Refresh

  1. smcg · · focus · HN ↗
    SAT! Solitaire Alone Together!
  2. nticompass · · focus · HN ↗
    Author&#x27;s blog post about this project: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;eieio.games&#x2F;blog&#x2F;solitaire-alone-together&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;eieio.games&#x2F;blog&#x2F;solitaire-alone-together&#x2F;
  3. chainsaw10 · · focus · HN ↗
    If you click Start &gt; Shut Down and click OK, it’ll say “it is now safe to close this tab”, which I thought was a nice touch.
    1. why_at · · focus · HN ↗
      And if you leave the tab alone for a while there&#x27;s one of the classic Windows screensavers
  4. alentred · · focus · HN ↗
    Hey, I don’t mind it, but let us know, are you training some model in our inputs ? :)
    1. eieio · · focus · HN ↗
      (creator here!)

      lol, no, I am not training a model!

      But I DO record some games so that I can replay them later. That way if you log on and you&#x27;re the only person, you can still watch the ghost of a past game. This isn&#x27;t relevant right now (there are 500ish people playing! wow!)- I only show past games if there aren&#x27;t active ones to show.

      1. saturn8601 · · focus · HN ↗
        Hello! Great job on the project! After seeing your blog, I actually decided to go to that 30th Anniversary after party! I didn&#x27;t even know about Rhizome. They are such a cool group!

        Man I was NOT dressed as well as everyone else there and had no idea what I was doing but it was still fun ha ha! In hindsight, I guess it was everyone coming back from that benefit dinner?

        Was your exhibit supposed to be there? I didn&#x27;t see it on either floor.

  5. dverlaeckt80 · · focus · HN ↗
    I have to say this is a pretty original idea. What made you come up with this idea? Just nostalgia? How did you build it?
  6. axm997 · · focus · HN ↗
    So cool! Since there are some solitaire fans on this thread. Thought I would share a version that build with 2 decks <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;d6.belsonbox.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;d6.belsonbox.com
    1. seanf · · focus · HN ↗
      I really enjoyed this, and will come back to it. Hadn&#x27;t heard of that variant before. The backstory is great.
      1. axm997 · · focus · HN ↗
        Glad you enjoyed it. It is stupidly addictive. I personally use it when i am waiting for agents to finish something and I don&#x27;t lose my personal context. I am planning to release it as an ipad app. Feature requests welcome.
  7. dverlaeckt80 · · focus · HN ↗
    There is something weirdly fascinating about this. I think the combination of nostalgia, seeing others play without interacting and just the whole idea of it. Rather mesmerizing. Well done.
  8. NooneAtAll3 · · focus · HN ↗
    Wrong solitaire :(

    I was hoping for the &quot;all cards visible and one free slot to put a card in&quot;

  9. hosel · · focus · HN ↗
    This is fun! I like the vibe of doing solitary activities in the “company” of other strangers. It’s neat. I like the screen saver
  10. kooi · · focus · HN ↗
    I love these windows emulators
  11. EvanAnderson · · focus · HN ↗
    I can&#x27;t suggest moves, though! &gt;smile&lt;

    Always carry a deck of cards when hiking in the wilderness. If you become lost deal a game of solitaire. In a few minutes someone will come up and start suggesting moves.

  12. v9v · · focus · HN ↗
    For &quot;Solitaire Together&quot; instead, I recommend the game NERTS (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.steampowered.com&#x2F;app&#x2F;1131190&#x2F;NERTS_Online&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;store.steampowered.com&#x2F;app&#x2F;1131190&#x2F;NERTS_Online&#x2F;). It&#x27;s a multiplayer competitive solitaire game by Zachtronics. Out of all the games I&#x27;ve played, it&#x27;s the one that stresses me out and takes me through emotional rollercoasters the most.
    1. eieio · · focus · HN ↗
      Oh this is fun! I&#x27;m a big Zachtronics fan but didn&#x27;t know about NERTS.

      I grew up playing &quot;double solitaire&quot; (basically multiplayer competitive solitaire where you play on each others&#x27; aces) with my family and love it, and it definitely contributed to me making this site. So I&#x27;m excited to play some Solitaire Together!

    2. wildzzz · · focus · HN ↗
      I really liked the flavor of solitaire they put into Shenzhen IO
  13. raspo · · focus · HN ↗
    Was solitaire always this hard, or have I forgotten how to play this game? I tried a few games and failed every time :)
    1. MattSayar · · focus · HN ↗
      Only something like 10-20% of games are winnable.
    2. slig · · focus · HN ↗
      Maybe you&#x27;re remembering the Turn-1 instead of this Turn-3?
    3. noja · · focus · HN ↗
      Many solitaire games will not give you an unsolvable puzzle to play. I think freecell only had one (by accident)
      1. gosub100 · · focus · HN ↗
        Can&#x27;t remember if I saw it on HN or searched for it, but you can search for the hardest solvable freecell games. I drove myself partially insane trying to solve one. Only got about halfway before I caved

        (If you don&#x27;t have access to windows you can run one of those web based windows desktop lookalikes written in JS).

      2. amiga386 · · focus · HN ↗
        Microsoft Solitaire (Klondike) frequently gives you unsolvable hands, especially if you&#x27;re using Draw-3.

        FreeCell &quot;is fundamentally different from most solitaire games in that very few deals are unsolvable&quot; (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;FreeCell" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;FreeCell) i.e. most solitaire games deals are unsolvable.

        As you said, Microsoft FreeCell does only deal one unsolvable puzzle as standard (#11982 out of 32000) <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.solitairelaboratory.com&#x2F;fcfaq.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.solitairelaboratory.com&#x2F;fcfaq.html

  14. Rendello · · focus · HN ↗
    Beautiful. I&#x27;ve always loved the aesthetic of Windows Solitaire [a] but felt strangely alone when playing it (figures). I&#x27;m reminded of a non-solitary solitaire, Nerts Online:

    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zachtronics.com&#x2F;nerts-online&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zachtronics.com&#x2F;nerts-online&#x2F;

    a. And this version too, the backs of the cards are very pretty.

    1. bityard · · focus · HN ↗
      NERTS is fun, we play it with a group of our friends (fiends?) semi-regularly. But part of its charm is the inherent physical and verbal chaos... you can never reach all the piles, people&#x27;s hands&#x2F;arms collide with each other, drinks get spilled, names get called, alliances forged and quickly betrayed. It&#x27;s a hoot.
      1. Rendello · · focus · HN ↗
        I tried the online one but I&#x27;m not too experienced with cards so I just got destroyed. Another fun, chaotic one that I used to play in person a lot is Egyptian Ratscrew, a game where you have to slap the pile first if certain criteria are met. I don&#x27;t think I&#x27;ve won a single match of that, I&#x27;m usually still processing what card was put down long after someone already slapped the pile. I had fun regardless. Make sure everyone removes their rings!

        1. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Egyptian_Ratscrew" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Egyptian_Ratscrew

        2. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=I2UMv5Jk8JQ" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=I2UMv5Jk8JQ

  15. florianfmmartin · · focus · HN ↗
    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;genius.com&#x2F;Louis-jean-cormier-tout-le-monde-en-meme-temps-lyrics#:~:text=mette%20le%20feu-,On%20joue%20au%20solitaire%0ATout%20le%20monde%20en%20m%C3%AAme%20temps,-Si%20on%20mettait" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;genius.com&#x2F;Louis-jean-cormier-tout-le-monde-en-meme-...
  16. dsschnau · · focus · HN ↗
    absolutely delightful. i happily added it to my &#x27;games&#x27; bookmark folder.
  17. r0b05 · · focus · HN ↗
    Love the screensaver
  18. nayuki · · focus · HN ↗
    Neat concept - a web remake of a classic Windows game. I found it very hard to win though, due to the &quot;draw three&quot; rule. I finally won on my 12th shuffle.

    Aside from this web game implementation, in past decades I grew tired of solitaire and its constrained nature. I found myself enjoying spider solitaire a bit more, where you have to be more strategic about building stuff. I discovered spider because it&#x27;s bundled with Windows. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Spider_(solitaire)" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Spider_(solitaire)

    1. brettermeier · · focus · HN ↗
      Spider Solitaire is very nice, I really would recommend Simple Solitaire Collection for Android on F-Droid. It hast 17 Modes, Spider included and you have settings, for Spiderfor example you can choose from 1, 2 or 4 different cards.
  19. eahm · · focus · HN ↗
    Found this a couple of months ago and it&#x27;s the best I tried yet: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;worldofsolitaire.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;worldofsolitaire.com
  20. gwbas1c · · focus · HN ↗
    I really wish I could turn off draw three. (I really hate that option.)
Open on Hacker News to reply ↗

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.