Solitaire Gaming

By Author: Rafal Tyler
Total Articles: 5
Comment this article

An extremely popular card-game, “Solitaire”, is played by millions of enthusiasts throughout the globe. Solitaire is not just one game with one set of rules, but a collection of many different games, both card games and non-card playable games and includes ones that can be played with a set layout of tiles, stones, pegs and other less popular variants. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia defines “Solitaire” as a table-top gaming, having three different meanings; the most general of all three meanings is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself. Solitaire games can often be complex to solve. In card solitaire there are a near infinite amount of unique deals so different results can be expected with every deal. Not only this, in most Solitaire card-games, except the likes of FreeCell solitaire (although even FreeCell solitaire has several non-solvable deals), not all deals can be solved. Numbers can be used to label most hands although software implementations may vary.



A standard deck of 52 playing cards is used to play Solitaire and FreeCell solitaire. The goal in FreeCell solitaire is ...
... to move all the cards to the foundation piles located away from the game area. A player starts each foundation pile allocated to him with an Ace. This is followed by arrangement of cards in ascending numerical order with matching suit on top of the appropriate foundation pile. Four temporary holding slots are provided which are used by a player to place any single card to allow the player more options in rearranging the cards. For each suit, there is a foundation slot provided in FreeCell solitaire which as previously mentioned must be filled up in ascending order in the matching suit. In deal area the player has to ensure that the cards are placed in descending numerical order and with alternating colours i.e. red, black, red, black alternatives and king followed by queen followed by jack and 10 and so on. The player can move groups of cards that are ordered in this way.



Some of the standard rules to be followed in FreeCell include:



1) One standard 52-card deck is to be used.



2) The arrangement has to be made in descending order, and it should be such that in each cascade red and black colors alternate, except on foundation piles.



3) Foundations are built up in ascending order and in suit.



4) Sometimes alternate rules permit the usage between one to ten cells.



5) Four open temporary cells and four open foundations are used. The standard layout of games include four cells and eight cascades.



6) Games with standard layout are the mostly easily solved, with almost no unsolvable deals.



7) The game is won after all the cards are moved to the foundation piles.



8) There are 52 cards in a standard deck leading to approximately 8*10^67 unique deals. Factorial of 52! Leads to 8*10^67 unique possibilities. However not every game is unique as sometimes some games are identical to others because suits assigned to cards do necessarily make a difference due to freecell solitaire’s rules. The game of Solitaire and its different variants like FreeCell solitaire can be played by most age groups and continue to enthrall players even now, probably because some of the chores of dealing the cards are removed with computer solitaire games.



Free Solitaire games that you know and love! Play the best online solitaire including Spider, Free Solitaire, Klondike, Tripeaks, Pyramid and more at Solitaire Paradise.