And you thought Solitaire was the only one player card game! Well, we beg to differ and tell you about a few more games of the kind. The game, its rules, and tricks you could use, this article has it all.
Playing cards is an age-old source of entertainment and enjoyment when you can’t think of anything else to kill time with. If you have a group of three people or more, then you can choose from a variety of card games. But what do you do if you’re all alone on a Sunday afternoon, with no one for company, or no one to play with (or against)? Enter, one player card games.
The Options
Now, the first thing that usually comes to mind, when someone mentions ‘one player card game’ or ‘single player card game’, is Solitaire. You see, the word ‘Solitaire’, literally means ‘a game (either a card game, board game, or any other game) that is played by only one person’. From this definition, it is clear that all the games presented here-forth, will in fact, be categorized or tagged as a form of ‘Solitaire’. But at the same time, I will also keep my promise of suggesting one player card games other than solitaire (the common Windows version, that is).
FreeCell
FreeCell is entirely a game of skill. The luck or chance element involved in this game is minimal, if not zero. The 52 playing cards are arranged randomly in 8 different columns. There are 4 free cells at the top of the screen in which a card can be moved to, and can be moved back from. The objective of the game is to organize all the cards in the foundation piles, according to their respective suits (i.e. Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, and Hearts) by moving individual cards from one column to another (or to the free cells). The game requires a lot of thinking, planning, and strategic moves. Initially, it’s a little confusing, but once you get the hang of it, it’s absolutely addictive. Here are a few more variations to the traditional Windows FreeCell game:
- ForeCell
- Double FreeCell
- Eight Off
Spider Solitaire
Generally, spider solitaire is played with one suit. However, there are many other versions which make use of two or even four suits (which naturally, increases the level of difficulty). In case of a common one suit game, cards are arranged randomly. There are usually 10 columns of cards in which only the top card of each column is revealed to the user. The cards underneath are revealed one at a time, and only when the topmost card of that column is moved to another pile, column, or an empty space. The objective is to prepare a proper sequence of cards from Ace to King, by moving cards from column to column. The scoring system in Windows takes into consideration the number of moves required to complete the game. Fewer the number of moves, greater is your score, and vice-versa.
Here are a few more interesting games for you to give a go:
- Accordion
- Bowling Solitaire
- Hearts
- Pyramid
- Clock
- Joker Solitaire
- Thirteen Up
- Streets and Alleys
- Poker Solitaire
You can have two options – either play them on your computer, or actually lay the cards out on a bedspread and play the game the traditional way. Either way, the enjoyment factor remains the same!
