Microsoft Solitaire celebrates its 30 years old today, with a massive 35 million monthly players still enjoying the game worldwide.
Microsoft Solitaire, previously named Windows Solitaire, has survived over three decades and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon due to its popularity with players all around the world. Here's how it all began and how it's doing today.
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Microsoft And Its Golden Game
Microsoft is celebrating a momentous occasion for their golden game, which has now turned 30 years as of today, and it doesn't seem like it's going to go out of style anytime soon. And to mark the occasion, Microsoft tried to go for the world record of most number of Microsoft Solitaire completed in one day.
According to the tech giant, over 35 million people worldwide play the game monthly, and more than 100 million hands have already been played around the world.
Microsoft Solitaire was originally part of the Windows 3.0 way back in 1990. The game was designed to teach users how to use the mouse since it was an entirely new concept during that time. Grabbing the virtual cards and dropping them in place taught the basics of drag and drop in Windows, and up to this day, we still use it to transfer files, which is an acquired skill.
The original name of Microsoft Solitare was Windows Solitaire, and it's one of the most played games around the world when it was released with the well-renowned operating system, Windows. This game was shipped with computers for over two decades and encompassing over a billion PCs.
They only stopped being part of the Windows package when Windows 8 appeared back in 2012. Microsoft Intern Wes Cherry was the one who initially programmed the game, while Susan Kare, who is an expert of pixel art and Mac GUI, was able to design the original card deck.
Cherry thought about programming the game into "boss mode" into Windows Solitaire, and by using a fake spreadsheet designed to prank coworkers and bosses. However, Microsoft made Cherry remove the boss mode right before the game was released to the masses.
Solitaire Still Lives on Strong
To this day, Solitaire is still played by millions of people due to its simplistic but fun nature that can easily be understood by all after playing just a few rounds. Since the inception of the game, Microsoft has been able to fit in 65 languages to the game as well as it is played in more than 200 markets.
Microsoft Solitaire received only one major update, and it happened in 2012, which went along with its removal from Windows 8 as a standalone app. The new update includes five new game modes, daily challenges, Xbox Live integration, competitive events, and the ability to choose difficulty.
By doing this, the standalone app Solitaire led its return as part of Windows 10 in 2015 and is now in every major OS platform. Truly, the game has survived the exodus of so many other old games that are not seen today, but Solitaire remains strong as ever.
