Monikasharma · Follow
11 min read · Aug 23, 2023
When it comes to gaming, we all have a different mindset about it. Some think gaming is not good for your health, it is stressful, and some think it is good for your mind and improves your health. Yes, both statements are equally factful. Playing games is much as harmful as much as it is beneficial your health and mental growth. However, it depends on your game choices. How?
See, so many kinds of games are available on the internet, from casual to hardcore games. Each game has its own several benefits and downsides. However, among many games, card games like Solitaire introduced and developed by the Solitaire game developers of Microsoft, have proven benefits of improving mental and overall health.
Playing Solitaire has many benefits; it improves your brain’s thinking capabilities and reflexes, increases focusing power, and brings a good mood. There are many benefits, but have you ever wondered what skills a solitaire game develops? I’m sure you have, but do you know what those skills are?
In this article, we have compiled the top skills list that you develop in yourself by playing Solitaire games. So now the only question remains, what skills does Solitaire develop? Let’s find out!
Grows Your Decision-Making Capabilities
The biggest skill solitaire develops is that it improves your decision-making power. In the solitaire game, players must make quick decisions based on the available information, which can help them make in-time decisions more fluently. In a solitaire game, you build the correct sequence as fast as possible, and in the process, you rapidly make crucial decisions about which sequence fits where.
Although, when you play card games like Solitaire, your decision-making skills don’t grow only for the platform, but it also helps improve your overall essential life decision-making skills. Moreover, this could be more beneficial for those who work in a pressure-filled environment or who need to make quick decisions daily.
Make You a More Concentrated Person
Playing Solitaire requires much more concentration and problem-solving skills, both necessary for maintaining cognitive function. This is important because the more we age, the more we lose concentration and thinking capabilities. That’s why maintaining your cognitive function positively gives your brain a colossal concentration level boost.
This is not just a myth; many studies have shown that playing card games like Solitaire improves memory and cognitive function. Playing solitaire games regularly grows your focus and concentration level. Solitaire is easy; however, you have to keep focused in the game and might need to face more challenges. And these challenges train your brain to improve concentration and cognitive skills.
It Develops Strategic Ability
Another great skill that Solitaire develops is strategic ability. Playing Solitaire develops your strategic muscle and also improves mental functions. While Solitaire is not completely a strategic base game like chess, you need to incorporate different types of strategies to win faster. Therefore, to win the game, you need to learn the right strategic moves, and implementing them correctly results in a higher chance of winning the round in less time, improving your strategic ability and giving you happiness.
It Improves Your Memory Retention
Playing Solitaire helps you improve your memory retention. Solitaire is played with a 52 deck of cards, and the player must keep remember the cards that have already been played. This helps you improve your short-term memory and can even have beneficial for remembering the long-term memories. In short, you will develop your memory, improving your overall memory strength over time.
Teaches You How To Stay Calm
Solitaire is a solo-player game that doesn’t require 2 or 6 people in a group, like Poker or Rummy. Therefore, when you play Solitaire, it requires complete focus throughout the game. Apart from this, playing Solitaire, you learn how to stay calm and concise.
This is a valuable lesson or, in other words, a skill that you can learn and develop within yourself. While playing Solitaire, you don’t shout or talk; you just focus on the game. It drives away anxiety and overthinking, defuses tension from your mind, and brings a calmness that helps you sleep peacefully.
It Teaches You How To Enjoy Alone
As many people like to play with groups, but some like to play alone; they like alone time. And that skill teaches you a solitaire card game. People often play card games like Solitaire, which teaches them to enjoy alone when no one is around.
Helpful Mental Activity
Solitaire is a brain-oriented card game requiring complete concentration and calmness. Playing Solitaire is like stretching your brain capabilities, and also it’s an excellent exercise for mental growth. It is great when you need a short break from your profession or to take your mind off something.
These are the few skills that solitaire develops; moreover, do you want to know some tips and tricks to increase your chance of winning in the solitaire game? Here are a few strategies you can use while playing solitaire:
1. Learn the Basic Rules
Without knowing the game rules, you can’t win. Simply put, every game is built with rules that players need to understand first to win. Card games contain diverse rules that set them apart from other digital games. Rules make the game more fun and challenging; therefore, learning the rules is the first important thing to consider.
You should know that every solitaire game has 52 decks of cards. Players need to build a different foundation in sequence and suit by placing certain cards into specific positions.
First, learn what sequence you need to arrange the cards to win. Moreover, not only does sequence matter, but also you need to arrange them into a color sequence. The first thing players must understand is how these cards are used and where they need to be placed in the Solitaire game.
2. Target the Largest Card Stacks
Many players ignore completing the largest stack first, and this is where they take a lot of time to win. Targeting the large stack first can give you more time benefits and allows you to target more hidden cards. Targeting large stacks gives you a better chance of revealing the hidden cards and making the sequence easier.
It is also essential to move all the cards from the stack so that you will have the space to deal with the remaining cards from the card deck. By using this strategy, you can increase your chances of winning the solitaire.
3. Keep Track of the Time
Solitaire is not usually played on time in the casinos. However, if you play an online or competitive solitaire tournament, how long you finish the game is important, as the time will affect your final score. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand the value of time as it impacts your overall score.
It’s important to arrange the cards in the right order and move them to the foundation pile in less time to get a higher score. Also, you can beat your opponent in timed solitaire; even if they build a foundation pile. You just need to arrange all the foundation pile before they do. The less time you will take the more extra points you will earn.
4. Focus On the Face Down Cards
Another great strategy to drive your game on your side. Your priority in solitaire should be revealing the face-down cards as quickly as possible. Instead of drawing more cards from the deck in the first few chances, reveal the face-down card first.
The best way to increase your chances of winning is by focusing on the king. It is because the sequence starts with A and ends with K; for example, you need to place a king card first in one of the empty slots and then Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A. so you need to try putting all the K’s in the slots to ease your winning chances.
5. Evenly Make a Stack
Many players follow this mistake when playing solitaire and chasing the win. They forget that there are other piles available in the game. If you have a chance to make multiple piles at the same time, do not ignore the opportunity. Building multiple piles is a great way to fill empty slots more rapidly.
The game’s most significant winning strategy is to try to make stacks evenly, like maintaining two piles with four piles and combining them to make a single pile of eight or leave them separate if you are not revealing the face-down cards. If you are focusing on building big stacks or have only space for two big stacks, try to make the opposite of others. Simply put, if your first king is black, the other king should be red.
Certainly, Solitaire is one of the soothing and skill-developing card games that have gained tremendous popularity in recent years. Additionally, throughout these years, many solitaire versions have been introduced, some became mainstreaming in the card gaming industry, and some have replaced traditional Solitaire. Here is the list of diverse versions of Solitaire:
Klondike: The classic Solitaire where the aim is to build foundations by suit in order from ace to king.
Pyramid: Cards are dealt with in a pyramid formation and must be moved to foundations or tableau in suit order.
FreeCell: Similar to Klondike but with four free cell stacks to temporarily hold cards until they can be moved.
Spider: Cards are dealt in eight stacks and four foundations that must be built up by alternating color.
Solitaire: The generic name for many card games played solo with the goal of ordering cards in foundations.
Tri Peaks: Three mountain-like stacks are built up by a suit, while tableau cards can be moved to waste or foundations.
Napoleon at St Helena: Deals with a historical figure’s exile and requires strategic thinking to clear four suits to foundations.
Canfield: One of the more difficult variations involves building down on tableau piles and across to foundations methodically.
Yukon: Fast-paced Solitaire where the aim is to move all cards to foundations before the timer runs out by building down in tableau.
Scorpion: Unique layout places cards in a scorpion-like formation and requires strategic thinking to clear tableau to foundations.
Crescent: Cards are dealt in a crescent shape and must be moved to foundations in suit order while building down other stacks.
Golf: The scoring system awards points for each card moved to foundations with the goal of reaching par before all cards are played.
Bowling Solitaire: Inspired by ten pins, cards are dealt in pin formation and must be removed methodically to foundations or waste.
Double Solitaire: Two independent Klondike games are played simultaneously, requiring strategy and planning to clear both layouts.
Fairway Solitaire: Golf-themed variant involves clearing cards from fairway tableau to greens and bunkers before reaching the hole.
Mahjong solitaire: Replicates Mahjong tile game and requires removing sets of matching cards from layout to foundations.
Monte Carlo: Chance element introduced through random dealing and need to work with the dealt layout to clear to foundations strategically.
Aces Up: Aces are placed in foundations at the start, providing an advantage but still requiring strategic play to clear tableau to foundations methodically.
Addiction Solitaire: Fast-paced variation aims to move all cards to foundations before the timer runs out through strategic building and clearing of the tableau.
Clock: Cards dealt in a circular formation and must be moved clockwise to foundations or waste through strategic building and tableau uncovering.
Poker squares: Combines poker hand values and Solitaire elements by building foundations with card combinations like pairs and straights.
Peg solitaire: Inspired by a peg board game, cards are moved over “pegs” on the tableau and to foundations using strategic jumps to clear the layout.
Colorado: Wild cards allow flexibility in building foundations by suit or color, adding challenge through increased options but complexity.
Cruel: Considered one of the most difficult variations, cards are dealt sparsely, and strategic thinking is crucial to clear layout through building foundations methodically.
Solitaire is a simple and classic card game played with a full 52 deck of cards. The objective is to create four sequence cards from Ace to King piles. So, you start the game by arranging the tableau, which has seven columns of cards. The first column always dealt with face-up cards, and the second column had one face down and one face up. And so on, in the seventh column, six cards are face down, and only one card is face up. Players can also draw additional cards from the remaining stockpile when needed.
The player’s objective is to move the cards from the tableau to the foundation pile just above the tableau slots. So basically, players must arrange the cards in ascending order; for example, K is the first place in those empty foundations. Players can only move one card at a time and one card to the foundation pile if it matches the suit and is one rank higher than that pile’s top card. For example, you can move two of Hearts to a foundation pile if there is an Ace of Hearts on top of it.
There are multiple ways to place the cards in the foundation pile in the Solitaire game:
· One method is building foundations sequentially by suit from ace to king. So you’d put the ace of spades on the first foundation pile, and then look for the 2 of spades, and so on. This straightforward approach works well for beginners.
· Another tactic is to build one foundation at a time from the bottom up by suit. So you’d concentrate all your efforts on getting the spades done before moving to hearts, diamonds, and then clubs. This can help avoid getting stuck if you try to build all piles simultaneously.
· A more advanced strategy is to build foundations from the top down by alternating suits. You’d start with the king of a red suit-like hearts on the first pile, and then look to place the king of a black suit-like spades on the next. Going back and forth between red and black helps clear cards out of the way more efficiently.
· Some solitaire variants let you move any exposed aces or kings directly to their respective foundation piles before building sequences. Jumping those high cards speeds up the process.
Apart from this, you can always withdraw cards from the remaining stockpile and move them to the waste pile if you run out of moves. The game is not hard to understand, but when you start playing it continuously, you can finish it quickly. The bottom line here is that continuous practice can easily let you win.
There are numerous solitaire platforms available online that you can try without risking anything. However, for those who want to earn while playing it, there are also different online sources available that offer competitive solitaire tournament games. Moreover, check out below online platforms for solitaire fun:
Top 5 free websites to play solitaire game online
Here are some popular websites to play solitaire games online for free:
2. Solitaired
3. Solitr
4. Cardgames.io
Top 5 free mobile apps to play solitaire games online
Play solitaire games on these most popular and free mobile apps:
1. Solitaire — Classic Card Games by MobilityWare
2. Microsoft Solitaire Collection by Microsoft Corporation
3. Solitaire: Classic Card Games by Brainium Studios
4. Solitaire + Card Game by Zynga
5. Solitaire by ME2ZEN Limited
Conclusion
Solitaire does more than just develop skills. Such a card game helps you relax and have fun. The skills these types of card games develop, like decision-making ability or increasing focusing level, benefit overall health. Players can try many game variations; some are more challenging and complex than others, and some are best for having fun and spending alone time.
You can enjoy your favorite solitaire games on online platforms and mobile apps without risking anything. Thanks to technological advancement, Solitaire game development has become more advanced and proficient in delivering out-of-the-box gaming solutions per the requirements. Your approach to solitaire game development should be intellectual, as numerous game platforms already offer a diverse range of solitaire games; thereby, yours should also be more diversified and competitive.
Get an expert consultation services from us for your solitaire or other card game development projects and expand your vision for a brighter opportunity to grow your significant business.
