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''Microsoft Solitaire Collection'' is a
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
developed by Microsoft Casual Games and published by
Xbox Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...
for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
. It combines the
Solitaire Solitaire may refer to: Film and television *'' Le Solitaire'', a 1987 French film * ''Solitaire'' (1991 film), a Canadian drama film * ''Solitaire'' (2008 film), a drama film *''Solitaire'', 2016 Lebanese comedy film with Bassam Kousa *"Solit ...
,
FreeCell FreeCell is a solitaire card game played using the standard 52-card deck. It is fundamentally different from most solitaire games in that very few deals are unsolvable, and all cards are dealt face-up from the beginning of the game. Microsoft h ...
and Spider Solitaire titles that were included with previous versions of Windows. It also introduces
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
and TriPeaks to Windows for the first time, as well as new daily challenges and themes (though an older version of Pyramid was previously bundled in '' Microsoft Entertainment Pack 2'' under the name "Tut's Tomb", and an older version of TriPeaks was previously bundled in ''Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3''; both made the cut for ''
Microsoft Entertainment Pack ''Microsoft Entertainment Pack'', also known as ''Windows Entertainment Pack'' or simply ''WEP'', is a collection of 16-bit casual computer games for Windows. There were four Entertainment Packs released between 1990 and 1992. These games wer ...
''). Unlike the games included in
Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...
and earlier versions, ''Microsoft Solitaire Collection'' is
freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium", is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical ( ...
adware Adware, often called advertising-supported software by its developers, is software that generates revenue by automatically displaying Online advertising, online advertisements in the user interface or on a screen presented during the installatio ...
with Xbox Live integration. The app's hub-based design was originally inspired by the design for
Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via Microsoft ...
's Start screen in 2012. At the time, the developers considered the game a tool for helping users become more familiar with Windows 8. Unlike its predecessors, ''Microsoft Solitaire Collection'' is updated via the
Microsoft Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...
and communicates with a Microsoft server in order to track achievements and offer daily challenges.


Overview

''Microsoft Solitaire Collection'', designed by
Microsoft Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...
and developed by
Smoking Gun Interactive Keywords Studios plc is an Irish video game industry services company based in Leopardstown. Founded in 1998 by Giorgio Guastalla and Teresa Luppino, the company initially provided localisation services for business software before transitionin ...
(formerly Arkadium and
Next Level Games Next Level Games, Inc. is a Canadian video game developer owned by Nintendo based in Vancouver. Founded in October 2002 by former members of EA Black Box who've worked on games such as ''Sega Soccer Slam'' and ''NHL Hitz (disambiguation), NHL ...
), includes Klondike (classic Solitaire),
Spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
,
FreeCell FreeCell is a solitaire card game played using the standard 52-card deck. It is fundamentally different from most solitaire games in that very few deals are unsolvable, and all cards are dealt face-up from the beginning of the game. Microsoft h ...
,
Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...
, and TriPeaks game modes, as well as daily challenges. The default theme is similar to the default theme for card games in
Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...
and 7, but the other themes are different. It is also possible for users to create their own custom themes. Other new features include in-game music, cloud syncing, and Xbox Live integration. The hidden debug menu from classic card apps is no longer present, and the drop-down menus have been replaced with a universal hamburger menu and in-game hint and undo buttons at the bottom of the screen. (The Windows 8 version used the hidden Charms bar instead of the visible hamburger menu.) When a player wins a game, the game will randomly select a card animation based on animations from previous versions of Windows card games. The app has a dedicated page for statistics on Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, TriPeaks, Daily Challenge, and Star Club. ''Microsoft Solitaire Collection'' was first made available for free download in
Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via Microsoft ...
's
Windows Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...
. Despite solitaire games previously being included in Windows for free since 1990, they were not included in
Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via Microsoft ...
or Windows 8.1 and were uninstalled during upgrades from previous systems. Instead, Microsoft produced the advertising-supported ''Microsoft Solitaire Collection'' that users could download through the
Windows Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...
. As a
Windows Runtime Windows Runtime (WinRT) is a platform-agnostic component and application architecture first introduced in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 in 2012. It is implemented in C++ and officially supports development in C++ (via C++/WinRT, C++/CX ...
app, it ran in fullscreen or in Windows 8's snapped mode, so it was designed to run in a variety of horizontal sizes but always stretch vertically across the entire screen. The Windows 10 version was introduced to Windows 10 beta testers preinstalled with the system in build 10061, in time to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Microsoft Solitaire. Some customization features were not included until after the initial public release of Windows 10. The developers noted the delay was due to major code changes that happened during the development of Windows 10. The Windows 10 version was designed to scale dynamically both vertically and horizontally. The main page's layout was rearranged to use vertical scrolling rather than horizontal scrolling. Since the original "Microsoft Solitaire" was Klondike solitaire but did not use the Klondike branding, some users were unaware it was Klondike. The Microsoft Casual Games team reportedly received frequent feedback to "Bring back the game mode from Windows 7" even though they already did. To address user confusion and help users find this game, the developers replaced the large polar bear on the Klondike tile with a Klondike deck and the words "Classic Solitaire". ''Microsoft Solitaire Collection'' was made available for
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
and Android in August 2016 to beta testers in the Microsoft Casual Games Inner Circle. It was made publicly available on these platforms on November 23, 2016. Most iOS solitaire apps are integrated with Apple's Game Center, but this one is exclusively integrated into Microsoft's ecosystem. Since these versions integrate directly with the cloud service, it is not necessary to have the Xbox app installed on an iOS or Android device in order to sync data and achievements. On the same day, a news bulletin launched from the app into a web browser announced that the Events feature would be publicly available in December 2016.


Advertisement controversy

The five basic game modes contain ads, displayed at the end of each game, and there are new features added in Windows 8 (Daily Challenges and Star Club) where users will see interstitial video ads roughly every 15 minutes, but only between games. Users can optionally pay $1.49/month or $9.99/year to get the Premium Edition of the game, which removes all advertisements, gives double coins for completing Daily Challenges and gives some bonuses in the basic TriPeaks and Pyramid game modes. Users who downloaded the iOS or Android app between November 23 and December 31, 2016, were given a month of Premium on that iOS or Android device. ''
Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' () is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop ...
'' characterized the change as a way to "nickel and dime" users, writing that "something which used to come on your PC for free is now corrupted by ad buys." ''
PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...
'' wrote: "The ads in question aren't small banners that appear at the bottom of the screen while you play. They run over the full Solitaire window, some for 15 seconds and some for 30 seconds, and while they don't seem to pop up very often ... they can't be aborted." ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...
'' wrote that users are in "disbelief" that they would have to pay to play a game without being "interrupted by a slew of adverts." ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun'' said that the changes are a "particularly heartbreaking sign of the times" and that some users would find it "profoundly sinister" that "a large corporation is gathering and storing vast amounts of data on your computing habits, and not simply what you do in a browser." A particular issue that some users have found with Microsoft Jigsaw, which is part of the collection, is that a number of advertisements will only run a second or two, and then freeze. Most of them return the user to the menu, but some require exiting the app. Generally, this will happen with multiple attempts in succession, often with the same ad starting and freezing repeatedly, so that the user may be shut out of the game for a considerable passage of time. There are also in-app links to play or download other ad-supported Microsoft-branded games, including Microsoft Mahjong and Microsoft Minesweeper. On August 3, 2021, Microsoft announced that the Premium Edition of the game would be added to their PC Game Pass subscription service (then known as Xbox Game Pass for PC) on August 17, 2021.


Daily Challenges, Star Club, Events

Daily Challenges are posted every day. There is one of each game, which can be any difficulty. Star Club has challenges posted under different themes and can be any difficulty. Events are new almost every day and can have 5 to 30 challenges. Events can have all of one game, all one difficulty, or two or more games with mixed difficulties. When logged in, you can view your progress alongside other people around the world.


See also

*
List of games included with Windows Video games have been included in versions of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting from Windows 1.0, all published by Microsoft. Some games that have appeared in ''Microsoft Entertainment Pack'' and Microsoft Plus! have been ...


References


External links


Microsoft Solitaire Collection
on
Windows Store The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With ...

Microsoft Solitaire Collection
on
MSN Games MSN Games (also known as Zone.com and formerly known as The Village, Internet Gaming Zone, MSN Gaming Zone, and MSN Games by Zone.com) is a casual gaming website, with single player, multiplayer, PC download, and social casino video games. Games ...
{{Microsoft Windows components 2012 video games Microsoft games Patience video games Universal Windows Platform apps Video games developed in the United States Windows components Windows games Windows Phone games Smoking Gun Interactive games Browser games Freemium