Microsoft Spider Solitaire

The classic card games have been a nice complimentary addition to the many generations of the Windows OS for years. In fact, it's hard to imagine one without the legendary Solitaire - it'd be as good as a Happy Meal without French fries or a cup of hot cocoa without marshmallows.

However, if you want to enjoy the good old card games from the Windows 98/XP etc. now, you'll have to start Microsoft Solitaire Collection download, since it's not included in the OS packages anymore.

What's on the menu?

As a variation to the original Solitaire, Spider Solitaire is a single player card game, with multiple variations, having grown very popular after its inclusion in Microsoft Windows. The game is called “Spider” Solitaire due to the relation of spiders having eight legs, and the eight discard piles in the foundation that need to be filled. Microsoft Spider Solitaire: Try this twist on the timeless card classic; Microsoft Wordament: Keep your mind sharp with this challenging word game.

Microsoft Solitaire Collection game isn't a single game - it's a whole bundle of innocent looking time-killers. All in all, you get to savor five timeless card games.

The bundle includes:

1) Solitaire aka Klondike - alternate red & black numbers in a descending order to pinpoint the 4 aces and build upon them.

2) Spider - you have 8 card columns (104 cards in total) to clear off the table. But the fewer moves you employ - the bigger you triumph is. You can switch between single/all four suits modes.

3) FreeCell - another immortal classic. Just like in Klondike, you must locate the aces, using the red & black principle. However, you can only use four cells for moving the cards around in. This game rewards strategic thinking and if you're experienced at chess even a bit, your superiority will be unquestionable.

4) TriPeaks - choose cards in a sequence either up or down to wipe them off the table. But here's the catch: your moves or deals are limited. A great portion of randomness is present in TriPeaks too.

5) Pyramid - a lovely brain-twister, in which you should pair two cards that add up to 13 in order to get rid of them and reach the top of the pyramid. Passionate, a bit addictive playing is guaranteed.

At first glance, some of the games may seem to be knotty and perplexing just a bit. But don't fret: in actuality, you'll master them after one or two practice rounds.

Should you be bored of playing solo, the game has a little competitive element to make things spicier and more fetching. Every game in the bundle has an online leaderboard assigned to it. In order to conquer an eminent position in the Leaderboard, you're supposed to complete daily challenges and earn the Honor Badges. Although the cornucopia of the high score tables for every single game kind of torpedoes the idea: they are not that much densely populated because of that.

As you become a champion by completing challenges one by one (chiefly they are endurance challenges) you will be awarded with the Stars. The Stars will, in turn, unlock even a bigger multitude of new challenges as a part of Star Club.

The pretty suites

The interface of Microsoft Solitaire Collection is clean, neat and plain. Landscape/portrait mode switching works finely at your command.

You have the colorful suites, laconic green table, and selectable themes, some of which, like Aquarium are animated. Or you can pick a nicely atmospheric Fable theme, in which the table is covered with yellow parchment, cards are shabby, Joker is represented as the Grim Reaper and you can hear some vintage pizzicato music in the background along with chickens clucking. Only a mug of ginger red ale and a walnut pipe are missing.

Controlling the game is marvelously easy, especially on mobile devices. Elementary tapping & dragging do the trick and it all feels pretty smooth, maybe because you're the only one to decide at what tempo to play.

And of course the Microsoft Solitaire Collection review wouldn't be full without mentioning what platform are compatible with it:

• Android.

• Windows 8/8.1.

• Windows 10

• Windows 7

• Windows Server 2012/R2.

• Windows Phone.

• Xbox Live.

If you're a proud iPhone/iPad owner then don't be discouraged - iOS version exists as well.
The game is free to download, but you'll have to watch 30-seconds long ads on a regular basis. There's no one-time payment to remove that eyesore - you can only buy a monthly/yearly subscription - $1.49/$9.99 respectively.

Spider Solitaire, also known as Microsoft Spider Solitaire^[1] (Spider in the About box in some versions), is a solitairecard game that is included in Microsoft Windows.^[2] It is a version of Spider. As of 2005, it was the most played game on Windows PCs, surpassing the shorter and less challenging Klondike-based Windows Solitaire.^[3]

The game was first included as part of Windows 98's Microsoft Plus! package^[4] and has been since featured on most subsequent versions of Windows. Spider Solitaire was not included in Windows 2000,^[5] but was added to Windows ME^[6] and later on Windows XP;^[7] the game gained popularity subsequent to its inclusion in the latter.^[3]Windows Vista again saw a new version,^[8] which was mainly unchanged in Windows 7.^[9] Finally, Windows 8 has another updated version available in the Windows Store as part of Microsoft Solitaire Collection but not bundled with the operating system.^[10]Windows 10 has the Microsoft Solitaire Collection app updated and bundled with the OS.

Gameplay[edit]

The game is played with two decks of cards for a total of 104 cards. Fifty-four of the cards are laid out horizontally in ten columns with only the top card showing. The remaining fifty cards are laid out in the lower right hand corner in five piles of ten with no cards showing.^[11]

In the horizontal columns a card may be moved to any other card in the column as long as it is in descending numerical sequence. For example, a six of hearts may be moved to a seven of any suit. However, a sequence of cards can only be moved if they are all of the same suit in numerical descending order. For example, a six and seven of hearts may be moved to an eight of any suit, but a six of hearts and seven of clubs cannot be moved together. Moving the top card in a column allows the topmost hidden card to be turned over. This card then enters into the play. Other cards can be placed on it, and it can be moved to other cards in a sequence or to an empty column.

The object of the game is to uncover all the hidden cards and by moving cards from one column to another to place cards in sequential order from King to Ace using the fewest moves. Each final sequence must be all of the same suit. Once a complete sequence is achieved the cards are removed from the table and 100 points are added to the score. Once a player has made all the moves possible with the current card layout, the player draws a new row of cards from one of the piles of ten in the right lower hand corner by clicking on the cards. Each of the ten cards in this draw lands face up on each of the ten horizontal columns and the player then proceeds to place these in such a way to create a sequence of cards all in one suit.

Features[edit]

Microsoft Spider Solitaire One Suit

There are three levels of difficulty in Spider Solitaire: Beginner (one suit), Intermediate (two suits), and Advanced (four suits).^[12]

Spider Solitaire has an 'undo' feature that allows moves to be retracted. Any number of moves can be retracted, back to the last non-retractable move, but each 'undo' subtracts one from the score.

To aid the player, the key H (M in earlier versions) will highlight possible moves. . The player can also undo previous moves and try again. Windows keeps track of scores for the player's reference; these may be viewed by going to Game and then Statistics. In Windows 7, these scores appear in the Games Explorer by clicking the game and selecting the Statistics tab in the Preview Pane. There are two measures of performance in Spider Solitaire: number of games won and highest score. In a certain sense these two measures are negatively correlated: maximizing games won may yield lower scores per game and vice versa.

The final score in a Spider Solitaire game is calculated as follows. The initial score is 500 and every move subtracts one from the score. Using the “undo” feature also subtracts one point from the score. Every time the player is able to place an entire sequence of cards of the same suit in order (kings, queens, jacks, 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 ace), 100 points are added to the score. There is a total of eight such sequences in the game yielding a maximum achievable number of 800. Therefore, in a winning game the total score is 800 plus 500 minus the number of moves and 'undo's.^[12]

References[edit]

1. ^'Spider Solitaire May Not Display Properly When You Drag Cards'. Support. Microsoft. September 28, 2004. Archived from the original on January 16, 2007.
2. ^Beggesen, Mark. 'Spider Solitaire - Microsoft Windows Vista Games'. About.com. p. 9. Archived from the original on March 11, 2009.
3. ^ ^abTrefry, Gregory (2010). Casual game design: designing play for the gamer in all of us. Amsterdam: Morgan Kaufmann/Elsevier. pp. 107–108. ISBN9780123749536.
4. ^Thurrott, Paul (June 25, 1998). 'Plus! for Windows 98 Review'. Supersite for Windows. Penton. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
5. ^Ford, Jerry Lee Jr. (2000). Upgrading to Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional: A Migration Guide for Windows 98 and Windows NT Users. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.com, Inc. p. 90. ISBN0595148042. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
6. ^'List of Games That Are Included with Windows'. Support. Microsoft. September 28, 2004. Archived from the original on January 16, 2007.
7. ^'How To Add or Remove Games in Windows XP'. Support. Microsoft. July 15, 2004. Archived from the original on February 11, 2005.
8. ^Yu, James (July 24, 2006). 'A Look at Windows Vista Installed Games'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
9. ^Thurrott, Paul (October 6, 2010). 'Windows 7 Review, Part 10: Bundled Applications'. Supersite for Windows. Penton. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
10. ^'Microsoft Solitaire Collection'. App Store. Microsoft. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
11. ^'Spider Solitaire: how to play'. Windows. Microsoft. Archived from the original on November 23, 2009.
12. ^ ^abSpider Solitaire Help

Microsoft Spider Solitaire Two Suits