About the Games

If you’re browsing for a new game of a particular type, have a look through this chapter. We’ve tried to group the games in ways that may help you find what you’re looking for.

Popular Games: Canfield, Eight Off, FreeCell, Golf, Klondike, Montana, Pyramid, Spider, The Towers, and Yukon are all games that are widely known and often played. Since so many people like them, you might too!

Simple Games: Aces High, Quadrille, and The Wish are games that don’t require much thought. Most are not too hard to win (but Aces High is an exception; wins are rare). Children will like these games, and so will adults in search of a vacation from too much thinking.

Fairly Simple Games: Grandfather’s Clock, Accordion, and Pyramid are a little harder to learn than the really simple games, but not much. Each has scope for thought—in fact, some can get quite deep and are also listed as “Thinker’s Games”—but they are still entertaining when played at a simple level. Older children will enjoy them.

Thinker’s Games: Accordion, Beleaguered Castle, Calculation, Chessboard, Fortress, FreeCell, Grandma’s Game, Miss Milligan, Pyramid, Spider, Spiderette, and The Towers are all games that you are unlikely to win unless you put a lot of thought into your play.

Challenges: Accordion and Golf are very  difficult to win. Accordion can actually be won quite often, but only if you’re very good and work at it very hard. Spider and Forty Thieves are also toughies.

Rewarding Games: Bisley, Eight Off, FreeCell, Miss Milligan, Tabby Cat, and The Towers are games which can be won more often than not, but only if you play thoughtfully and well. If you like to be rewarded for your efforts, these are good choices. Golf and Pyramid have special scoring systems that will reward good play, although “real wins” are rare. And we believe (but can’t prove) that every game of Free Cell can be won!

Two Deck Games: Forty Thieves, Grandma’s Game, Miss Milligan, and Spider are solitaires that use two full decks, a total of 104 cards. They are long, interesting games that cannot be lost too quickly, and which offer much scope for intelligent play.

Small Games: Aces High, Calculation, Quadrille, and The Wish are games that rarely if ever take up much room. These are good ones to learn to play with real cards, for occasions when you have time to spare but no room to spare: long trips by plane, train, bus, or car, for example.

Large Games: Baker’s Dozen, Bisley, Forty Thieves, Manx, Miss Milligan, Montana, Spider, and Tabby Cat feature large layouts. If you have a big monitor and want a big game to puzzle over, try some of these.

Long Games: Accordion, Forty Thieves, Grandma’s Game, Miss Milligan, and Spider are games that take a while to finish, whether you win or lose.

Short Games: Aces High and The Wish are games that never take long to complete, and that are good for short breaks.

Pretty Games: Grandfather’s Clock, Pyramid, Quadrille, and The Wish are games that make pretty patterns on the table, and that are fun to play or win for that reason.

Unusual Games: Accordion, Flower Garden, Grandma’s Game, Montana, Pyramid, and Thirteens are games which offer a pleasant change from the usual build-up-and-down format of most solitaires, or which have other unusual features.

Related Games: Some games are variations on each other. Here are the “families” of games available in Solitaire Till Dawn:
    • La Belle Lucie, Trefoil
    • Klondike (Familiar), Klondike (Strict)
    • Beleaguered Castle, Chessboard, Fortress
    • Eight Off, FreeCell, The Towers
    • Spider, Spiderette
    • Tabby Cat, Manx
    • Yukon, Yukon (Strict)

New Games: Although most of the games in Solitaire Till Dawn are old classics, three were invented specifically for computer play. Manx and Tabby Cat were created especially for Solitaire Till Dawn by Rick Holzgrafe, and Thirteens is the creation of DOS programmer Randy Rasa, who kindly gave his permission for us to include it. These games will almost certainly be new to you.

Recommended Games: Over time we have added games to Solitaire Till Dawn which were recommended by our customers. Baker’s Dozen, Bisley, Eight Off, FreeCell, Montana, The Towers, and Yukon (Strict) are games that others have enjoyed enough to ask for. Perhaps they’ll become favorites of yours, too!