Just Solitaire Blog

Major Update

Gary Rosenzweig — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:19:57 GMT

Just rolled out a major update. The whole toolbar and text display at the top of the screen has changed. There are now only 3 buttons. The New button gives you the opportunity to reset, start a new game, or continue the current game with a new deal. The Info button gives you access to instructions, settings and stats.
Lots more changes under the hood as well, including some performance enhancements.
Been working on this update all month. I've tested it a lot, but let me know if you find anything not working.

Casket Solitaire

Gary Rosenzweig — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:21:23 GMT

Added one of the strangest of all the solitaire games: Casket. In these game you have a stock, foundations and a tableau. Fine. But you also have a special reserve pile (jewels) and a set of cells that can hold one card. The later form the "lid" of the casket, and the tableau forms the sides and bottom, with the jewels inside. See, I told you it was strange.
But that's not all. You also have three waste piles that you can use. And most of the action is automatic: cards deal automatically from the stock to a main waste pile. Then they go from there to fill any empty tableau piles. But the jewels fill any empty lid spaces too.
It takes a while to get all the rules down, but once you do it is a fun game.

Better Layout for iPhone Solitaire

Gary Rosenzweig — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:45:58 GMT

So I made a change this morning that only affects players on the iPhone or iPod Touch. I'm using the smaller iPhone-specific ad at the top of the screen. This adds some more playing space, and improves the look of the games in general. The ads should also be a little more relevant to iPhone users. Ads are necessary (gotta pay the bills) but they are such a waste when you get an ad on the iPhone for a site or product that isn''t for iPhone users.

La Belle Lucie Video Tutorial

Gary Rosenzweig — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:23:15 GMT

Just posted another video tutorial. This time for La Belle Lucie. It is very a popular game at the site. It is one of those games that appears in the very old solitaire game books I have, but also seems to be popular today.
La Belle Lucie video tutorial.

Facebook URL

Gary Rosenzweig — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:25:21 GMT

Just got the Facebook URL http://www.facebook.com/justsolitaire, which is nice to have.

Added Easthaven Solitaire

Gary Rosenzweig — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:42:15 GMT

So Easthaven Solitaire is an unusual game. It looks a lot like Klondike, with 7 tableau piles, 4 foundations and a stock. And your play the tableau and foundations just like Klondike. But you deal the cards from the stock like Spider with a new card going to each of the tableau piles.
This makes it a very difficult game to win. To help, a common variation is to allow any card or set to occupy an empty tableau space. I've added that to the game as an option in the settings.

Added Eliminator

Gary Rosenzweig — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:03:54 GMT

I love the fact that part of my job is to discover new solitaire variations, figure out how to implement them, and then play -- I mean test -- them for hours and hours.
Eliminator Solitaire is my new discovery this week and I put it up live on the site yesterday.

Double Klondike Solitaire

Gary Rosenzweig — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:07:23 GMT

If you like Klondike (and who doesn't?) and you want the same game to last longer, and yet have more of a chance of winning, then Double Klondike is one you should try.
I've just added it to the site. Basically, it plays exactly like Klondike, but there are two decks of cards. This means eight foundations. And to compensate, there are 9 tableau piles instead of 7.
So you would think at first that it would be harder to win. But not so. Since there are four of every card value (four red kings, for example), there are more chances to come up with the right one. Plus the extra tableau piles help too.

Forty Thieves Solitaire Video Tutorial

Gary Rosenzweig — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 15:41:18 GMT

So Forty Thieves is very a popular game at the site. But I had heard little about it until I started making solitaire games. As part of a series of tutorials on how to play various solitaire games, I've created one for Forty Thieves.

Going Social

Gary Rosenzweig — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:26:34 GMT

I just added two buttons to the toolbar to give easy access to the Twitter and Facebook pages for Just Solitaire. The Twitter account is at http://twitter.com/justsolitaire, and the Facebook page is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Just-Soli ... 7209116834. I can get the second one shortened as soon as enough people sign up as liking the page. So help me out!
I'll probably continue to use them as announcement pages for new games and features. But they are also a good way to give feedback.
I dream about one day having tournaments of one kind or another, and these would also be a good way to spread the word about that and also announce the winners.