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1. Microsoft Solitaire Collection Not Opening
2. Open Solitaire On This Computer
3. Microsoft Solitaire For Windows 7

Microsoft Solitaire Collection is a video game included with Windows 10. It replaces Solitaire, FreeCell and Spider Solitaire included with the previous versions of Windows. It also adds Pyramid and TriPeaks to Windows for the first time and introduces new daily challenges and themes. (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 Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack.) Unlike the games included in Windows 7 and earlier versions, Microsoft Solitaire Collection is freemiumadware^[1] with Xbox Live integration. The app's hub-based design was originally inspired by the design for Windows 8's Start screen in 2012. At the time, the developers considered the game a tool for helping users become more familiar with Windows 8.^[2] Unlike its predecessors, Microsoft Solitaire Collection is updated from Windows Store and communicates with a Microsoft server in order to track achievements and offer daily challenges.

Overview[edit]

The software, designed by Microsoft Studios and developed by Arkadium, includes Klondike (classic Solitaire), Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, and TriPeaks game modes, as well as daily challenges. The default theme is similar to the default theme for card games in Windows Vista 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,^[3] 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.)

Microsoft Solitaire Collection Not Opening

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 download in Windows 8. Despite solitaire games previously being included in Windows for free since 1990,^[4] they were not included in Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 and were uninstalled during upgrades from previous systems.^[5] Instead, Microsoft produced the advertising-supported^[1]Microsoft Solitaire Collection that users could download through the Windows Store. As a Windows Runtime 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.^[2]

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'.^[6]

Microsoft Solitaire Collection was made available for iOS and Android in August 2016 to beta testers in the Microsoft Casual Games Inner Circle.^[7][8] 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.^[9][8]

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.^[10]

Advertisement controversy[edit]

The 5 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 $10/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.^[11] 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.^[9]

Gizmodo 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.'^[12]PC Gamer 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.'^[13]The Telegraph wrote that users are in 'disbelief' that they would have to pay to play a game without being 'interrupted by a slew of adverts.'^[14]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.'^[15]

There are also in-app links to play or download other Microsoft-branded games, including Microsoft Mahjong and Microsoft Minesweeper.^[16]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abKingsley-Hughes, Adrian (28 July 2015). 'Want to remove the ads from Solitaire in Windows 10? That'll be $1.49 a month'. ZDNet. CBS Interactive.
2. ^ ^ab'Evolving Solitaire - Microsoft Casual Games'. 3 December 2015.
3. ^'Enable Hidden Secret 'Debug' Menu in Microsoft 'Solitaire' Game in Windows Vista and 7 - AskVG'.
4. ^Callaham, John (31 July 2015). 'Here's what Microsoft says about Windows 10's version of Solitaire and its ad-supported model'. Windows Central. Mobile Nations.
5. ^Kamen, Matt (30 July 2015). 'Windows 10 makes you pay to remove ads from Solitaire'. Wired UK. Condé Nast.
6. ^'Classic or Klondike? - Microsoft Casual Games'. 16 November 2015.
7. ^'Microsoft Solitaire Collection coming to iOS and Android devices - On MSFT'. 24 August 2016.
8. ^ ^ab'Microsoft Solitaire Collection is coming to Android and iOS - MSPoweruser'. 23 August 2016.
9. ^ ^abJensen, Paul; Manager, Studio; Games, Microsoft Casual. 'World's Most Popular Solitaire Game Now Available on iOS and Android'.
10. ^'News'.
11. ^Luckerson, Victor (29 July 2015). 'Windows 10 Solitaire Costs $9.99 a Year'. Time. Time Inc.
12. ^Walker, Alissa (29 July 2015). 'If You Want Microsoft Solitaire Ad-Free It'll Cost You $10/Year'. Gizmodo. Gawker Media.
13. ^Chalk, Andy (29 July 2015). 'Windows 10 Solitaire requires a subscription to remove ads'. PC Gamer. Future plc.
14. ^Ward, Victoria (31 July 2015). 'Windows 10: Now you have to pay to play Solitaire'. telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group.
15. ^Meer, Alec (30 July 2015). 'Windows 10 Is Spying On You: Here's How To Stop It'. Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Rock Paper Shotgun Ltd.
16. ^'Microsoft Solitaire Collection – Games on Microsoft Store'.

External links[edit]

• Microsoft Solitaire Collection on Windows Store
• Microsoft Solitaire Collection on MSN Games

I am missing the free games such as Chess Titans, Solitaire and a few more that Windows 10 doesn’t have. I tried to install Chess Titans from Windows 7 but it won’t let me. Are we likely to get it on 10 in the future?VeronicaYou tube video on the national archives.

The games have vanished. Where is my Solitaire? Oh, I can go to the Window Store and purchase a souped-up (ie ruined) Solitaire, but that costs money. For Solitaire? Crikey! Jim

Is there a safe way to restore the old versions of the games, which were much faster to load and – to my old eyes – clearer to see? I can find several suggested solutions on YouTube, but they all involve downloading zip files from unknown websites.Tony

Microsoft uses games partly for educational purposes: for example, Solitaire taught a generation to use the mouse to drag-and-drop. (There’s an excellent post about this by James Hunt.) With Windows 8 and 10, Microsoft moved the games to the Windows Store. This should have taught users to log on and download them.

These Microsoft games are still free, but they now include adverts. This is almost always the case with free store-based apps whether on Windows, Android or Apple’s iOS. Companies don’t charge for the games, but they charge to remove advertisements or to add extra features. That’s what happens when people don’t want to pay for content.

Bad moves

Having said all that, I don’t think this is a smart move on Microsoft’s part, for three reasons. First, introducing a new freemium game is not the same as taking a game that’s been free for decades and making it freemium. The basic free version should still be free and ad-free.

Second, running a casual game like the Microsoft Solitaire Collection Premium Edition lumbers you with an Xbox Live gamertag. There’s nothing wrong with having a gamertag, and serious gamers love them, but they should be optional for casual gamers.

Third, the pricing for ad-free versions looks too high. In the UK, the Solitaire Collection costs £1.19 per month or £7.95 per year. The bundle includes five games so perhaps a one-off £7.95 would be acceptable, but I don’t think people who have been playing Solitaire free for 25 years really want to pay that much every year in perpetuity.

Alternatives

There are hundreds of alternatives in the Windows Store: a search for “solitaire” finds 730 apps, while “solitaire for desktop” finds 81. Why not try a few of those? There are also plenty of alternatives that you can download from other sites. For example, a web search for “minesweeper clone” finds Minesweeper X, one called Clone, and Andrew Lim’s Minez. They all look pretty much like the original.

There’s also no shortage of versions that you can play online in your web browser. Examples include World of Solitaire, Net Solitaire and Minesweeper.js. Most casual gaming websites seem to have their own versions as well.

Chess Giants 2.4 by Pierre-Marie Baty is a desktop Windows program that looks a lot like Microsoft’s Chess Titans and may be an acceptable substitute. It’s shareware and costs $11.24 to register. SparkChess also looks attractive, and you can either play it online (free) or download a full version ($12.99). There are plenty of less-slick alternatives, too. These include Winboard, a free, open source chess program based on GnuChess.

Sorry to say, I can’t provide links to the best alternatives, because I haven’t played them. Perhaps readers can link to their favourites in the comments below.

Open Solitaire On This Computer

Windows 7 games

Windows 7 included a selection of casual games collected over the long history of Microsoft Windows .. though, strangely, not all the ones from Windows Vista. Unfortunately, they were coded to run only in Windows 7.

People looked into how they worked, and it turned out that the files could be edited to make them run in later versions of Windows by changing one instruction in the code. A post at How-To Geek explains the details. Soon afterwards, files of pre-patched Windows 7 games were widely available for download.

As Tony says, this involves “downloading zip files from unknown websites,” which is inherently risky. However, following a popular link from a site like Winaero (Google’s top hit) should be less risky, and a good virus scanner should be able to detect any malware in the zip file. (You can always upload files to Virus Total, which will check them with dozens of anti-virus products.)

Another drawback is that it breaks the original license agreement. Presumably, Microsoft could sue people for running games that they got free with Windows 7 in their free upgrade to Windows 10. However, Microsoft has had several years to sue Windows 8 and 8.1 users for running Windows 7 games, and it hasn’t. And if it did sue Windows 10 users, it would be a PR disaster.

Some people simply moved the games from Windows XP to later versions of Windows. The XP games were not tied to a specific version of Windows, and they are very small. FreeCell, for example, is only 54K, and the cards.dll file – which is used by all the XP card games – is only 352K. I much prefer these card designs to the “souped-up” versions in the Microsoft Solitaire Collection, which weighs in at around 200 megabytes.

Either way, it doesn’t cost anything to try the free versions that Microsoft offers in the Windows Store, and this is no more objectionable than using the Google Play and Apple online stores. They all work the same way.

Microsoft Solitaire For Windows 7

If you find the adverts in Microsoft’s games unbearable, my advice is to try some of the many clone versions available for download and for online play. You will probably find at least one where both the design and the amount of advertising and/or tracking are acceptable.

Shell:games

Readers who played Windows games in Windows 7 and Vista will also have used the very handy games folder, which seems to have disappeared from Windows 8 and 10. However, the code is still included in the operating system. To get the games folder back, go to the run box and type “shell:games” (without the quotes). When it appears, go to the taskbar, right-click the icon and pin the program to the taskbar. After that, you will be able to use it without typing the command every time.

Have you got another question for Jack? Email it to Ask.Jack@theguardian.com

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