It's hard not to get bored when you're sitting alone. But all you really need to have fun is a deck of cards.

35 million people play Solitaire every month. Every day more than 100 million hands are shared around the world. Solitaire is easy, affordable and only requires 52 cards.

The game you know as Solitaire hasn't always been Solitaire. In fact, some people may not even call the game "Solitaire" today https://free-spider-solitaire.online/spider-1-suit/.

The history of Solitaire is long, developing over centuries and on all continents. Here's a quick version of it.

The firsts years

The origins of Solitaire are unknown. There are not many records of games from the first centuries.

The first playing cards originated in China in the 10th century. They soon spread throughout Europe and became popular during the medieval period.

The French developed the four suits in the 15th century. The English adopted their suits and added figures of jacks, queens and kings. The 52-card deck emerged sometime in the 17th century.

Old playing cards

The first written references to Solitaire appeared in a German game book published in 1783. It is unclear whether Solitaire then used the modern 52-card deck. Tarot cards were also used in games, along with dice or stones.

The game was then called "Patience", probably to indicate how you needed patience to succeed. If Solitaire used tarot cards, it may have originated as a type of divination. By matching the cards, a person could understand what his future would be.

Solitaire became famous in the 19th century. After being defeated at Waterloo, Napoleon played the game to pass the time. No one knows if he invented a variant himself, but a version of Solitaire called "Napoleon" was named after him.

In 1870, Lady Adelaide Cadogan published a book called Illustrated Games of Patience. Her book provided the first formal rules for Solitaire, shaping what the game is today.

The twentieth century

Lady Cadogan's book first appeared in the United States in 1914, which was a big step in the history of Solitaire. The publication sparked interest in the game throughout the country.

American authors wrote their own books, developing more rules for the game. Albert Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith wrote The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games in 1949. They described many variants of Solitaire and provided the modern set of rules for the game.

More variants emerged during the second half of the 20th century. Discussions about Solitaire strategy grew, increasing competition between players.

Two-person Solitaire emerged sometime during the second half of the century. Two players play a game with their own packets. The first one to clear their deck wins.

Solitaire tournaments began in the 1990s. Microsoft and other companies continue to host tournaments today, challenging players to compete against employees. Some even offer cash prizes.

A Brief History of Solitaire on the Computer

Solitaire is perhaps most famous as a computer game. Solitaire on the computer dates back to the first PCs. Since card coding requires little effort, Solitaire was an easy game to include on computers.

Brad Fregger produced the first commercial Solitaire collection in 1987. It contained eight variants of the game, with graphics supporting 16 colors. His program also allowed Mac players to play, which encouraged Apple to consider Solitaire.

In 1990, Microsoft Windows 3.0 was released with Windows Solitaire downloaded into the program. It supported the Klondike variant, but the program was so popular that many people called Solitaire "Windows Solitaire."

Window solitaire

In 1995, Windows 95 contained FreeCell. FreeCell puts all the cards face up, ensuring that few transactions are unsolvable.

FreeCell became so popular that all editions of Windows since 1995 have included it. Players launched websites that discuss strategy. Researchers have even developed computers to create winning players.

Not to be left behind, Apple has produced several types of Solitaire. Its collections include Solitaire Plus, which contains 30 different variants http://sdelayhod.ru/patiences/brilliant/.

Solitaire Variants

Solitaire's lack of standardization meant that people made many variations of the game. There are thousands of different variants, most of which contain minor differences from the original game.