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Solitaire Hacks You May Have Never Heard Of

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Solitaire – also known as Patience – is one of the most famous and most addictive computer games in the world. Did you know it was installed as a free game on Microsoft computers as a smart way to get people to engage with the new technology of a mouse? It’s the perfect way of getting someone used to dragging and dropping objects around a screen.

Today, there are many versions of the card game, such as Spider Solitaire and Freecell, but they all have one thing in common – it can be frustratingly difficult to win. If you would like to improve your performance, read on for some little known and hacks and strategies. Luck is the main thing that determines whether you will win or lose, but targeted strategies will undoubtedly enable you to get the best out of a game.

Basic strategies

If you had just one trick to winning at Patience, here it is: Turn over as many face downs as possible.

Preferably choose a left column (where there are fewer cards), and concentrate your efforts on it. You will hopefully free up a slot, allowing you to put down a card from another column and turn over an additional one. This is particularly appropriate if a King is immediately available to occupy the slot.

Likewise, try to clear in priority the right columns which contain the most hidden cards. Indeed, it is usually on this side that the cards that block the card game are found.

Finally, while this advice goes without saying, quickly play your Aces, 2s and 3s.

An essential strategy for the card game is to give the cards lying down priority over the deck of cards. Here is an example:

Let’s say you have a red five on the pile and a red five in one of the lower rows. If it is now possible to add one of the cards to a black 6, then you should take the 5 from the bottom row.

The cards from the rows always have priority over the pile so you can create space to layout more kings.

Work the cards from right to left, so try to clear the larger piles first. If you have managed to free a row again, you do not immediately place the next best king in this free row.

Do not try to occupy empty rows again immediately but leave them blank until you really need them; this allows you to stay mobile.

For those initiated into this card game, you can draw the cards three by three.

However, by simultaneously pressing the Ctrl + Alt + Shift keys on your keyboard while pressing the left mouse button on the card pile, you can deal the cards one by one. This is ideal when you have a card you are interested in but cannot use in the three cards turned over.

For Instant Win, press Alt, Shift, and ‘2’, although as this game is only played against yourself, there is little point in our opinion.

Advanced techniques

The 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s are cards that are not easy to play: plan well the three or four moves which will follow once you have moved them. The main objective should remain to reveal hidden cards.

Do not rush if, by chance, you find yourself at the start of the game with Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 of the same suit. Indeed, the higher cards will undoubtedly be invaluable to you in building up your columns (for example, with the 4 of another color, which is just waiting to be moved) and thus win your game.

The two most popular variations of classic Solitaire, also found on recent versions of Microsoft Windows, require even more skill.

In addition to the previous strategies, here are some tips specific to these game modes:

Hacks to increase your chances of winning at Spider:

Start your stacking with the strongest cards and, if possible, of the same suit.

Always keep at least one or two columns free to be able to proceed with exchanges more easily.

Tips for Freecell:

Clear a column at the start of the game if it contains an Ace, even better.

Do not add too many cards to a column with low height at the top, as it will only be more difficult to free it.

Avoid using all four empty boxes at the same time, at the risk of getting stuck shortly.

Finally, here are some hacks to help you win at Freecell, although these really come under the category of cheating!

  1. Hold down Ctrl, Shift and F10 while playing, then click Abort.
  2. Now move one card.

Hidden Freecell Game Modes

  1. Go to the “Game” menu and choose “Select Game”
  2. Here, you can choose from game mode 1 to 1,000,000. However, -1 and -2 will also work

Well there you have it folks, a few strategies, tips and tricks to help you play better and win at Solitaire, no matter the version. Be warned though, we are not responsible for loss of your productivity 😉

 

Open Fodder: An Open Source Port Of Cannon Fodder

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Surely you all know (or at least) heard of Sensible Software’s brilliant military-themed action strategy shooter, Cannon Fodder. If you had an Amiga back in the day, we bet the house that you would’ve played Cannon Fodder.

Roll on to present day and we now have a nod to this awesome game with the brilliant open source port for modern operating systems (Windows / Linux / Unix), Open Fodder. This project (source code can be found on GitHub) is the brainchild of one Robert Crossfield (aka: segrax) and the mysteriously named, Dr Novice.

While Open Fodder is packaged with two demos, the full game requires the retail release available from GOG or the data extracted from the Amiga version using the WHDLoad installer.


source: Robert Crossfield

 

Review: Pan-Dimensional Conga Combat

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By: Kevin Tilley (Unkle K)

Being an old timer harking from the days of the Atari VCS and Commodore 64, the complexities of modern gaming sometimes get the better of me. Not only that, but with a large family and demanding job, spending hours gaming each day is an impossibility. Short, sharp bursts of gaming not only fit into the small amount of free time I actually have, it also suits my rather limited attention span as well. Cue RGCD, who have been bringing us pick up and play Commodore 64 games for years now, and in 2016 released Pan-Dimensional Conga Combat on the Windows platform via the RGCD itch.io store.

After nearly two years since the original itch.io release, and a rather quiet Greenlight campaign, Pan was released on Steam on February 16.

Self-described as “a rhythm-synchronised, old-school, score-chasing arcade game that plays like some alien coin-op from another dimension”, Pan is a mash of the old and new. I can only describe it as the love child of Volfied and Robotron, with a hint of Geometry Wars thrown in – an impressive pedigree indeed, and fortunately for us, it all gels together perfectly.

Set in a rather confined arena, Pan has you navigating the screen and obliterating everything that moves with your bullet tail. The tail follows you around at a distance that is proportional to your speed – the faster you move the longer your tail gets. You can also charge your on board laser cannon whenever the free roaming purploids drift into your tail. Once charged, you have a short burst mega destructive cannon at your disposal, which is essential when the action hits a certain level of franticness. To complete each level you must make a predetermined set of kills. There are also various score chains you can achieve and an assortment of enemy types to get your head around – with most of them homing straight in on you Robotron style, in various speeds and patterns. Enemy portals are destroyed by looping your tail around them, and levels are completed by entering the warp which opens up as soon as you reach the kill quota.

Pan is a frantic and compulsive score chaser that will have you pulling your hair out in disgust and immediately pressing the button for another go. Controls are simple and the game is immediately accessible. There are enough game modes present to keep you more than interested for a good while (include arcade and a survival mode) and the Steam release introduces online leader boards and achievements. For a game like Pan, these simple additions really add to the games longevity.

Graphics are solid without being outstanding, with the limited palette of colours supported by attractive pixel art and various visual effects, that don’t reach ‘Minter’ levels of trippyness but do their job regardless. The soundtrack is perfectly suitable, with various beats and breaks complimenting the gameplay and adding to the overall experience.

Pan-Dimensional Conga Combat deserves to be played. It’s an honest and fun score chaser that will test your (probably aging) reflexes and reward persistence. Old school gamers looking for a quick blast will love it, and younger gamers should give it a go and prove their superiority on the online leader boards – c’mon, I dare you! Highly recommended.


source: James Monkman

Footnote: A special package is still available on itch.io which contains the game (the itch.io download and a Steam key) as well as a set of two matte-finish A2 RGCD posters.