Card Games
DOS
Even though the extended IBM character set contained the four card suits,
card games of any kind were just a small niche on the PC before Windows.
| Card Games for DOS |
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| Accordion Solitaire |
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| Dammit! |
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| EGA-Solitaire |
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| Kosynka |
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| Min-Ha-To |
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| Solitare |
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Windows (16-bit)
While only moderately popular on other platforms, there is an incredible
number of card games (both solitaire and other) for 16-bit Windows. I have thus given the
card games for
Windows 3.1 a separate section, and the only ones included below
are those that do not use standard card graphics and are thus in the general
games section.
What could have been the reason for this sudden popularity of card games
on Windows? For a good part probably the availability of DLLs with card
graphics. Thus a programmer with no talent for graphics could easier create
a good-looking card solitaire than another type of game. And of course, card
games are more pleasant with a mouse interface, something Windows provided
by default.
It is interesting that the boom really only started in 1992. So far, I found
only a single card game from the Windows 2.x
era; none besides Microsoft's Solitaire from 1990; and only three or four
from 1991.
| Non-Standard Card Games for 16-bit Windows |
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| Mile Bones |
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| Leapfrog |
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| WWI Air Fighters |
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Windows (32-bit)
It seems that 1992 was not only the start, but also the peak of the solitaire
boom on Windows. By the time Windows 95 took over the home desktops, card games
were more or less just one of many genres. Some successful suites were ported,
newcomers usually concentrated on more opulent graphics, as desktops got a higher
color depth and resolution, or on niches not yet sufficiently covered.
| Download Card Games for 32-bit Windows |
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| 3D Solitaire |
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| BigPatience |
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| Hanafuda |
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| Hardwood Solitaire |
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| Egyptian Solitaire |
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| Funsol95 |
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| RusCell95 |
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| Scopa |
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| Scopa Free |
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| Xcell |
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