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Klondike Solitaire

Welcome to Klondike Solitaire

How to Play

Options

Registration


Welcome
Welcome to Klondike Solitaire

Thank you for giving Klondike Solitaire a try! This game was, of course, inspired by the original Solitaire included with Windows. I have tried to maintain the same commitment to quality as that which is evident  in the original. This project was written in C using the Borland C++ compiler. There are many  Windows card games out there and a lot of them are excellent. I hope you feel inclined to add this one to your collection.

Which brings us to the question "Aren't there enough solitaire games out there already?" The answer is, without a doubt, "No!" There is no such thing as enough Windows solitaire games. This version of solitaire can be, at times, very easy, and at other times, quite exasperating. Nevertheless, it makes a pleasant way to spend a little quality time with your machine.

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How to play
How to play Klondike Solitaire

From the menu, select GAME - DEAL. When the deck is shuffled, thirteen cards are counted off and placed face up with only the top card showing, in the Nugget pile. The next card dealt  determines the game's foundation cards. In regular Solitaire, the foundation cards are always Aces. In this version, whatever card is dealt into the first Money pile when the game begins sets the foundation cards for the game. This card is always represented in the Status Bar at the bottom of the game window. (Once the card has been covered over, it is sometimes easy to forget what it was!) Instead of building up on Aces, you will build up on this card. If it is a 6, you will build up, in the same suit, to King, then A-2-3-4-5. This foundation card is one of the four Money stacks to be piled up as rapidly as possible. Whatever this card may be, find the other like cards and place them in the stacks beside it, to be built up on in the same suit.

Having laid out the pile of Nuggets and the foundation card for the first Money stack, the next four cards are dealt face up in a row below the Money stacks. These are the four Gold Mines where the work is done. In these piles you build down, regardless of card colour. Any 8 may be placed on any 9, any King on any Ace. With all this up and down going on, it may be a little confusing at first. The pointing hands on the right side of the window act as reminders, telling you which row builds up and which row builds down.

Finally, the remaining cards are placed in a pile and dealt off three at a time. Only the topmost one of the face up cards is playable at any given time. This is the Rock pile where you may find gold to put on the money stacks, or rocks to build descending steps down into the mines. To deal off cards, simply click on the deck with the left mouse button.

With the layout completed, make all the plays you can, building up in the same suit in the Money stacks, or down in any suit on the Mines. The bottom card in a Mine pile is always playable. The blocked cards under it are not. If a Mine pile becomes empty, it can be filled with a card from another Mine pile in order to free up another card, or it may be filled with the top card from the Nugget or from the Rock pile. It is best to get all the cards out of the Nugget pile as soon as you can.

You can go through the Rock pile as many times as you wish. Click on the green circle and the deck will be reset. These cards are never shuffled, however. When there are no more moves, the game is over. To move cards around, drag them while holding the left mouse button down. To save time when moving a card directly to the Money stacks, double-click on the card with the left mouse button and it will be placed providing it is a valid move. Once cards have been moved onto a Money stack, they cannot be removed.

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Options

From the menu, selecting Options - Deck allows you to select a  different picture for the deck. Beside each picture is a button. Select the button which corresponds to the picture you want to use and select the Ok button. The current picture will be replaced by the one you have selected. You can also click the right mouse button on the deck itself to change this option.

From the menu, selecting Options - Deal allows you to change the number of cards dealt out each time from the Rock pile. The default value is 3, and it can be set to 2 or 1. Set at 3, the game is more difficult. At 2 or 1, it becomes easier. If you are playing with the Deal option set at 3 and find yourself stuck for a move near the end of a game, you can cheat by setting this option to 1 in order to get at a card. Don't forget this is cheating, though.

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Registration

This program is released as Shareware. Shareware is a process  by which software is released to the public. The process begins with a programmer spending many long hours and many dollars on development tools to produce a final product.  The product is then released to the general public. The process does not end when you install and use the software on your machine. You are required to hold up your end of the deal. If you find a piece of shareware to be of use or enjoyment to you, you should register that software with it's author. That is what keeps the Shareware process alive so you will have more fun games and other software to look forward to in the future.

If you enjoy this game, and would like to see more games like it,  or if you are a Shareware distibutor who is making a buck off Shareware compilations and would like to put something back into the pot, please send $5.00 to:

Stephen Murphy

c/o Pigeon Lake Software, Inc

Box 13, Site 5, RR1

Thorsby, Alberta

Canada

T0C 2C0

If you would like to contact the author electronically with bug reports, criticisms,  or just general chat, I can be reached on  Compuserve at CIM 70661,2461.

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