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Concentration Solitaire

Welcome to Concentration Solitaire

How to Play

Options

Registration


Welcome
Welcome to Concentration Solitaire

Thank you for giving Concentration Solitaire a try! This game was originally released about a year ago in a version done in Visual Basic. The reaction to it was quite good so I decided to do a faster and slicker version, this time in C.

There is nothing too difficult about the premise of Concentration Solitaire. Simply match up pairs of cards from memory. This does not stop it from being a lot of fun, nevertheless. This software is actually designed for kids, but it's too much fun to be just for kids! Have fun. I hope you enjoy it.

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How to play
How to play Concentration Solitaire

From the menu, select GAME / DEAL, or press the DEAL button which appears at the top of the screen. Fifty cards will be dealt out face down. It is your job to match them up in pairs. The remaining two cards are dealt face up in the bar at the top of the screen. These cards are said to be "In The Hole" and can be thought of as a head start. They match up just like the other cards except you can see what they are.

To begin play, click on a card. When it is clicked, it will turn face up. You must now find it's matching pair. The default setting for pair matching is cards of the same value and color. That is, a Queen of Hearts will be matched with a Queen of Diamonds. An Ace of Spades will be matched with an Ace of Clubs. Proceed by clicking on a second card. If this card matches the first card, both cards will move off the screen. If they don't match, they will both turn face down again. Your goal then, is to make 26 matches at which point you will have an empty screen and the game will be over. It's easy!

Concentration Solitaire keeps track of the lowest number of guesses required to complete a game. If you beat the currently held record for lowest guesses, your name will appear in the Lowest Guesses window which can be admired by selecting GAME / RECORD. Please note that in order to become Low Guess Champion, you must be using the standard value and color pair matching option, and not the easier value only option.

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Options

Deck

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.

Color

From the menu, selecting Options / Color allows you to change the background color of your playing area. Simply click on the new color you wish to use and select OK. The window background will be changed to your new color selection.

Speed

From the menu, selecting Options / Speed allows you to control how long it takes unmatched pairs of cards to turn face down again. Some people like to take their time and study the cards while others want them to turn over as fast as possible. Use the scroll bar to vary the speed to your liking.  You can also set the speed at which matched pairs are dragged off the screen. If you have a very slow computer, you might want this setting at fast. On the other hand, if you have a monster 486 with a video accelerator, you might want to choose slow so you can see the cards move. Again, this is up to your liking.

Matching

From the menu, selecting Options / Matching allows you to determine how pairs are matched. The default setting is for Color and Value. That is to say, pairs must be the same color (Hearts or Diamonds, Clubs or Spades) and they must be the same value (two Aces for example). You may set this option to match pairs by Value only, which means any two cards of the same number will match regardless of their color. Six of Clubs and six of Hearts is a match in this case. Because matching by Value is easier, the Lowest Guesses record keeps track of only the Color and Value scores.

All options are saved on exit and will be active next time you run the game.

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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 distributor 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 2P0

You will be sent a Registration code which will eliminate the Registration box that keeps popping up throughout the game.

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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