Standard 3-card draw Klondike. But with a zillion gizmos to make it tedium-free. If its mundane, the app does it for you! You are just left with the fun stuff. This may be the most advanced solitaire game ever.
## About This Game
I’m a solitaire nut. But I have always hated the Klondike implementations that
have been available. Why should I have to click the HINT button to see all of
the available moves? Why should I have to keep hitting the DRAW button to see
the next triplet from the Talon?
So, about 15 years ago when I retired from Boeing Computing, I decided to fix
these deficiencies and coded my first Klondike. It had all available moves
pre-calculated and shown as buttons. Press the button and the move is carried
out. It had the entire Talon shown at once (again, with move buttons).
And over the years, as I played my new Klondike, I kept thinking of other
things that would be nice to have (without changing the rules). And I added
them. Like:
Stacking Maps – showing all 52 cards in stacking order (red on black) showing
where each card is and whether it’s theoretically playable.
Build Maps – one for each suit in build-order, showing each card is and
whether it’s theoretically build-able.
The Talon-Lookahead – I can see the entire Talon at once. As I play cards from
the Talon, why not see the Talon as it will be the next time thru? So this
Klondike has a second view of the Talon, the Lookahead-Talon. Available moves
are calculated for both of them and you can even play directly from the
Lookahead (which of course causes the Lookahead to become the Talon and a new
Lookahead to be computed).
Connector-Cards – The main thrust of Klondike is moving cards so that a
downcard is exposed for a flip. Why not have the Klondike programing figure
out all of the theoretical opportunities for exposing downcards and display
which cards (Connector-Cards) need to be moved in order to do it? So this
Klondike calculates all Connector-Cards and hilites them in yellow on the
Stacking Maps and the Build Maps.
The Have-We-Lost Algorithm – If a game becomes theoretically impossible to
win, I want to know right away, so I can resign and go on to a deal that isn’t
theoretically impossible. (Life is short!) It took me three years of
development, but this Klondike’s Have-We-Lost Algorithm is killer.
So what do all of these improvements do to the game?
Well, the rules are still exactly the same. And Klondike’s anti-anxiety
properties are still there. But with all of the added visibility, you can
really see what’s going on. So the game becomes more of a puzzle-to-be-solved.
And it allows for some strategies that you never even thought of before. And
it is way, way more fun!
So, I’m thinking that there must be some other Klondike nuts out there who
will enjoy this re-imagined Klondike as much as I do.
Mike Edwards
Klondike Re-Imagined