Google Solitaire: Game Features, Rules & Playing Strategies

What is Google Solitaire?

Introduction to Solitaire

Solitaire is a well-known card game genre with at least several hundred years of history. Hundreds of different Solitaire variations have been recorded in some way over the years, and many popular Solitaire versions are easy to get into.

Not many card game variations managed to retain and expand their popularity to the same extent as Solitaire did. One of the biggest reasons for that is the original version of Solitaire being included in the Windows operating system since 1990 (Windows 3.0). The widespread expansion of the Internet also contributed quite a lot, with hundreds of different Solitaire variations being available online with no download.

Google Solitaire

Solitaire is a card genre by definition (also called Patience in various European countries), but there is one single variation of the game that many people use as the “baseline” for this term. The card game in question is called Klondike Solitaire (or Classic Solitaire). It is the same variation of the game that is included with the Windows operating system, and it is widely considered the most popular version of Solitaire by far.

This version of Solitaire is the centerpiece of the article – since it is also used in the so-called “Google Solitaire” game. The reason why this specific version of the game has such a name is relatively unusual. If you try to search “solitaire” using Google’s search engine, the website will show you its own free Solitaire version made by Google themselves – a stylized version of Klondike Solitaire, to be specific.

It is not the only game that Google offers in its search results. Other examples include Snake, Tic Tac Toe, PAC-MAN, and Memory Game. None of these games have any kind of complex feature set, but the combination of simplicity and style attracts a lot of attention by itself. The game in question always opens as a pop-up window on the same page, but it can also be expanded to the entire screen with this link.

The combination of a recognizable style and the game’s overall design led to it being copied multiple times on different websites. Here are a few examples:

• solitar.ee
• freecell.io
• googledoodle.games

It is worth noting that all of these copies do not bring anything new to the table whatsoever while also showing their own ads. The only difference here is that the freecell.io version of the game has a dedicated button that opens the game in Full-Screen mode.

How to play Google Solitaire Online?

The Rules of Solitaire

Google Solitaire follows all of the rules from the original Klondike Solitaire game. It is played using a single deck that consists of 52 cards.

First, 28 random cards are separated from the deck and dealt in seven columns. A specific arrangement has to be followed here – the first column only stores one card, the second column can store two cards, and so on. Not all of the cards in these columns are revealed by default – only the top card in each column can be revealed, with the rest of the cards being turned “face down”.

This particular card arrangement creates a specific triangle-shaped visual scene that is easy for all Solitaire users to recognize. These cards can only be moved to their foundations one at a time, but moving cards in groups between the columns is also possible. Cards in these columns are built in the same fashion as foundations but with alternating colors (a red Ace, a black #2, a red #3, etc.).

The last element of the setup is the card deck – all of the remaining 24 cards are set face-down in random order. Clicking on the deck reveals one or three cards for players to use in columns or foundations, with only the top card available for pickup (if the cards are dealt in groups of three – the same rule applies, too).

This concludes most of the Solitaire rules. The game’s primary goal is to fill four dedicated card placements (foundations) with cards collected in a specific order – from Ace to King.

Common tips for Google Solitaire

• Placing Kings on blank spots in columns is the preferred tactic.
• Getting Aces into the foundation is one of the biggest goals in the early game stages.
• Revealing cards that are turned “face down” is an excellent idea to prevent early game failures.
• Prioritizing right-most columns when choosing what cards to move is a good idea due to the sheer number of cards that must be revealed to win.
• Keep track of the timer and the score meter if the game has them.

Google Solitaire Features

Google Solitaire is not particularly feature-rich by itself. It lacks any customization to it, and the only “choice” a player can make is between the “Easy” and the “Hard” difficulty. The latter disables the ability to move cards from one column to another by simply clicking or tapping it while also dealing cards from the deck in groups of three.

The game’s interface can be considered simple yet effective. There are only three clickable “buttons” outside of the game field – the “Undo” button, the “New” button, and the “Sound” button. The functions of all three buttons are extremely obvious and self-explanatory.

It also tracks your time per game, your score, and the number of moves made in this game. The score counter rises up with each card added to the foundation and decreases each time the entire deck of cards on the upper left of the screen is scrolled through. This concludes the entire feature set of Google Solitaire.

Google Solitaire vs Solitaire Social

Even though Klondike Solitaire has a particular set of rules, features can still be added to offer a completely different user experience. The current state of the online Solitaire game market is the best example – so many websites try to add their own spin to the well-known game.

To make the comparison easier to present, we are going to compare Google Solitaire with another interesting example from the online Solitaire market – Solitaire Social. Solitaire Social is also a free card game that only features Klondike Solitaire and can offer a standard collection of features – an Undo button and a Sound button, for example.

This is where the similarities between the two end. While Google Solitaire is a game for one player, Solitaire Social can be played in Person-versus-Person mode against other users. Google Solitaire also does not have anything in it aside from the single game mode with two difficulties, while Solitaire Social can offer multiple game modes, leaderboards, competitive rankings, and even a completely separate part of the game that lets you decorate your own virtual garden.

There is also the fact that Solitaire Social can offer several advantages including abilities that can freeze the opponent player’s movements for a brief duration and other abilities that may turn an unwinnable game around.

Choosing one of these Solitaire versions over another is mostly a matter of preference – some people may want to play at their own pace, while others might find enjoyment in competing with other players within a game as simple as Solitaire.