Solitaire has to be one of the most played games in the history of the world, and Klondike is by far the most popular version.
That’s why developers Darshan Somashekar and Neal Taparia have doubled down on Klondike in Solitaire Brain, the follow-up to last year’s awesome Solitaired.
Instead of including every possible variation on the solitaire theme, like that game did, Solitaire Brain is a pure and simple serving of Klondike, allowing solitaire fans to enjoy the good stuff without distractions.
In the highly unlikely case that you’ve never played Klondike, here’s how it works. You start with a shuffled deck of playing cards dealt into seven columns. The first column consists of just one card, while the last consists of seven, and the top card on each column is face up.
To move, you have to place a card on a higher value card of the opposing color. For instance, a 7 of Diamonds can go on an 8 of Clubs or an 8 of Spades, while a Queen of Clubs can go on a King of Diamonds or Hearts.
The aim is to expose an Ace, which you can then remove and place at the top of the screen. After that, you can place a 2 of the same suit, and then a 3, and so on until you’ve got four full stacks arranged by suit and order. Or until you run out of moves and fail.
Klondike is more than engaging enough to keep you in a happy trance for hours on end, but Somashekar and Taparia have made it even more engaging with a selection of custom decks.
Working with august institutions like MIT, NASA, and Encyclopedia Britannica, the pair have created decks featuring Heroes of Civil Rights, Heroes of Space Flight, and Famous Inventors, along with figures from the Women’s Suffrage Movement and more.
To have some fun and learn some stuff, play Solitaire Brain for free online. iOS and Android versions will be along in due course.