The Most-Played Game on the Internet Is 35 Years Old

It Was Never Meant to Be a Game

Solitaire wasn’t designed for fun. It was designed as a training tool. In 1990, Windows 3.0 introduced the mouse to millions of people who had never used one. Solitaire — specifically Klondike — was included to teach clicking, dragging, and double-clicking in a way that felt like play instead of a tutorial. The plan worked almost too well. People learned the mouse, then kept playing long after they’d mastered it. A productivity tool accidentally became a global addiction.