Microsoft’s Solitaire game is turning 30 years old today. Microsoft is celebrating the occasion with a world record attempt of the most games of Microsoft Solitaire completed in one day.
The “Microsoft Solitaire Collection” was first released in 1990 under the name “Microsoft Solitaire” for Windows 3. Microsoft said that at the time, the game had another purpose besides just fun — it helped new computer users familiarize themselves with the functions of the mouse.
Over 35 million players in over 200 countries play Solitaire each month, Microsoft said in a Friday blog post. Nearly 100 million hands are played digitally every day.
The Solitaire we all know and love was first called Windows Solitaire on Windows 3.0 in 1990. The game helped people learn how to drag and drop items on their computer screens using a mouse, which was novel at the time.
Microsoft intern Wes Cherry initially programmed the game, and pixel art and Mac GUI pioneer Susan Kare designed the original card deck.
