I’m currently working on a solitaire app that will be launching soon on Apple’s App Store. It’s Klondike solitaire but presented in an indie-retro-gaming style – influenced by Balatro. But don’t worry it’s more zen-like than crack-like.

I found that of all the games I like, I would always return to solitaire games. However, I never found one that hit the spot and had various niggles with the interface, gameplay or business models of the most popular ones out there. Not to mention the terrible tracking practices from the companies serving these apps (try opting out of Microsoft’s Solitaire ad service! I did, and it took me 15 minutes, unticking 1000s of services).

These games dominate the App Store games charts so it is clear that they are popular. I figured that if I could build the best version I could then I could make a fair offering for keen solitaire gamers out there and hopefully provide for my modest living.

It’s been a huge learning curve so far but we are nearly there. I am just finishing up the Game Center integration, which will be a key aspect of the game. Players will discover solvable “Legacy Deals” from the random deals they are dealt. Once they discover one it will become their legacy. Hence the name of the app Solacy: Solitaire Legacy.

The first 500 discovered solvable deals will be credited to the players who discovered them. They will then form the basis for 500 leaderboards that players can compete in to find the lowest number of moves. The limit is 500 because this is the limit for leaderboards within a game in Apple’s Game Center.

Depending on the popularity of the game there may be a way to extend this to more legacy deals using a third party server. But I’m getting ahead of myself and should launch the app first. It turns out, that of all the solo card games I could base a game off, Klondike solitaire is one of the most complicated. Great move for a first game! It’s really testing my patience testing this game of patience. Thankfully, I’m a certified mindfulness teacher. I have many more ideas in the works but want to launch this one first – so the rest should be a doddle.