Sage Solitaire

Factsheet

Developer:
Zach Gage
Based in New York, New York

Founding date:
May, 1985

Website:
stfj.net

Press / Business contact:
zachstfj@gmail.com

Social:
twitter.com/helvetica
Skype

Previous Releases:

Description

Sage Solitaire is a brand new Solitaire variant that combines the luck and joy of Klondike with the depth of Poker, made specifically for your phone.

The full version is chock full of enough modes, leaderbords, wallpapers, and themes to pair nicely with any situation you might be in. So take it with you, Sage is a Solitaire game fit for your life.

Klondike is a great game when all you have is a deck of cards, but you have more than that, you have the computer phone of the future! Our phone screens aren't the size of a table (yet), so why do we have to play Solitaire games designed for tables?

Isn't it time we had a Solitaire game where the cards were big enough to see and easily touch? Shouldn't there be a Solitaire game light enough to play casually, yet deep enough for swapping strategies with friends?

At least that's what I think.
I hope you enjoy Sage Solitaire.

-zach

History

While the titles of Solitaire and Patience, and the myth of Napoleon playing solitaire while incarcerated all point to possible French origin, most experts place the birth of solitaire in the Baltics, Germany, and/or Scandinavia. The earliest mention of solitaire in print is 1746, but the more well-known card game variants arise more toward the later part of the century. The oldest known book referring to Patience was published in Moscow in 1826.

In Dutch and Norwegian the word for solitaire refers to "Kabal" loosely translated as "secret knowledge" and may relate to some relationship certain solitaire games had to fortune telling.

Wikipedia lists over 300 versions of Solitaire/Patience on its Web site. Variants of these games are said to reach into the thousands -- nearly all of which were never invented specifically for play on mobile phones.

Microsoft is reported to have included solitaire in Windows to socialize the new mouse-style input required to operate a graphical user interface. The game was originally programmed by an intern, Wes Cherry, and the card-side artwork was from Susan Kare, who designed the original Macintosh's icons, while Cherry's girlfriend at the time helped design some of the infamous card backs.

Microsoft Solitaire celebrated its 25th Anniversary in May of 2015. Ms. Kare recently released a physical card deck featuring her original artwork from the first version of Microsoft Solitaire.

Freecell Solitaire, the second most well-known variant today, was itself a variant of older solitaire games created by then 10-year-old Paul Alfille who then programmed a version for the legendary computer network PLATO where it began its ascendance in popularity on computer systems and networks.

Two popular and often collected on solitaire hail from the late 1800's. "The Illustrated Book of Patience" by Lady Adelaide Cadogen was first published around 1870. Subsequent additions continued through the early 1900's and reprints can be found online. Annie B. Henshaw's book on solitaire published also in 1870 and was titled "Amusements for Invalids".

Spider Solitaire, a very popular variant, is reported to have been a favorite of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

A version of solitaire has been mentioned in three classic novels War and Peace, The Brothers Karamazov, and Of Mice and Men.

Klondike Solitaire, was originally promoted as a gambling game by Richard A. Canfield, a famed gambler, and owner of the Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs, NY. The game was reported to have been wildly successful. The Canfield Solitaire variant, also a supposed gambling variant, was named in his honor.

Gambling on Klondike solitaire in Vegas is actually considered a poor business, despite good house odds, there is too much labor involved to ensure no cheating by players. Some online gambling sites do offer it however. Overall gambling on solitaire is mostly done innocently via videogames.

When asked why he added Vegas scoring rules to the original Microsoft Solitaire, its creator, Wes Cherry claimed: "featuritus"

For more about solitaire visit the following links:

A brief history of Solitaire, Patience, and other card games for one
Angela Tung for TheWeek
http://theweek.com/articles/558738/brief-history-solitaire-patience-other-card-games

The Story Of The Biggest Computer Game Of All Time
by Luke Plunkett for Kotaku
http://kotaku.com/5672324/the-story-of-the-biggest-computer-game-of-all-time

Historic Card Games described by David Parlett
http://www.davidparlett.co.uk/histocs/patience.html

Solitaire-y Confinement: Why we can't stop playing a computerized card game
by Josh Levin for Slate
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/procrastination/2008/05/solitairey_confinement.html

Zach Gage is a game designer, programmer, educator, and conceptual artist from New York City. His work often explores the power of systems, both those created by social interaction in digital spaces, and those that can be created for others, through the framing of games. An Eyebeam Alumni, Apple Design and Game of The Year Award Winner, and BAFTA Nominee, he has exhibited internationally at venues like the Venice Biennale, the New York MoMA, The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, XOXO Festival in Portland, FutureEverything in Manchester, The Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, and in Apple stores worldwide. His work has been featured in several online and printed publications, including The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, EDGE Magazine, Rhizome.org, Neural Magazine, New York Magazine, and Das Spiel und seine Grenzen (Springer Press). In games, he is best known for SpellTower, Ridiculous Fishing, and Lose/Lose.

projects

• #Fortune
• Ridiculous Fishing
• SpellTower
• Halcyon
• Sonic Wire Sculptor
• Bit Pilot
• Unify
• synthPond
• Lose/Lose

Team

Zach Gage
Artist

Contact

Inquiries
zachstfj@gmail.com

Twitter
twitter.com/helvetica

Web
stfj.net