Microsoft Solitaire

I don't like to go to the gym and do push-ups. I can do them on my own time, why make a special trip for the privilege? I had been playing Solitaire with real cards since a very young age, although I knew it as "Patience". I can go get the cards right now if I fancy a game.

That being the case I could never really see the point in playing the game on a computer. True, winning the game electronically frees you from having an annoyingly "in sequence" pack of cards, but at least I know that once I have shuffled a real deck that it's not going to be fiddled with - who knows what kind of cheating the programmers get up to.

But whether it is electronic or real, as a game it is more like homework than actual enjoyment.

I still see middle aged women playing this game nowadays, thats how long it has survived in pop culture. Obviously these are the sort of women that quickly act condescendingly towards gaming as a hobby. That aside, the simplicity of the game is what makes it so popular across so many people. Everyone can understand the rules, and everyone can end a game of solitaire. And i will be the first to say that the jumping cards animation when you win the game is really satisfying to see, and it never got old for me. However, it is a broken game at its core. The mechanics are way too shallow and they all converge towards the same strategies employed. Everysingle game looks the same in its latest 1/3. There is a reason why its audience is very casual, because there is no depth in this game at all. You may get addicted to it for a short spell, but afterwards you will quickly grow tired of it.

There are much much better puzzle games out there, both casual and more complex ones. This was probably the Candy Crush of its time.