I have made 20+ solitaire games in different contexts since 1999 with the latest version being https://dailyplay.com/play/solitaire
Here is cheat sheet to make a game people will actually play
1. The vast majority of players prefer flip one, not flip three.
2. You want the text on your cards so large as you can.
3. People expect that if they click a card, it moves to where it can go.
4. People do not like hard games, give people games that can all be won.
5. You want your pile to sit on the right - at-least for mobile players, reaching across the screen is annoying.
6. People WANT the score. I A/B tested this, people hate when there is no scores.
7. People do not care about sounds.
Things I like from your versions I am totally going to steal.
1. Teach is amazing
2. Showing cards left in the pile
Suggestions
1. The teach arrows are to small, people who play this game have bad eyesight on average.
2. Make teach only show moves that drives the game towards the win state.
3. Add animations, I have AB tested this and the game performs better if you have the basic set
4. Make it load faster, people have industrial attention deficit disorder, you loose 8% of users for each second your game takes to start.
Bugs
1. Reloading the page I can't seem to undo back to the start of the game.
Thanks, appreciate the market research insights and thoughtfull feedback!
The UX tips are really helpfull.
The market research is really interesting. It’s really fun to see how market preferences are so against the grain of my personal aesthetics :)
” 1. Teach is amazing”
Thank you so much! Maybe I managed to innovate something in this quite well trodden genre :)
I just wanted to add a little additional information to the fantastic profile you built. All 7 of your core points were 100% accurate (for me). Wow! I feel like someone has been looking over my shoulder.
One flip, not three: The moment I realized that wasn't an option in the posted game, I closed the tab.
> People WANT the score.
This was a little vague. If you mean Win-Loss... Yes, I really need to see this. If you mean elapsed time, points... no. That type of detailed scoring increases the stress in the game. Otherwise, everything else in your profile was accurate (for me).
> people who play this game have bad eyesight on average.
Also true (for me). LOL
> Showing cards left in the pile
That would make a fantastic tweak.
btw, the only Android Solitaire game I can play because I can configure it to fulfill all the 7 points above (including no sound) is called 'Patience Revisited'. I only play "Klondike (win all)".
Heading off to try: https://dailyplay.com/play/solitaire