Re: I've played solitaire with physical cards within the last: (mindless and hopeless)

[tye]

in reply to I've played solitaire with physical cards within the last:

Typical solitaire is both mindless and you mostly "lose", which is a horrid combination. Spider solitaire is a good mental challenge and you usually can win if you can just figure out how. But I don't play it with real cards because my Perl version makes backtracking easy and I hate not being able to backtrack in solitaire. Freecell is only a moderate challenge but you can almost always win there. But I haven't played any solitaire in months, though I often do puzzles when trying to get to sleep, which is similar.

[Limbic~Region]

tye,
Freecell is only a moderate challenge but you can almost always win there.

Having been interested in this in the past, I did a bit of research. Comments here indicate that there is only 1 game in the 32K on Windows that is unsolveable though you can get 2 more using an easter egg. Unfortunately, this proof doesn't list the total number of impossible games.

As for using puzzles to get to sleep - I am very envious.

[bmann]

Limbic~Region,

There is another easter egg in Freecell that will let you win any of the games, unwinnable or not. Not much satisfaction winning this way, but your stats look great.

<Reveal this spoiler or all in this thread>

BTW, a good puzzle tends to keep me up too - not lull me to sleep.

[tlm]

As for using puzzles to get to sleep - I am very envious.

I find that the soporific power of a puzzle increases if I attempt to solve it in my head, in the dark... Lewis Carroll wrote a book around this idea.

[chanio]

I used to play solitaire when I was working at the office: too much spare time!

Then I found Chip's Challenge and forgot about solitaire for ever (it was great even though I couldn't ever finish it)...

[Anonymous Monk]

it's nice

[poqui]

since this, I have been playing sudoku, pencilwise, in those sleepless times...

I had never heard of the puzzles before that.