What you need to know

• Microsoft Solitaire is an incredibly popular card game played around the world.
• Microsoft wants to set a world record today.
• The company wants you to play Microsoft Solitaire between the next 24 hours.
• You can get Microsoft Solitaire for free through the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft Solitaire is a popular card game and it seems like the company wants to set a world record on its 30th anniversary. Today, the company announced that the game hosts 35 million players each month from more than 200 countries. In order to commemorate the occasion, it wants to set a world record.

The press release said the following.

Let's see how high the final player count goes. If you're reading this and love Microsoft Solitaire, be sure to play it today.

Perhaps nothing inspires more Windows nostalgia than Microsoft Solitaire, and now that status is being enshrined among other iconic video games. Microsoft announced today that Microsoft Solitaire has been inducted into The Strong Museum of Play's World Video Game Hall of Fame as part of its 2019 class.

"Microsoft Solitaire being inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame makes this a historic day! It's incredible to think that one of the most played video games in the world got its start in 1990 as a way for Microsoft to teach users how to use a mouse," sais Studio Manager for Microsoft Casual Games Paul Jensen in a blog post on Xbox Wire.

Microsoft Solitaire was first introduced with Windows 3.0 in 1990, making it 29 years old. Since its release, the game has been included as part of Windows in every version since. According to Jensen, Microsoft Solitaire has been localized into 65 languages and played in more than 200 markets globally.

For the 2019 class of inductees, Microsoft is joined by Super Mario Kart, Mortal Kombat, and Colossal Cave Adventure.

See at Microsoft

Cheap PC accessories we love

Take a gander at these awesome PC accessories, all of which will enhance your Windows experience.

Anker 4 port USB 3.0 hub ($10 at Amazon)

Whether on a desktop or laptop PC, you always need more ports to connect things to. This hub gives you an additional four USB 3.0 Type A ports.

Ikea Fixa Cable Management System ($11 at Amazon)

This IKEA cable management kit is your ticket to a clean setup. It's simple and functional.

NZXT Puck ($20 at Amazon)

This clever little accessory has powerful magnets on the rear to make it stick to any of the metal panels on your PC case or anything else. It's great for hanging accessories like headsets.

After living on Windows for more than 25 years, Microsoft is bringing its classic Solitaire to iOS and Android. The free Solitaire Collection is now available on both the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store, where Microsoft is hoping to add even more players to the millions that already enjoy the game on Windows and Windows Mobile.

Solitaire junkies on Android and iOS will get access to all of the game modes you'd expect, including Klondike, Spider, Freecell, Tripeaks and Pyramid. Players on both platforms can also check out daily challenges, which will reward badges and other goodies. And if you sign in with your Microsoft account, you can also earn Xbox Live achievements and sync your progress and game data with your other devices.

It's definitely interesting to see Microsoft bring such an iconic part of Windows to other mobile platforms. If you use Android or iOS, or simply know someone else who does, you can grab the Solitaire Collection on the Google Play Store and the App Store now. Of course, the game is always available on the Windows Store as well.

The Microsoft Solitaire Collection game for Windows 10 will be adding a new Events mode in the near future. The new mode is designed to give players awards while they play the free-to-play virtual card game. Microsoft is promoting Events mode with the humorous video clip seen below.

Xbox Wire has a little more info on the mode:

Events will be added to Microsoft Solitaire Collection sometime this fall. The game will also be coming to iOS and Android devices for the first time later this year as well.

Microsoft also noted that over 100 million unique users have now played Microsoft Solitaire Collection on Windows 8 and 10 PC and Mobile devices. It has offered up some interesting facts on the game as well

• On average, 55 million Microsoft Solitaire Collection games are played per day – that's equivalent to 20 billion games per year, 2.29 million each hour and 38,194 each minute.
• You can earn some serious Xbox Live gamer cred by playing. Since Microsoft Solitaire Collection added support for Xbox Live when it released on Windows 10 and 8, the game has awarded more than 1.3 billion Gamerscore to players to date.

Download Microsoft Solitaire Collection from the Windows Store

While Microsoft Solitaire Collection for Windows 10 is free to download and play, it does have an in-app Premium Edition that unlocks some extra features for an additional fee. Today, Microsoft has announced that anyone can get a week of free access to the Microsoft Solitaire Collection Premium Edition.

In a blog post, Microsoft stated:

If you decided to stick with the Premium Edtion after the free trial, it will cost $1.49 for 30 days or $9.99 for a year of access.

Download Microsoft Solitaire Collection from the Windows Store

Microsoft has updated a few of its Windows 10 apps today, bringing new versions Mail and Calendar, OneNote, and Microsoft Solitaire Collection. Unfortunately, there's not much new to report with these updates. The most notable change is for OneNote, which has picked up the ability to change font size (pictured below) on both Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile. If nothing else, this should be a nice quality-of-life improvement.

Overall, these seem to be relatively minor updates. However, if you'd like to go ahead and grab them, you can hit up the Windows Store links below to get started. If you happen to notice anything new or notable that we missed, be sure to shout it out in the comments below.

• Download OneNote from the Windows Store
• Download Mail and Calendar from the Windows Store
• Download Microsoft Solitaire Collection from the Windows Store

Microsoft has taken some heat in both the tech and mainstream media over the version of the Microsoft Solitaire Collection game that's bundled with Windows 10. We reached out to Microsoft to get a feel on its view after seeing the reactions.

Microsoft has already released a version of the classic card game for Windows 8 and 8.1 that generates in-game ads that can be turned off for a monthly fee of $1.99 or a yearly subscription for $9.99. A version of the game is also available for Windows Phone as well. That same business model has been used for the Windows 10 version of the game, but many users and reviewers think the use is different because it comes with the operating system, rather than as a optional downloadable game from the Windows Store.

Windows Central got in touch with Microsoft and asked if, in light of these complaints, the company might consider modifying its business model for Microsoft Solitaire Collection in Windows 10. Here is their response, via a company spokesperson:

That response would seem to close the book on the company making any changes to Microsoft Solitaire Collection in Windows 10, at least as far as its use of in-game ads.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced it would celebrate the 25th anniversary of adding the free Solitare game to Windows 3.0 with a Microsoft Solitaire Collection tournament. Now, the Windows 8.1 version of the game has added the 25th Anniversary Star Club Collection, which has all of the challenges of the recent tournament.

Microsoft has also announced a contest for US residents centering on that new Star Club collection:

The official rules can be read at the game's official Facebook page.

Download Microsoft Solitaire Collection from the Windows Store (Free)

Source: Microsoft

Almost 25 years ago, Microsoft added a free game, Microsoft Solitaire, as part of Windows 3.0 and productivity of PC workers has dipped ever since thanks to the game's addictive nature. Today, the company announced plans to hold a big public tournament using the Microsoft Solitaire Collection that can be downloaded for free on Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone.

Currently, Microsoft is holding an internal company Solitaire tournament to find the best players in the organization. Those players will then compete against the public starting on June 5. Microsoft stated:

So far, there's no word on the rules or prizes for the public tournament, but we will post up those details as soon as they are revealed. Microsoft has plans to pre-install a new version of Microsoft Solitaire Collection with every copy of Windows 10.

Download Microsoft Solitaire Collection from the Windows Store (Free)

Download Microsoft Solitaire Collection from the Windows Phone Store (Free)

Source: Microsoft

Great Ceaser’s ghost, Microsoft has finally delivered on one of the all-time time wasters: Solitaire. Not only is this collection of solitary card games now available for Windows Phone 8 devices, but it even comes with Xbox LIVE support for you achievement hunters out there.

Microsoft Solitaire Collection comes in at 42 MB and with five different games, including Klondike FreeCell, Spider, TriPeaks and Pyramid. After 20 years of playing them on various PCs, it’s great to see them finally arrive for Windows Phone 8 in late 2013.

The Microsoft Solitaire Collection has been available on Windows 8 for some time now, so we’re not too surprised to see this game make its way to our handsets. But it’s still a nice surprise, regardless.

Besides the great collection of game-types listed above, the Solitaire Collection has LIVE integration, for earning achievements, competing with your friends, submitting your scores to the leaderboards, and track your personal gameplay statistics.

The game also features Microsoft’s “Play, Pause, Resume” ability, meaning you should be able to start a game on your phone, pause it and continue playing on your Surface or Windows 8 PC. That’s kind of awesome and makes us want to start playing right now.

How about you? Anxious to get started? Pick up the Microsoft Solitaire Collection for Windows Phone 8 here in the Store or scan the QR code below. 512 MB devices are good to go too, and the game is free.

Update: Microsoft has also release Mahjong and Minesweeper (new edition) for Windows Phone 8. Read here for more info.

Thanks, Shreyas S., for the tip