Games
Games
Copyright 2018 Harris B. McKee
One minute, eight seconds. 1212. My best scores in FreeCell and Spider. What is it about those games that is so addictive? Why is it that my interest is in simple solitaire options?
I've never been a "gamer". Never had an X-box or played a Madden game on TV but I did once have a Pong game back in 1980 or so.
We first learned of FreeCell when we visited Mary's brother and sister-in-law in Florida about fifteen years ago and saw her addiction. When we returned to Arkansas we both began to play. Bridge playing friends mentioned that there was always supposed to be a solution to FreeCell and another friend claimed to have a 95% success rate at winning. Such claims were interesting but didn't seem to apply to our efforts.
When we upgraded our PC operating system, we learned that FreeCell on Windows 7 was different from our old operating system but we still weren't hooked. But with Windows 8 or 10, I found the Microsoft Solitaire Collection to be something that I had to manage very carefully.
There were five different games: Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, and TriPeaks. By limiting myself to one play a day per option plus one or two "Hearts Deluxe", I could keep up with the rest of my life. When I say one play per day, there was an exception. I considered "one play per day" of Klondike to be three hands because the probability of winning was only about 13 percent. And I find that when I finish some other task a game is a reward.
I set different goals for the different games. With FreeCell, there were two; solve the puzzle and keep track of the best time. Less than three minutes was decent, less than two minutes was great and only with an unbelievable deal did I achieve a game in one minute and eight seconds. With Spider, I didn't care about time but was only interested in the top score. For a long time I thought that 1205 was tops--then 1208 arrived and finally 1212.
So what is the attraction of such simple games? I think that it is the satisfaction of completing a task. (I listened to an inspiring motivational talk by a retired general this week who emphasized the importance of making your bed EVERY morning. He noted that you would feel accomplishment with that task and that feeling would help you attack your other challenges of the day. Then even if the rest of the day is a disaster, he said, when you come home you will have a room with a bed that is made!)
In the face of all the tasks that remain undone, all the stuff piled on the desk, a completed game of solitaire provides that emotional shot of endorphins to go back to the drudge of the other stuff.