When playing a game on a computer, we have the luxury of being able to see exactly what actions we are making. But that can become a problem when we scale the game down to something we have to play on our phone. If the game we are playing is a card game, we will have the issue of us accidentally covering the screen when trying to press certain buttons. And worse still, if the on-screen instructions are too small, it becomes easy to hit a button by accident and move to another part of the game that we did not intend to go to. Therefore, before jumping to the conclusion that we need another application to play a certain game, let us see if we cannot find a control scheme that suits us better by using our phone. A simple suggestion of putting a red seven on a black eight will not change the way we play the game.
If we want to play a game of Klondike solitaire, all we have to do is open up PlaySolitaire in our browser and begin playing. We do not have to download anything, and the game offers some very helpful functions such as Draw 1 and Draw 3 and the Hint and Undo buttons. With this being the case, if we decide to play a different kind of solitaire that we have installed, we will want to make sure that we are comparing apples to apples, not apples to oranges.
Start with the same game
Solitaire is a family of games, not a single one. To make this comparison, choose Klondike – it’s got seven columns, a stock of unseen cards, and four foundations being built by suit from Ace to King. Spider or FreeCell would be a different comparison, telling you more about style preferences than browsers and apps.
Make sure their stock settings match too. Draw 1 exposes one card at a time versus Draw 3 which flips three cards and lets you play the top. The second setting allows you to access different cards. If a new application feels significantly harder, check to see if this is the case before blaming control schemes or feeling like the deals are stacked against you (pun intended). Score and timer settings should be compared where they exist.
Give the small screen a proper test
Do not judge a
by the initial deal when you only have a few cards in each column. Play until you get a longer sequence and see if you can still read the exposed ranks and choose the card you want. Try moving an entire valid sequence as well as a single card. A pretty layout in a screenshot goes away when several columns grow.
Try holding your phone in the way you normally do. Can you reach the stock without changing how you’re holding it? Are undo and new game far enough apart that you won’t mix them up? If rotating the phone changes the layout, see which orientation makes the cards easier to read. These are all personal usability things, not an argument that every app is better than any website, or the other way around.
Separate a bad move from a bad touch
Suppose that you intend to lay a red seven on a black eight, but grab the adjacent card instead. That is an input mistake, not a strategic one. Return to the browser example’s Undo control, reverse the move if one occurred, and try again deliberately. Repetition of selection errors is a valid reason to compare another layout.
A legal move that turns out to be unhelpful is a different case. Undo can get you through to checking alternative moves, while Hint can spot an available move when you have failed to spot a move. Neither is a guarantee of a winning deal. You should double-check what similarly-named controls in an app you are trying do, and whether their use has any restrictions.
Check what an installation would add
An app may be worth it if there is a key feature you want, such as a preferred layout or a clearly stated availability of an offline mode. You should read about the listing and payment terms rather than expect everything you have seen on a browser to install without ads or grant extra permissions on top. A free download and a universally free experience do not state the same conditions.
Reviewing requested permissions in the same practical manner is a matter of your choosing. On Android, open Settings and discover the game under Apps, examining Permissions; the exact path can vary per device. Ordinary card moves do not explain permissions for your contacts or microphone. If a permission request does not seem related, look up what the developer stated before letting the app do that. Using a browser does not let privacy concerns vanish, either.
Choose for the situation where you will play
For regular online play, having a bookmark is as simple as choosing a way back to the game. Chrome on Android also has the ability to create home screen shortcuts from a menu. Wording of items in a menu can change per versions, and a shortcut that opens a website is not a certainty that the game will work offline.
If you want solitaire but a flight or poor reception is expected, verify offline support ahead of time. Opening the game and new deal with WiFi and mobile data off is preferable than trusting something that happened to open. Instead, you should choose the version that lets cards be most readable, and the move most easy to make. The useful comparison is the next round you have actually played, not the number of features listed on a download page.
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