Yes, I know I make a lot of jokes here, but that one is not a joke. I think the case can and even should be made that the simple Solitaire game packaged on pretty much every personal computer – the Klondike variant, specifically – is the best educational software ever created. Not because it teaches children or adults about world capitals or history or what a bunch of birds are angry about, but because it teaches an even more important lesson.
See, Klondike Solitaire is a game in which you lose. A lot. And sometimes you have no control over it whatsoever. In other words, it’s a game wherein you can make all of the right decisions and still be 100% assured that you will lose despite that fact. And that’s real. That happens a lot in life. Adult life is full of situations wherein “winning” isn’t an option, where the only thing you can hope to achieve is losing less. And if someone wanted to pay me to expand on that theme for another thousand words or so, I could.
Unfortunately, this is What Are You Playing, and thus you only get a couple hundred. Ah, well. You can still let us know what you’re playing down in the comments! Maybe it even is Solitaire, who knows.
Andrew Ross (@dengarsw): Things are really up in the air again. I at least have some room prep to do since my current living situation has been sub-par. Hoping to get out to an Oktoberfest to watch some dachshund races, but may just end up watching the new Walking Dead. When I am gaming, though, I’ll be doing some Pokémon Go, though having completed my local Pokedex and noticing that the last update really hurt the gym scene here has taken some spring out of my step. Oh, and Overwatch, because I’m a sucker for holiday skins.
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): Same for me, Guild Wars 2. I need to get caught up, plus Halloween is out, and I usually miss Halloween, so maybe this year. I also got AdventureQuest 3D loaded on my phone and tablet, so I’ll try to give that a go too!
Eliot Lefebvre (@Eliot_Lefebvre, blog): I’m not sure; Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft have been occupying most of my time lately, of course, but I’m kind of feeling the pull back toward Final Fantasy XI, or maybe I just need a little single-player break. I’ll also be celebrating my three-year anniversary this weekend, so that’s another thing.
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): I’m really hoping that AdventureQuest 3D gets onto the app store by the weekend, so if that’s the case I’ll be test driving the open beta on my tablet. Other plans include perhaps poking my nose into Myst Online to see if it’s still running, working on my World of Warcraft Druid, and plowing through the horrid City of the Sun God zone in The Secret World.
Your turn!
