Solitaire Turns 25 on Windows - Here's How Microsoft Plans to Celebrate

The coolest things about video games is how they can vary in terms of visuals and complexity. One day you're playing complex, visually breathtaking games like Grand Theft Auto V that marry slick gameplay and fantastic storytelling, and others, much like today, you can find yourself mulling over something as trivial as Solitaire that was bundled with every copy of Windows since 1990. Why you might ask? The game turns 25 this year. And Microsoft, the company behind it, plans to celebrate this milestone with style and flair befitting one of the older games around.

"It was 25 years ago that Microsoft Solitaire debuted on Windows, and to honour the decades of fun it's given us all, we're celebrating with two big competitions. First, an internal competition among Microsoft employees kicks off [Monday] to determine who leads the leaderboards here. Then, in early June, the same challenges used in the tournament will be released in the game for the world to play," a post on the company's blog stated.

You can download the Microsoft Solitaire Collection for Windows and Windows Phone to hone your skills.

Before Farmville and Candy Crush became the de facto choice for passing time at work, Solitaire was what most made do with. It would be no surprise that there would be more than a few highly skilled players of the game given that it's been around for over a quarter of a century.

And on the topic of Candy Crush, the game will join Solitaire as one of the preloaded games with Windows 10 when it hits later this year.