Solitaire, solitaryo, in our local language, is almost part of the culture and the lives of the Ilonggos and Filipinos. Playing with cards is not entirely foreign, we are born with it. Patterns of diamonds, hearts, aces, and spades are too familiar. Little as we are, we already know how to play the “Old Maid” or what we call “unggoy-unggoy” or “amo-amo” here in Iloilo.
The History of Cards
Playing cards, originally of Chinese origin. China has strong ties with the country when it comes to history way before colonization and civilization took place. It is no surprise that Filipinos are literate in playing cards, dice, dominos, and mahjongg.
I remember my Lola (grandmother), she is my mother’s aunt but since we have an extended family set-up here, we live close to each other, and she would play solitaire every single day. As a homemaker, she has nothing to do after lunch up until it is almost ready to prepare for dinner. Basically, from the window of 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., she would shuffle the deck of cards, countlessly.
Benefits of Playing Solitaire
I still remember when I asked her what would she get from playing with it, she would respond that if she “wins” the game more often, the luckier she feels.
Aside from the superstitious approach, surprisingly, there is a good number of psychological benefits playing the solitaire can bring.
Patience.
Solitaire is a game where your patience is tested. We can’t just pick the cards and move them whenever we get the chance. Most of the time, we just ran out of moves.
Strategy.
Easy as it may look, solitaire also requires strategy. Planning out every move can help and organize possible scenarios are handy.
Honesty.
Not all the time, we win the game. Some may choose to cheat and open or rearrange the cards. But victory is always sweet.
Fun.
Playing the game helps people to relax, kill boredom and have some me-time. Solitaire can also be classified as recreation.
The Modern Solitaire
I used to remember my first computer, there was a solitaire game built in. Now, even online we can access and play the game. For example, this is my favorite site to play free online classic solitaire.
People of all ages will appreciate how user-friendly this is. You can just click the moves you want, undo the last move you made out of a mistake and it is also time plus you get a score. It is easy to challenge yourself all the time.
If you run out of moves, just click the “new” button and it will just reshuffle the cards and give you a new game.
You can carry it with your phone and gadget and you don’t have to place the actual cards on the table. It is convenient so you can just play with it whenever, wherever.
Aside from solitaire, you can also access other games from the site like word puzzles and word games.
