Solitaire (the version played on GozoGozo is the Klondike variant) is arguably the most-played card game in computing history — not thanks to a casino or a games publisher, but thanks to Windows.

A "Patience" born in Northern Europe

The exact origin of the game remains uncertain, but the earliest documented traces date back to the late 18th century, in Northern Europe — probably Germany or the Scandinavian countries. The game was then called "Patience", a name still used today in several European countries, notably the UK. The name sums up the experience well: solving a grid takes method, and... patience.

The name "Klondike" comes from a gold rush

The variant we know today (7 columns, a stock pile, foundations by suit) took the name Klondike in the late 19th century, referring to the region of the same name in the Yukon, Canada, site of a famous gold rush. Gold prospectors, isolated for long months, played this Solitaire variant to pass the time — the name has stuck with the game ever since.

1990: an unpaid intern changes its fate

Solitaire's decisive turning point comes in 1988, when Wes Cherry, then an unpaid intern at Microsoft, programs a digital version of the game in a few weeks. The cards are drawn by Susan Kare, the same artist behind the original Macintosh icons. Microsoft bundles the game with Windows 3.0 in 1990, officially to familiarize users with the mouse — drag-and-drop, click-to-target — in a graphical interface still new to many.

The success far exceeds this educational goal: by 1994, Microsoft internally recognizes that Solitaire had become the most-used application in all of Windows, across all categories.

The most-played card game in history

Preinstalled on virtually every version of Windows since 1990, Solitaire is today considered the card game with the highest total number of games played in human history, simply thanks to its default presence on hundreds of millions of computers. It also entered everyday language: the phrase "solitaire break" became, in the 1990s, a synonym for an impromptu office break.