PySol


PySol is an open-source and platform independent computer game that incorporates around 1,000 solitaire games, including card games and other types of single-player games. The game achieved broad usage in the open-source gaming domain and was ported to other platforms, including Windows, Mac and the OpenPandora gaming handheld.

History

PySol was originated by Markus F.X.J. Oberhumer in 1998. It is written in the Python programming language, and it uses the Tk GUI toolkit. While development of the original PySol officially ceased in 2004, several forks, including PySolitaire, UltraSol, FlowerSol, and PySol Fan Club Edition continue to be developed by the game's community.

Supported games

PySol and its variants contain hundreds of games, therefore the games are classified according to several criteria for better usability. The following game classes are supported by PySol: Baker's Dozen, Beleaguered Castle, Canfield, :Category:Fan solitaire card games|Fan, Forty Thieves, FreeCell, Golf, Gypsy, Klondike, Montana, Napoleon, Numerica, Spider, Terrace, Yukon.

Features

PySol features a hint system, multiple undo/redo, bookmarks and a demo mode showing how to play each game. Also, loss/win statistics are taken for every player and there are several assist play and automatic play options. If a sound server is installed, it also supports sound effects and background music.

Reception and usage

PySolFC was noted by several news outlets positively as a "tremendous collection of Solitaire games, going well beyond the usual mix" and was downloaded from Sourceforge alone 350,000 times between 2006 and April 2020. PySolFC is also included in many Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse, Debian, and also ported to other platforms such as Microsoft Windows, Mac, or the OpenPandora gaming handheld.
In December 2000 CNN placed PySol among the "Top 10 Linux games for the holidays". PySol received in 2003 The Linux Game Tome's Best Free Cards/Board/Gambling Game award.