Goodsol Newsletter #70 - Triple Peaks and Triple Towers

Goodsol Newsletter #70
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http://www.goodsol.com


Action Solitaire
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http://www.actionsol.com

Version 1.0 of Action Solitaire is released!  Action Solitaire is a collection of 34 solitaire games in a new format - solitaire in timed rounds.  Play fast action games such as Triple Peaks, BlackJack Speed, and Picking Pairs.  Play solitaire classics like FreeCell, Klondike, Spider, Pyramid, Golf, Gaps, Montana, Aces Up, and Yukon, all like you have never seen them before.

In Action Solitaire, instead of trying to move all cards to foundations as in Pretty Good Solitaire, the goal is to score points in a limited amount of time.  At the end of each game you can submit your score to the Action Solitaire web site with one click and see how you compare to other players.

If you didn't try out Action Solitaire while it was in beta, be sure to give it a try now.

Download the free 30 day trial of Action Solitaire
http://www.actionsol.com/download.html

Order Action Solitaire
US$24.95, optional $7.50 shipping for a CD-ROM
http://www.actionsol.com/orderonline.html

More information about Action Solitaire
http://www.actionsol.com

List and description of the 34 games in Action Solitaire
http://www.actionsol.com/games.html

See what players are saying on our discussion board
http://www.goodsol.net/forum/messages/566/566.html


Holiday Bundles
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http://www.goodsol.com/holiday.html

From now until December 23, you can get 20% off one of our games when you buy two games.  Get 20% off our game Action Solitaire when you buy Pretty Good Solitaire, or get 20% off Pretty Good MahJongg when you buy Pretty Good Solitaire.  If you already own Pretty Good Solitaire but haven't yet purchased any of our other games, you can get 20% off Action Solitaire when you buy Pretty Good MahJongg.  See our holiday bundle specials at http://www.goodsol.com/holiday.html

Also see our Pretty Good Solitaire Gift CD or download our Christmas Card Set!


Featured Games - Triple Peaks and Triple Towers
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Two of the most important games in Action Solitaire are the games Triple Peaks and Triple Towers.  Triple Peaks is based on a game from Pretty Good Solitaire of the same name.  It has some similarity to Pyramid, in that the tableau is of pyramid shape, except there are three peaks to the pyramid.  It is also somewhat like Golf in the way it is played.

In Triple Peaks 28 cards are dealt out face up into three triangular peaks.  The remaining cards form a stock.  One card is turned over to start the waste.  All play is on the waste pile.  Build cards on the waste pile up or down regardless of suit, wrapping Aces on Kings or Kings on Aces.  If there are no plays, click on the stock to turn over a new card to the waste.

The objective is to get as many cards to the waste as possible and clear the three peaks.  In Action Solitaire, there is the additional objective of getting the highest score possible.

In Triple Peaks, you score 1000 points for every card you can play to the waste, plus an additional 1000 points for each previous consecutive card played.  In other words, you score 1000 points for playing a card to the waste, 2000 points for the next card you play, 3000 points for the third card, and so on, until you can't play any more cards and you have to click on the stock to turn over a card.  Turning over a card from the stock costs 5000 points and resets the points you get for playing a card to the waste back to 1000.

In addition, you get 15000 bonus points for clearing each of the first two peaks in the tableau, and 30000 bonus points for clearing the final peak.

The key to building points in Triple Peaks is to remove cards in long runs while turning over as few cards in the stock as possible. Since you get 1000 more points each time for each card you remove in a run, long runs can build up huge point totals.  The penalty for turning over a card from the stock is very high (5000 points), so playing to turn over as few cards as possible is vital.  The best strategy is to play until you get a long run that builds up points putting you over the goal for the round, then leave the round immediately.

Triple Towers is a very similar game.  The only differences are that only the bottom row of cards begin face up, and the point scoring system is different.

In Triple Towers, you score only 100 points for every card you can play to the waste, plus an additional 100 points for each previous consecutive card played.  In other words, you score 100 points for playing a card to the waste, 200 points for the next card you play, 300 points for the third card, and so on, until you can't play any more cards and you have to click on the stock to turn over a card.  But turning over a card from the stock only costs 100 points and resets the points you get for playing a card to the waste back to 100.

The bonuses are 5000 points for clearing the first tower, 10000 for the second, and 15000 for the third.

These differences in scoring make the strategy for Triple Towers completely different than Triple Peaks.  You still want to create large runs, but because the penalty for turning over cards from the stock is so much lower, in Triple Towers it pays to try to complete each round by clearing all the towers.

In Triple Peaks, the best scores approach 4 million, while in Triple Towers the highest scores so far are near 3 million.  Triple Peaks and Triple Towers are in the Action Solitaire at <http://www.actionsol.com>.  Triple Peaks, without the action scoring system, is also in Pretty Good Solitaire at http://www.goodsol.com>.

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Thomas Warfield - Software Designer - [email protected]
Anne Warfield - Order Fulfilment - [email protected]

©2003 Goodsol Development Inc.
Pretty Good Solitaire, Action Solitaire, Pretty Good MahJongg, FreeCell Wizard, Spider Wizard, and more.  Visit us at <http://www.goodsol.com>.

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<http://www.goodsol.com/newsletter.html>.