Goodsol Newsletter #92 - New Action Solitaire 1.1

Goodsol Newsletter #92
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http://www.goodsol.com


New Version of Action Solitaire
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http://www.actionsol.com

A new version of Action Solitaire has been released. Version 1.1 contains 18 new games, bringing the total number of games in Action Solitaire to 52. The new games are Aces and Kings, Australian Patience, Beleaguered Castle, Canfield, Cruel, Demons and Thieves, Double Klondike, Eight Off, Forty Thieves, Interchange, La Belle Lucie, Lady Jane, Osmosis, Penguin, Russian Solitaire, Sea Towers, Scorpion, and Thieves of Egypt.

Action Solitaire is a little different from regular solitaire. In Action Solitaire, the games are played in timed rounds for points. You try to build up the highest score possible. Each round has a goal score and you must score at least the goal score in order to advance to the next round. Registered users can submit their scores to the high scores web site at <http://scores.actionsol.com>. It's an exciting and fast paced way to play solitaire.

Action Solitaire version 1.1 can be downloaded from <http://www.actionsol.com/download.html>. Version 1.1 is a free update for anyone who has purchased the previous version of Action Solitaire. Just download the trial version and it will use your Action Solitaire registration code (the new version should find it automatically if a registered copy of the old version is already installed).

You can order Action Solitaire from <http://www.actionsol.com/orderonline.html>.

More information about Action Solitaire is available at <http://www.actionsol.com/actsol.html>.



Top Ten Most Downloaded Card Sets
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http://www.goodsol.com/pgs/cardsets.html

We have added a new list of the most downloaded card sets for Pretty Good Solitaire. This week's top ten most downloaded card sets are:

1. Cat Card Set
2. Traditional Card Set
3. Tarot Card Set
4. Royal Card Set
5. Kids Card Set
6. Science Fiction Card Set
7. Christmas Card Set
8. Patriot Card Set
9. Number Card Set
10. St. Patrick's Day Card Set

All of these card sets can be downloaded from <http://www.goodsol.com/pgs/cardsets.html>.


Top Ten Most Downloaded Tile Sets
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http://www.goodmj.com/tilesets.html

We also have a new list of the most downloaded tile sets for Pretty Good MahJongg. This week's top ten most downloaded tile sets are:

1. Playing Card Tiles
2. Japan Tiles
3. Taiwan Tiles
4. Flower Tiles
5. Kids Tiles
6. Black Tiles
7. Flag Tiles
8. Traffic Signs Tiles
9. Space Tiles
10. Antique Tiles

All of these tile sets can be downloaded from <http://www.goodmj.com/tilesets.html>. They require at least version 2 of Pretty Good MahJongg, which can be downloaded from <http://www.goodmj.com/download.html>.


Featured Game - Aces and Kings
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Aces and Kings is one of the new games in Action Solitaire. It is also in Pretty Good Solitaire.

Aces and Kings is a two deck game. At the start of the game, 13 cards are dealt out face up to two reserve piles. One card each is dealt to four tableau piles. The remainder of the cards form a stock, which is turned over one card at a time to the waste pile.

There are eight foundation piles. Four piles are built up in suit from Ace to King and four piles are built down in suit from King to Ace. The game is won if all cards are moved to the foundation piles.

Play consists of moving cards from the waste, tableau, or reserves to the foundation piles, and also moving cards between the foundation piles. There is no building in the tableau. Spaces in the tableau are filled automatically from the stock. Only the top card of each reserve pile is available.

You begin play by founding any Aces or Kings that are available to the foundation piles, then playing any Twos or Queens and so on upon them. Turn over cards from the stock until you can play a card. When a pile that is built up meets a pile that is built down, you can transfer cards between them. For example, suppose one foundation pile building up has an Eight on it and a foundation pile building down has a Nine on it. There is a Six in the tableau. You can play the Eight from one foundation onto the Nine, then move the Seven that was under the Eight onto the Eight. Then you can play the Six from the tableau onto the foundations. This allows you to play cards to the foundations that could not otherwise be played.

In Pretty Good Solitaire, there are no redeals. Aces and Kings is a difficult game, the average player wins it only 16% of the time.

In Action Solitaire, where the game is played in rounds for points, the game is a little different. First of all, since you are playing for points you don't necessarily have to win to do well. You score 500 points for each card moved to the foundations, so again moving as many cards to the foundations as possible is important. You also get a game winning bonus of 20,000 points if you move all of the cards to the foundations. You lose 500 points for each undo. However, in Action Solitaire you can redeal the stock at a cost of 20,000 points. This can be worth doing once in a round if you are close to getting all the cards out. It probably will not be worth doing a second time. It isn't yet known what a good score in Action Solitaire Aces and Kings is, but I've started things out with a score 898830 in 25 rounds at <http://scores.actionsol.com/topscores/scores/actso l/acesandkings.html>. This should be fairly easy to beat.

Aces and Kings is one of the 610 games in Pretty Good Solitaire, which can be downloaded from <http://www.goodsol.com/download.html> and one of the 52 games in Action Solitaire, which can be downloaded from <http://www.actionsol.com/download.html>.

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

©2005 Goodsol Development Inc.
PO Box 9155, Springfield IL 62791
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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