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Solitaire: Extreme! Devlog 1 (V1-V2)

 Group 5


For our Solitaire Project, we made a variation of Solitaire called Solitaire: Extreme! In our own game of solitaire, the joker cards are introduced as an obstacle, as encountering one means moving a card from where it was back into the stack! (or from the stack into the bottom of one of the piles).


V1


When we were first assigned this project, my partner and I met up and brainstormed ideas for what we could do. One idea that my partner suggested was implementing the joker cards in some way, and we both agreed that the idea was very interesting! From there sadly we both had classes to be at, so we called it a day.


Vinh’s example of Solitaire: Extreme!


At the end of the day, I checked on the shared document me and my partner had, and they had put a list of rule changes they had implemented to include the jokers. Most involved moving cards from one place to another more unfortunate spot after uncovering the joker card.


From here I began adding on by writing some instructions on how to play solitaire. In order to try and guide new players through a game of basic solitaire, I myself played a game and documented the steps I took to play, noting the rules that came into effect when they were relevant. I think that this method led to a pretty good rule book on how to play solitaire! Although I still do need to test it, sadly.

One of the annotated pictures from my guide on how to play Solitaire!


Once I finished, me and my partner together had both a list of the rule changes we implemented, and then a guide on how to play normal standard solitaire following that, all with captioned pictures to go with it! Here, we called it a day and submitted our Rule Sheet V1 Assignment.


Both my partner and I had busy weekends and a fair amount of homework, and so by the end playtesting had sadly escaped the both of us. However, playtesting is the most crucial step in the iterative process, and so we intend to make it our first step with our next iteration!


Patch Notes

  • Joker Cards added into the deck

  • Joker Cards have been implemented as an obstacle in Solitaire

  • The Rule Sheet has been created and contains a list of the rule changes, and then a guide on how to play solitaire normally


V2


For our second iteration, my partner and I were lucky and received some initial guidance thanks to us volunteering to go first. We began with cutting the initial rule change, and then integrating them with my walkthrough-style explanation of how to play solitaire. Though not tested, I believe that the end result is a much smoother learning experience for players approaching the game not already knowing how to play Solitaire.


During this iteration, I was able to playtest the game on my own. While the game ran smoothly, I felt that the implementation of the joker cards didn’t really change the way I experienced solitaire very much. From here I began to brainstorm on ways we could give the jokers more impact in the game.


Sadly, my partner got very sick during the time window for this iteration of the project. Due to this, we weren’t able to get as much work done as we would have liked, and we weren’t able to playtest with actual players either. We were however able to revise our rule sheet as stated before, and it flows much better now. Not only that, but we’re approaching V3 of our project full of fresh ideas on how to shake up solitaire with our brand new joker friends as well as a determination to playtest further with multiple players! (individually. We haven’t made solitaire multiplayer as of now.)


Vinh is sick :,<


Patch Notes

  • Game has been playtested! (by just me sadly)

  • While it works, the joker cards can be implemented in a more impactful way, and we are currently working on ways to do so

  • The list of rule changes has been removed, and instead the guide on how to play solitaire now teaches about the new mechanics of the joker cards

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