Hey, I'm Oliver

My Solitaire Origin Story

I got my first Windows computer in the late 90s. I was maybe ten years old, and the two programs I opened before anything else were 3D Pinball: Space Cadet and Solitaire. Those two games consumed entire afternoons. I did not know what "drag and drop" meant yet, but I figured it out pretty quickly when the reward was watching cards bounce across the screen after a win.

Solitaire became my go-to whenever I was bored, stuck, or just needed to think. Something about sorting cards into neat stacks is deeply satisfying. I played it on every computer I ever owned - from that beige Windows 98 tower, through XP, all the way to the laptop I took to university.

From Card Games to Code

When I started studying computer science in university, I needed a project to learn web development. Nothing in the textbooks felt exciting enough. Then it hit me: why not rebuild the game I had been playing my entire life?

That first version was terrible. The cards looked wrong, the drag was janky, and the undo button did not work half the time. But I learned more building a broken solitaire game than I did in any lecture. DOM manipulation, state management, animation timing, responsive layouts - solitaire taught me all of it.

I kept rebuilding it. Every time I learned a new technique or framework, I would go back and make the game better. This site is the latest version of a project that has been evolving since my first semester.

Why This Site Exists

I wanted a solitaire experience that felt as good as the Windows original - smooth card animations, satisfying sounds, instant loading - but running entirely in the browser with no downloads, no sign-ups, and no paywalls. Every game on this site is completely free because solitaire should be free. It always was.

I also wanted to cover all the variants I love: classic Klondike (both turn-one and turn-three), Spider Solitaire in all its difficulty levels, and Freecell for when I want a pure strategy challenge. If you are reading this, I hope you find the same calm focus in these games that I do.

The Tech Behind the Cards

This site is built with SvelteKit, uses canvas-rendered card graphics for crisp scaling on any screen, and runs entirely client-side - your game state never leaves your browser. The sound effects are powered by the Web Audio API for zero-latency playback. Every card animation uses GSAP for that smooth, physical feel.

I am a detail-obsessed developer. The deal animation, the drag physics, the way cards compress in the tableau - all of it has been tuned and re-tuned to feel just right.