The Forge and the Crucible

 This about wraps up the final project for Group 4. Our goal was to create a version of solitaire that was faster and more fluid, with more of a focus on rapid movement and fast decision-making. We wanted to create a game that was more interactive and faster paced than solitaire, and by adding a timer we hoped to add necessary tension to the game to make it feel less like just shuffling cards around.  By creating a player-versus-game that emphasized timing, we hoped to attract the kind of player that's interested in tasks like speedrunning and cupstacking, emphasizing fast, precise, movements and rapid-fire decision-making abilities. The use of a running timer could attract Achievers, as faster times could easily be recorded thanks to the timer and there are many aspects of playing solitaire rapidly that can be optimized for the sake of that crowd.    The iterative design process could've gone better. I would've been happier making more versions of the game, and I fe...

 So we've all accepted that nobody plays Solitaire online like it's supposed to be played. Ostensibly, Solitaire belongs to a family of single player games titled 'patience games', where the goal is to minimize moves and employ careful thought in order to successfully sort the deck according to the rules of the game. Most versions of Klondike solitaire that use points include penalties or limits for going through the deck with that purpose in mind.  But do you actually play it like that? Chances are, no. Whenever someone boots up Windows Solitaire, careful, precise, play isn't the name of the game. Typically, players will rapid-fire click or drag around wildly until something happens, especially when the game has reached a stalemate that can only be fixed by reshuffling the tableaus. Typically, the faster the better. That was the energy we wanted to bring into Firing Line. A timer was one of the first ideas proposed and it made playtesting fun and interesting, espec...