Copyright: Ultimate Solitaire® 1994 Ultimate Software


CONTENTS
The Ultimate Solitaire Collection

Copyright (c)1994 Ultimate Software

Introduction

Beleaguered Castle

Canfield

Four Seasons

Golf

King's Audience

Klondike

Monte Carlo

Poker

Pyramid

 Ultimate Software Catalog


Introduction

Every copy of Windows comes with a Klondike solitaire game.  And Klondike is indeed the most played form of solitaire in the U.S.  However, there are over 200 different variations of solitaire.  Some require more skill than Klondike.  Some are harder or easier than Klondike.  Others are just plain more relaxing or fun to play than Klondike.  Most of those who write about card games are at a loss to explain the popularity of Klondike.  It is not the easiest solitaire game (you only win 1 in 30 games playing the standard rules).  It is not a skill-based game, but rather more a game of luck.  It is not fastest solitaire game to play.  Many believe that Klondike's popularity will wane in the coming years.  Since Klondike is so popular, we did include it in this collection, but we hope you will find that some of the other solitaire games are also very enjoyable.  You may even find that you prefer some of these other solitaire games to the Klondike game you are probably more familiar with.

The Ultimate Solitaire Collection for Windows is a collection of nine one-deck solitaire games that you can play on your computer.  The shareware version of this program contains only three solitaire games (Klondike, Four Seasons and Monte Carlo).  The registered version contains the three games from the shareware version plus six additional solitaire games (King's Audience, Canfield, Golf, Poker, Pyramid and Beleaguered Castle).

This is the shareware version of the Ultimate Solitaire Collection.  You can evaluate this product for up to 30 days.  If you plan to use this program beyond 30 days of your first use, you must register.  IF IT HAS BEEN OVER 30 DAYS SINCE YOUR FIRST USE OF THIS PRODUCT, YOU MUST STOP USING THIS PRODUCT.  Using the shareware version of the Ultimate Solitaire Collection beyond 30 days of your first use is a serious copyright violation.

Registration is only $25 and brings you all nine solitaire games and technical support if needed.  For credit card orders (VISA or MasterCard), call 1-800-925-3147.  Or mail a check or money order for $25 to:

     Ultimate Software, PO Box 5015, Central Point, OR 97502  USA

You can also contact us on CompuServe (71203,1301) or America On-Line (MarkC51).


Beleaguered Castle

Beleaguered Castle (also know as Sham Battle and Laying Siege) is a game of skill.  A good player will win 1 out of 3 games.  This can be a difficult game to beat at first (I guess that's why it's considered a game of skill).

The four aces are removed from the deck and dealt face-up in a single column.  This is the foundation which is built up by suit in ascending order.  The remaining cards are dealt in two wings, one on each side of the column of aces.  All cards of the deck are dealt and all are face-up.  Each wing is made up of four rows of six cards.  The cards are overlapped in a way that makes each visible, but only the last card of each row is fully uncovered and hence playable.

On the tableau wings, build downward regardless of suit.  Only one card may be lifted and played at a time.  Cards may be played directly to the foundation if possible, or on top of the uncovered card of any row, or to any row which as been emptied.

HINTS
Make no move until you have planned a complete sequence of card moves which will empty a row.  If cannot do this then the game is probably hopeless.  Do not build up the foundations until you have to.  Leave the cards in play for tableau building.  You can safely play twos and threes to the foundation immediately, but thereafter, try to keep your foundations abreast.  Otherwise do not build to a foundation unless you have no other moves.


Canfield

Canfield (also know as Demon, Fascination and Thirteen) is one of the most popular solitaire games, and one of the more difficult ones as well.  Your chances of winning a hand of Canfield are approximately 1 in 30.  Canfield is named after Richard A. Canfield, who during the 1890s had Canfield tables in his casino.  Players paid $52 to play out hands of Canfield.  The house paid $5 for each card played to the foundation row.  This was a profitable game even though an employee had to be assigned to watch each player.  The average hand results in only five or six cards played to the foundation.

The object of the game is to build all the cards to one of four foundation piles in ascending, round-the-corner sequence by suit.  Round-the-corner means that a king can be built on an ace (so long as the ace isn't the foundation card).

Thirteen cards are dealt face down to one pile, and the top card is turned up.  This is the reserve pile.  Next to the left side of the reserve pile, four more cards are dealt in a row face-up.  This is the tableau.  Above the first of the four cards that make up the tableau, a single card is dealt face-up.  This is the foundation card.  All cards that come into play that have the same value as the foundation card are moved next to the original foundation card in a row above the row of cards in the tableau.  The cards which have not yet been dealt make up the stock.  During play, the stock is turned face-up three cards at a time to the waste heap.  The top card of the waste heap is available for play on the foundation or tableau.  When the top card of the waste heap is moved, the card directly below it becomes the top card of the waste heap and is available to be played.  Once the stock has been exhausted, you can redeal the waste heap by turning it over and dealing three cards at a time as before.

Whenever a space is left in the tableau due to cards being moved to the foundation or by cards (or card piles) being moved within the tableau, the space must be filled immediately by the top card from the reserve pile.  If all the cards from the reserve pile have already been moved, then any vacancies are filled from the waste pile if and when the player wishes.

On the tableau piles, cards are packed in descending, round-the-corner sequences of alternating color.  For example, a red three can be packed on a black two.  A red ace can be packed on a black two, a black king can be packed on a red ace, a red queen can be packed on a black king, and so on.  Piles of card sequences can be packed on other cards or card piles, however, the whole pile must be moved at a time.  For example, a stack containing a black six down to a red three can be packed on a stack containing a black eight and a red seven.  Individual cards from the reserve, the waste heap, or the top of a tableau pile can be played directly to the foundation.

The game is won if all the cards have been played to the foundation piles.  The game ends if you have no plays even after redeals of the waste heap.


Four Seasons

Four Seasons (also known as Vanishing Cross and Corner Card) is an enjoyable solitaire game which offers a 1 in 10 chance of winning.  The object of the game is to build all the cards to one of four foundation piles in same-suit, round-the-corner, ascending sequences.

Deal five cards in the form of a cross.  These cards make up the tableau.  Deal the sixth card to the upper left corner of the cross.  This is the foundation card.  When the other three cards of the same value come into play, move them to an empty corner.  Once a foundation card is in place, cards of the same suit that are next in sequence (ascending, round-the-corner) can be played on top of the top card in the foundation.  For example a king of hearts can be built on a queen of hearts, an ace of hearts built on a king of hearts and a two of hearts built on an ace of hearts.

On the tableau, cards are packed in descending, round-the-corner sequences.  For example any eight can be built on a nine and any king can be built on an ace.  Only one card may be moved at a time (no moving of whole piles).  You may move a card from one pile to another.  For example, if you prefer a seven of spades to be built on the eight of spades, you can move it from another pile even if had been on top of an eight of a different suit.  Vacancies (open spaces) will occur in the tableau from moving cards from pile to pile or to the foundation.  Vacancies can be filled by moving the top card from another tableau pile or by the top card from the waste heap.

Cards are dealt face-up one at a time to a waste heap.  The top card of the waste heap can be played to the tableau or to a foundation if possible.  If the top card is moved, the next card in the waste heap becomes active and can be played if possible.  Cards are dealt to the waste heap only once (no redeals), however, when cards are played from the waste heap, the next card becomes active, so the game doesn't necessarily end when the stock has been fully-dealt to the waste heap so long as legal plays still exist.


Golf

Golf is another popular solitaire game.  The object of the game is to remove as many cards as possible from the original card deal as possible.  The fewer cards remaining the better.  Some players will play 9 or 18 hands (holes) and record the strokes (remaining cards) of each hand.  A score of under 36 (for 9 hands) or 72 (for 18 hands) is considered very good (under par).  The odds of removing all the cards (a hole in zero?) is 1 in 20 games.

Deal 35 cards in seven pile of five cards each.  The cards should be face-up and fanned-out so that all card are visible.  The 36th card is dealt to the waste heap to begin the first sequence.  Uncovered cards are played to the waste heap in any continuous sequence.  Say the waste heap has a four on it.  You can play either a three or a five on the four (suit and color do not matter).  The direction of the sequence can change.  For example, you can play an ace on a two, a two on the ace, a three on the two, and then a two on the three.  Kings end a sequence.  When a king has been played to the waste heap, your only play is to deal another card from the stock to the waste heap to begin a new sequence.  Also, only a two can be played on an ace (the sequence cannot be round-the-corner).  Whenever you do not have a card available for play which can be played to the waste heap, deal another card from the stock to the waste heap to begin a new sequence.  There is no redeal once all the cards from the stock have been played to the waste heap.

Since kings can only be played to queens, do not play your queens to the waste heap until you have a king available to immediately play on the queen.  If you have more than one possible play to the waste heap, choose the one which is most likely to continue your sequence or set up new sequences once the current one is played out.


KINGS AUDIENCE
King's Audience

King's Audience (also know as Queen's Audience) is one of the easiest solitaire games to win.  Once you are familiar with the game, you can win it as often as 3 out of 4 times.  The object of the game is to play all cards from jack down to two to same-suit foundations in the "audience chamber."  This is a fun diversion, especially after an hour of canfield (or another difficult game) without a win!

Deal 16 cards so that between the cards a large rectangle is formed.  This is known as the audience chamber.  The 16 cards that have been dealt make up the antechamber.  Pair same-suit kings and queens from the antechamber or waste heap and discard them.  Pair same-suit jacks and aces to start foundation piles.  Move paired jacks and aces (with jacks on top) to the audience chamber.  You can now build descending suit sequences from jacks down to twos on foundations inside the audience chamber.  You can move cards to the foundation piles from the antechamber or waste heap.  When a vacancy occurs in the antechamber, you can fill it (at your discretion) from the top card in the waste heap.

Cards are dealt face-up one at a time from the stock to the waste heap.  The top card of the waste heap is always available for play to vacancies in the antechamber, to foundations, or to be paired with cards in the antechamber (if they form jack-ace or king-queen same-suit pairs).  If a card is moved from the waste heap, the card below it becomes available for play.  The stock is dealt once (no redeals).


Klondike

Klondike is the most popular of the solitaire games.  In the standard game the odds of winning are only 1 in 30 games.  To increase your chances, you can redeal the stock as many times as necessary (as opposed to a three deal limit in the standard game).  This increases your chances of winning to around 1 in 10 games.

The object of the game is to build all the cards in the deck to foundation piles.  The four foundation piles are built by suit in ascending order from aces to kings.  If you reach a point in the game (even after redealing) where you have no legal play, the game is blocked.

Deal 28 cards to the tableau in seven piles, each with as many cards as the pile number (the first gets one card, the seventh gets seven).  All cards should be dealt face-down except the last (top) card of each pile.  Aces are foundation cards and should immediately be moved to the foundation row when available.  Foundations are built on the aces by suit and in an ascending sequence.

On the tableau, cards can be moved and packed on other cards or card piles in a descending value, alternating color sequence.  When a card or card pile is moved, a space may be opened up or a card dealt face-down may be exposed.  When a card which was dealt face-down becomes exposed, it may be turned over.  Open spaces on the tableau may be filled by a king or a card pile built on a king.

Cards are turned up from the stock to a waste heap three at a time.  The top card of the waste heap is available for play to the foundation or tableau.  If the top card from the waste heap is moved, the card below it becomes the top card and can be played.  When the stock has been exhausted (fully dealt to the waste heap), the waste heap can be turned over and dealt three at a time as before.  You can redeal in this manner as often as you like.


Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo (also know as Weddings, Double and Quits) is a quick and fun to play and easy to learn solitaire game.  The odds of winning a deal are 1 in 8 games.  The object of the game is to pair up by card value all the cards and discard them from the game.

Twenty cards are dealt face up in a five card wide by four card high grid.  Any two cards which touch top to bottom, side to side, or diagonally at the corners can be discarded if they are of the same value (two aces, two jacks, etc.).  Simply drag one card onto another and they are discarded.  When you have a card which can be paired with two or three cards, choose the pair which will leave the most future plays when cards are consolidated.

Once you have made all the possible pairings you can, click on the card deck to consolidate.  Cards are moved from right to left, from the left-most position of one row to the right-most position of the row above it, and so on until all the spaces are to the bottom and right side of the grid.  If the stock hasn't been completely exhausted, then spaces are automatically filled and play continues as before.

If you cannot create any new spaces by removing pairs then the game is over, even if this occurs on the initial deal.


Poker

Poker solitaire is game of skill.  The more you consider each play, the better your score will be.  Scoring is similar to standard draw poker, the better the poker hand, the more points that are awarded.  Play is on a five by five card grid.  One card is turned up at a time until you have played 25 cards to the grid.  Once you place a card, it cannot be moved.  The first card is played anywhere on the grid.  Subsequent cards must be played to a position on the grid which touches a card already played (either side to side, top to bottom or diagonally).  Once all 25 cards have been played, your overall score is calculated by adding the score of the 10 poker hands you have created (five hands across the grid and five hands from top to bottom).  You win if you score 200 or more points.  Scoring is as follows (per hand):

Royal Flush = 100
Straight Flush = 75
Four of a Kind = 50
Full House = 25
Flush = 20
Straight = 15
Three of a Kind = 10
Two Pair = 5
One Pair = 2


Pyramid

Pyramid (also known as Pile of Twenty-Eight) is a very fun, very visually appealing solitaire game.  It is also a very difficult game to win (1 in 50 games).  Your odds do increase to approximately 1 win in 20 games if you redeal the waste heap after the stock as been fully depleted.

Deal 28 cards in the form of a pyramid.  The first row will be of one card and each successive row will contain one additional card until the seventh row is dealt with seven cards.  All cards are dealt face up.  Each new row overlaps the previous row.  Each card will be partially covered except those in the last (seventh) row.  Only cards which are fully exposed may be played.  For example, removing two adjoining cards from the seventh row would uncover a card in the sixth row.  The newly uncovered card is now available for play.

The object of the game is to discard all the cards of the deck to a discard pile.  Cards are removed by dragging one card on top of another.  If the cards are both uncovered, and if their value equals 13, they are discarded.  Aces are paired with queens (aces are 1 point and queens are 12).  Jacks and twos are paired (jacks are 11 points).  Kings can be removed by themselves by single-clicking since kings are worth 13 points all by themselves.  Besides being able to pair uncovered cards on the pyramid, the top card on the waste heap may also be used.

The stock is dealt one card at a time to the waste heap.  The top card of the waste heap is always available for play.  When the stock has been fully dealt to the waste heap, you may turn the waste heap back over to the stock and redeal one card at a time (easy rules).  You may redeal in this manner as often as necessary (unless you want to use the hard rules which do not allow redealing).

There is one exception to the rules above.  If you turn a card over from the stock to the waste heap and its value plus the value of the prior card in the waste heap equal 13, then these cards are automatically discarded.


CATALOG
Ultimate Software Product Catalog

The descriptions below refer to the registered versions of the various products in the Ultimate Software product line.  The shareware versions of these products will  differ slightly.  Shareware versions of any of the following can be obtained for $5 directly from Ultimate Software, or from your favorite shareware vendor, BBS, on-line service or user group.  Prices for the fully-registered versions are listed with the product descriptions.  Click on any title below to see a product description.

Windows Programs

HOT Button

Noisy Video Blackjack

Noisy Video Poker

Ultimate Language Tutor for Windows

Ultimate Solitaire Collection

Zip Code Book

DOS Programs

Ultimate Geography

Ultimate Language Tutor for DOS


HOT Button

HOT Button for Windows is one of the most usefull programs you will ever use.  The idea behind HOT Button was to create a collection of frequently needed utilities and programs and organize them in a way that would make it easy for you to get to them quickly.  Once you begin using HOT Button, you will want to open it up and move it to a corner of your Windows screen each time you go into Windows.

When opened, HOT Button takes up very little screen space (just a little bigger than an icon).  Leaving HOT Button opened in this way also takes up a minimum of your Windows resources.  When you realize how useful HOT Button is, you will always want to have it handy.

The small HOT Button opening window has four tiny buttons.  The first button is a file viewer.  Click on it to view graphic files (icons, bitmaps, .GIF, .PCX, .WMF, .TIF), spreadsheet files (Lotus 1-2-3, Excel, Quattro), Database files (dBASE, FoxPro, Access, Paradox, Works), word processor documents (Word, Word Perfect, AMI Pro, WinWord, Works, QA Write), text files, binary files, and even a listing of the files contained in a compressed file (.ZIP, .LZH).  You can view files individually or as part of a self-running slideshow.  You can view a whole directory of icons at one time.  You can view "thumbnails" of a whole directory of bitmap images and then enlarge a bitmap to full size with a single mouse click.  The file viewer alone would make HOT Button a very useful utility for any Windows user, but there's a whole lot more!

Click the second button to bring up the HOT Button Disk Utilities.  This is a collection of frequently needed file and disk utilities.  Use the HOT Button Disk Utilities to copy, rename, delete, edit,
search for, and view information about files on your hard and floppy drives.  There is also a pop-up diskette format utility which will format either high or low-density diskettes in your floppy drives.

Click on the third button to bring up the HOT Button WAV and MIDI Sound File Player.  If you have a sound card, you will find the WAV player very useful.  You can load and play a single sound file or
automatically play all the .WAV or .MID files in an entire directory.  The WAV player also has a repeat function, so you can automatically play a sound (or a whole directory of sound files) over and over.

Click on the fourth button to bring up the HOT Button Audio CD Player.  This is a programmable CD system.  The CD player can automatically detect an inserted CD that you have previously programmed. You can save the names of tracks and a play list of up to 50 songs.  Your play list may include any or all of the tracks on the CD in any sequence you choose.

One other useful feature of HOT Button is the built-in digital clock.  When you open HOT Button, the tiny opening window includes a digital clock which updates itself every minute.  If you move the mouse pointer over the HOT Button window, the display toggles between the time and date.  Even if you minimize the HOT Button window (which you probably don't need to do since it is so small) it continues to update and display the current time.

           o HOT Button $25


Noisy Video Blackjack

Noisy Video BlackJack for Windows is a simulation of the coin-operated video blackjack machines in casinos.  You choose how many coins to wager and whether to stand, hit, double-down, split pairs, buy insurance, etc.  In this version the dealer must stand on a hard 17 or higher and hit on a soft 17.  Blackjack and Insurance pays 2-1.  You can double-down on a 9,10 or 11.  You can split pairs.

This is a beautiful simulation with cards that look real.  The user interface makes game-play easy, and you can play as fast as you want because a minimum number of mouse clicks are required.

When you order Noisy Video BlackJack for Windows, you can get Noisy Video Poker for Windows for just $5 more.  That's a $15 savings off the regular price of $20 for each game.

     o Noisy Video BlackJack $20
     o Both BlackJack and Poker $25


Noisy Video Poker

Noisy Video Poker for Windows is a very fun and very beautiful simulation of the video poker machines you find in casinos.  Included are JACKS or BETTER, JOKERS WILD, and DEUCES WILD versions of the program.

Besides very realistic sounds like coins dropping into a metal tray (just like at the casinos) there are a variety of wacky sounds that play randomly when you don't have a winning hand.  These sounds really add to the entertainment value of this program, but what really sets this game apart from others is the graphics and user interface.  You can play this game with a minimum of mouse clicks which allows you to play rally fast.  And the cards!  Unlike a lot of other poker games you may have seen, the cards in this game look completely real.

When you order Noisy Video Poker for Windows, you can get Noisy Video BlackJack for Windows for only $5 extra.  That's a savings of $15 since both games are $20 each when purchased separately.

     o Noisy Video Poker $20
     o Both Poker and BlackJack $25


Windows Language Tutors

The Ultimate Language Tutor for Windows is a vocabulary learning system currently available in four languages.  This program offers a variety of drills and quizzes that help you learn, master, and test your vocabulary skills.  The Flashcard module is particularly useful.  It allows you to read in a list of words (or words you missed during a quiz) and have the words and their translations automatically flashed on-screen at a user-set rate.

The Ultimate Language Tutor for Windows also allows the user to add a chosen list of vocabulary in different language libraries.  This library builder is particularly useful to students taking a language course and using the Ultimate Language Tutor as a supplement to that course.  The student can add a distinct new library that matches the vocabulary for the chapter being studied.

The built-in quiz score tracker is particularly useful for teachers wishing to make this program available to their classes.  Quizzes are tracked by student.  Each student's profile shows scores and a description of the quizzes taken by the student.  The program also manages a top-ten list of the students with highest overall quiz scores.

The Ultimate Language Tutor for Windows is available for the following languages:

     o Spanish $20
     o French $20
     o German $20
     o Italian $20


Ultimate Solitaire Collection

The Ultimate Solitaire Collection is a bundle of nine different solitaire card games for Windows.  The games include Klondike, Canfield, Golf, Poker, Beleaguered Castle, Four Seasons, Pyramid, King's Audience and Monte Carlo Solitaire.  There are a lot of excellent solitaire games besides just the Klondike game which comes with Windows.  Some games are easier, some harder, some based more on skill than luck, some are more relaxing, and others just look nicer on the screen.  You will probably never want to play the solitaire game that came with Windows ever again when this solitaire package gives you so much more variety.

Learning a new solitaire game takes no more than five minute with the on-line manual and context-sensitive help system.  And for a mere $25 you get all nine games.  That's under $3 each!

        o The Ultimate Solitaire Collection $25


Zip Code Book

Zip Code Book is a zip code (and city, state, area code) lookup program for Windows.  Enter a zip code to find the corresponding city, state and area code.  You can also find a zip code by entering a city name and two-digit state abbreviation.  Zip Code Book supports copy and paste to and from other Windows applications (like word processors, spreadsheet programs and databases). Contains a database of over 70,000 zip codes and city/place names.

When you purchase Zip Code Book, you receive a database of the latest quarterly update.  For an extra $15 ($40 total), you will also receive the next 3 quarterly updates when available.  Updates are currently issued in May, August, November and February.

The databased used by the Zip Code Book is highly compressed.  Registered users will also receive a .DBF version of the database which can be used by any database program which can read (or import) standard .DBF files.

     o Zip Code Book $25
     o Zip Code Book plus the next three quarterly updates $40


Ultimate Geography

This program sports a beautiful map of the United States.  Select a state with your mouse or with the keyboard, and the program displays a variety of census information.  You can also choose a census category (like population growth) and the map will highlight all states according to their national ranking.

Besides being a graphical almanac of U.S. information, Ultimate Geography is also a quizzing program which can teach and test state capitals, state locations, etc.

The teacher's version includes a test score tracker which can be used to administer tests and quizzes and record the scores of individual students.

     o Standard Edition $15
     o Teacher's Edition $30


DOS Language Tutors

The Ultimate Language Tutor for DOS is a vocabulary learning system currently available in Spanish and French.  This program offers a variety of drills and quizzes that help you learn, master, and test your vocabulary skills.

The Ultimate Language Tutor for Windows also allows the user to add a chosen list of vocabulary in distinct language libraries.  This library builder is particularly useful to students taking a language course and using the Ultimate Language Tutor as a supplement to that course.  The student can add a distinct new library that matches the vocabulary for the chapter being studied.

The built-in quiz score tracker is particularly useful for teachers wishing to make this program available to their classes.  Quizzes are tracked by student.  Each student's profile shows scores and a description of the quizzes taken by the student.  Scores can also be graphed on-screen.

The Ultimate Language Tutor for DOS is available for the following languages:

     o Spanish $20
     o French $20