An Interview With the Developer of Solitaire for Windows

You know, I can’t really argue with the claim that Wes Cherry created the most-played video game ever: Solitaire for Windows (PC) which came out in the early 1990s and was installed on millions of machines worldwide. I think IGN gave it a 10/10 at the time. I kid! I kid!

But the Web site B3TA tracked down Mr. Cherry and, by all appearances, got a legit Q&A with him. A bunch of their commenters sent in questions and according to the article, Cherry got back to them about a year later. The big question, would he play ball with this kind of an interview? Oh yes, he did.

Q: Exactly how much time and money has been wasted globally as a result of office workers playing Solitaire? A: There was a global recession in 1991/1992, just after Solitaire was released. Thank you very much. Oh, and you can’t have your time back.

Q: Is there a way to change the speed of the card trail thing at the end? I’ve found it at different speeds on different OS’.
A: Yes, upgrade to a IBM 286 running at 16mHz. That should slow it down right good. Or install Norton Antivirus. I’ll leave it to Mr. Moore and his law to make things faster.

Q: Why didn’t you call it Patience in the English version?
A: Because I speak English, and I call it Solitaire.

It’s that kind of gamer outreach that builds loyalty to a platform.

Interviews: Wes Cherry [B3TA]