Crazy Solitaire is a new game for the Commander X16, created by Dusan Strakl of 8Bit Coding.
This project started as an experiment to see if the Commander X16‘s graphics capabilities could support a high-resolution, full-color solitaire game. The game’s logic wasn’t a concern, but looking back, coding it in C might have been the better choice. Since it was already underway in Assembly, the challenge was met head-on, and the game was completed in pure Assembly code.
Game Features
- 640 x 480 high-resolution mode
- Custom-designed card graphics
- Smooth card movements at the pixel level
- Full mouse control for gameplay, menus, and options
Development Process
A simple, text-based prototype was quickly put together. With straightforward game rules and fast keyboard inputs, this early version took little time to build. The real effort went into designing the graphics and coding the visual interface.
One of the first technical challenges was storing card data in a clean, efficient way. Each card needed to be identified by:
- Suit: Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, Clubs
- Rank: Ace, 2–10, Jack, Queen, King
- Visibility: Face-up or face-down
Terminology
Solitaire has many variations, each with different terminology. Here’s what’s used in this version:
- Stock – The pile in the top left where unused cards start. At the beginning of the game, 24 cards are placed here.
- Waste – Cards flipped from the Stock go into this pile. Depending on the difficulty, they can be recycled a limited number of times. In Easy mode, recycling is unlimited.
- Foundation – Four stacks where cards are placed in ascending order from Ace to King. Completing all four wins the game.
- Tableau – Seven stacks at the bottom of the screen. These are used strategically to uncover cards and move them to the Foundation. The first stack has one card, the second has two, and so on. Only the top card is face-up at the start of the game.
Scoring
Standard Scoring
- +10 points for moving a card from Tableau to Foundation
- +5 points for moving a card from Stock to Tableau
- +5 points for flipping a card in Tableau
- -15 points for moving a card from Foundation back to Tableau
- -20 points per Stock recycle in Draw 3 mode
- -150 points per Stock recycle in Draw 1 mode
- -2 points every 10 seconds in Timed mode
Las Vegas Scoring
- Start with -$52
- Earn $5 for every card placed in the Foundation
- No time or additional penalties
Difficulty Levels
The difficulty setting—Easy, Medium, or Hard—affects:
- How the deck is shuffled
- How Stock recycling works
