Freeware card games to go on an older computer, for an older user?

August 3, 2007 11:44 AM

What are the best freeware card games (and the like) to install on my mom's computer?

So I got my mom a Win98 computer, and I'm taking it to her tomorrow. It won't have Internet, no network, nothing - she just wants to be able to play card games on it.

So she's got the basic hearts/solitaire/freecell stuff, but what are some other really good, really free games I could download and install for her? She is a lifelong pinochle player, but I can't find a good free pinochle game. Bonus points for anything that is visually easy on an elderly pair of eyes (i.e. most of the pinochle games I have found use rather small text for bidding).

posted by jbickers to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Does she also like word & puzzle games? Popcap has some awesome games you could download & install for her. My personal favorite is Bookworm Adventures, which I have played through three times. And Bejeweled.
posted by tastybrains at 12:21 PM on August 3, 2007

I just realized that I ignored the freeware part. I'm sorry...they meet all your criteria but cost. The demos are free though...
posted by tastybrains at 12:23 PM on August 3, 2007

Best answer: Hoyle made some very nice card/casino/board game CD-ROMs in the late 90's that are not free but probably about $5 on ebay, Goodwill, yard sales etc. They should run fine on a Win98 box. Nice big clear card graphics, good enough engine to play challenging Bridge or fun Old Maid, depending on preference.
posted by bartleby at 1:04 PM on August 3, 2007

There is a suite of solitare game called Solitude that is freeware. Let's see if I can find the link...

Here it is...

It includes rules for all of the games.
There are so many different games available with it, i don't think you could ever get bored. My favorite is Osmosis.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2007

Do you think she would enjoy interactive fiction? It's all free and should run on any computer. Many of the games are very well written and lots of fun. Just google interactive fiction. Download a few and see if she likes them. The best way to find good games (out of all the crap) is to download the yearly IF contest winners.
posted by jockc at 4:15 PM on August 3, 2007

Best answer: PySol free/GPL, you can get it from, e.g., here. Should run fine on older Windows, has about a bajillion card games, sorted by type, and including rules and so on.
posted by anaelith at 5:39 AM on August 4, 2007

There's a bunch of free one here on WinSite. I found the page while searching for Mile Bones (aka Mille Bornes) for my wife.

Warning: simple, yet addictive
posted by JaredSeth at 7:43 AM on October 22, 2007