Solitaire & Mahjong

Though there is no specific time frame when the Solitaire card games began, the consensus appears to be around the 1700's. Playing cards probably originated in China around the 14th century. The British called the Solitaire card game "Patience," and the French refer to it as "Success". Other languages may call it "Kabal" or "Kabala" (secret knowledge) to describe these games. The mystic reference may be associated with Tarot cards used for fortune telling that also probaby originated in 14th century China.
Preceeding cards, around 2,000 years ago, the Chinese developed Mahjong - a game played somewhat like cards but were made of tiles.
Solitaire was one of the popular computed games because it was included with Microsoft Windows was introduced.
Being solo was relatively common and the popularity of social card games were adapted for single-player versions. Now the Nintendo Wii takes these games to a new level and you can enjoy them with intoxicating isolation. These games challenge and thrill and you can really enjoy the primal pleasure of One.