Winston Churchill allegedly played a card game that helped him sharpen his mind to effectively solve issues and challenges whether in the face of war or in politics. Now, an iOS app helps you play the same card game and perhaps benefit from its alleged positive effect on the player's strategic thought process.
Dubbed as Churchill Solitaire, the iOS game, is described as "the most diabolical version of solitaire ever devised" in Apple's App Store. It is thought to have been played often by the British Prime Minister during the Second World War. What is even more interesting is that the game was developed with inputs from former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who served as its creative director. He reportedly used a Dictaphone to direct programmers with respect to how the game should play out.
"We need to do a better job on these later versions. They just get new glitches," Rumsfeld said in one of his notes, according to the Wall Street Journal. "[W]e ought to find some way we can achieve steady improvement instead of simply making new glitches."
Based from its roots and Rumsfeld's influence, it is easy to understand how "Churchill Solitaire" rejects the run-of-the-mill solitaire gameplay. It is, certainly, tougher and requires a long-term thinking absent in most card games, Engadget noted.
Rumsfeld's hand, on the other hand, can be recognized in the way the game is monetized. While it is free, hints and retries will require players to shell out money. "There are damn few undos in life," Rumsfeld said in the Wall Street Journal report.
