IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

TinySol, a tiny solitaire game for DOS

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Theme 1 – Appreciation for a tiny, browser‑ready implementation

"Very nice. How about site where we can play it in the browser? There are several wasm dos simulators.." – petiepooo

Theme 2 – Technical challenges of modeling solitaire in memory

"I like to think I'm decent with C, and I thought I would be able to make my own solitaire, but just trying to wrap my head around how in the world I was supposed to lay out all the cards in memory and keep track of all the different states had me giving up pretty quickly." – ranger_danger
"I'd start by identifying all the known boundaries: ... It's a fixed number of fixed‑length byte arrays and a fixed number of bytes to track lengths and one index." – steve_taylor

Theme 3 – Community links and related projects

"Related, Oscar Toledo also made a tiny Klondike Solitaire program for IOCCC, I wonder if it was inspired by this one:" – omoikane

🚀 Project Ideas

Browser‑based DOSBox Solitaire Player

Summary

  • Web app that runs the DOSBox Solitaire demo directly in the browser for instant play.
  • Removes the need for DOSBox installation and retro hardware knowledge.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Retro enthusiasts, hobby programmers, HN readers seeking quick Solitaire fun
Core Feature Browser‑native emulation of the DOSBox Solitaire demo with UI controls
Tech Stack Rust + WebAssembly for engine, React for UI, WebGL for optional graphics
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: subscription‑free, ad‑supported tier

Notes

  • HN commenters asked “How about site where we can play it in the browser?” – this directly answers that demand.
  • Could spark discussion on preserving old demos and showcasing Wasm performance.
  • Potential to host community‑contributed Solitaire variants.

Open‑Source Solitaire Logic Engine (WebAssembly)

Summary

  • A tiny, well‑documented WASM module that implements core Solitaire rules (Klondike, FreeCell, etc.) exposing a clean JavaScript API.
  • Eliminates the steep learning curve described by users struggling with card‑state representation in C.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Game developers, educators, hobbyists who want to embed Solitaire logic
Core Feature Deterministic rule engine, state‑transition functions, and scoring calculator
Tech Stack Rust + wasm‑bindgen, published on crates.io, demo page with REPL
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Directly addresses ranger_danger’s frustration: “how in the world I was supposed to lay out all the cards in memory”.
  • Could be cited in future HN threads as a starter kit for building custom Solitaire games.
  • Encourages community contributions and learning.

Mini Solitaire WASM Toolkit

Summary

  • A library of pre‑built, ultra‑small (≈2 KB) WASM Solitaire games (Klondike, Spider, Freecell) that can be dropped into any web page via a single script tag.
  • Provides a plug‑and‑play solution for developers who want instant game integrations without writing code.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Web designers, indie developers, educators creating interactive sites
Core Feature Auto‑rendered card UI, keyboard/mouse controls, score tracking
Tech Stack AssemblyScript for rapid prototyping, packaged with Rollup, CDN delivery
Difficulty Low
Monetization Revenue-ready: pay‑what‑you‑want licensing for commercial use

Notes

  • HN users like ctippett highlighted “late.sh” offering games over SSH – this brings similar instant gameplay to the web.
  • Mirrors omoikane’s curiosity about related tiny IOCCC solitaire programs, providing ready‑made examples.
  • Generates discussion about the limits of WASM size and performance for retro gaming.

Read Later