When video games first garnered mainstream popularity in the 1980s, older generations raised concerns that their solitary nature stifled social skills among young gamers. This was particularly the case in countries like Australia, which is typically an early adopter when it comes to technology but also has a reputation for its love of healthy, active social activities such as sports and beach culture.

Fast forward 40 years, and today, analysts are worrying that gaming trends are leading to a decline in single-player gaming and something precious is in danger of being lost. The truth is that single-player gaming predates Internet technology by centuries and will almost certainly still be around hundreds of years from now.

Unwind and de-stress with single-player games

Playing a hand of solitaire is the perfect way to unwind after a busy day. The game is not mentally demanding; you don’t need to have lightning reflexes as you do with many video games or a mind like a computer as you do with competitive card games like poker. Dealing the cards and playing them as they come elicits a meditative state that is as effective at relieving stress in the 2020s as it was when the game was invented more than 200 years ago.

A similar phenomenon has helped drive the popularity of online pokies. Yes, all the clichés about Australians and their love of gambling are also a factor, but that’s not all that compels today’s Australian gamers to seek out the best real money pokies app in Australia. In other popular casino games such as craps or blackjack, you have to constantly think about what is happening and decide how to play your hand or place your bet. But pokies have a certain similarity to solitaire in that you have little to do except watch how the game pans out. The difference is that when things go your way on the pokies, the rewards can be significant!

A sense of achievement

Whether you play solitaire or pokies, success or failure is down to chance. With Klondike Solitaire, the average win rate is about 82 percent. Winning a hand is one thing, but getting on a run really provides a sense of achievement. The probability of winning three hands in a row is about 55 percent, so it's slightly better than even, but it genuinely boosts those endorphins when you make it happen.

Win rates are calculated a little differently with pokies. Instead of winning or losing, it is on the basis of Return to Player (RTP). Each game has its own RTP, which is typically about 97 percent. It means that over the lifetime of the game, it will pay out 97 percent of the money wagered. Play that pokie every day for 20 years, and it will average out at a three percent loss. But on any given night, some people will lose more heavily while others will come out on top. It is that sense of beating the averages when you have a lucky night that provides a sense of achievement when playing pokies.

Single-player games are here to stay

Gaming trends come and go. Most of the video games that caused so much consternation in the 80s have been lost to the sands of time. But a few, such as Pac-Man and Tetris, have become classics, just like solitaire and those fabulous Australian pokies.

Rest assured, game developers will continue to come up with more single-player games. But the classics are never likely to go out of fashion.