Table games, no table required

Three games that predate every screen they have ever been played on. Solitaire is the one you play alone, the same Klondike deal you know, shuffled fresh each time. Checkers and Four in a Row want an opponent, and you can take either one solo against the computer or live against another person. None of them need a manual: if you have played them once at a kitchen table, you already know the rules, and the game starts the moment the page loads.

Playing a person changes the game

Against the computer, Checkers and Four in a Row are exercises in seeing far enough ahead. Against a person they become something else, because people bluff, hesitate and take risks an engine never would. Every board here can be sent as a duel link: you get a URL, the other player opens it, and you play the same game live from wherever you both are. No account, no install, no scheduling. Four in a Row in particular is a different game entirely once the other side is guessing at you instead of calculating.