Objective of Solitaire
The objective of Solitaire is to move all the cards to the foundation piles, building each pile up by suit from Ace to King.
Equipment
- A standard 52-card deck with no jokers.
Setup
- Shuffle the deck thoroughly.
- Deal seven piles, or tableau columns, from left to right: the first pile has one card, the second has two cards, and so on until the seventh pile has seven cards.
- Turn the top card of each pile face up.
- The remaining cards form the stock or talon.
- At the beginning, the foundation piles are empty.
Gameplay
-
Stock: Draw one card from the stock and place it in the waste pile. The top card of the waste pile can be used to play onto the tableau or foundation piles.
-
Tableau movement: Cards in the tableau can be moved to other piles according to alternating color and descending rank (e.g., a black ten can be placed onto a red jack).
-
Building a foundation pile: When an Ace is available in the tableau or waste pile, you can start one of the foundation piles.
-
Empty spaces: An empty space on the tableau can only be filled with a King or a sequence starting with a King.
-
Moving cards: Move cards sequentially as descending alternating sequences, either partial or full stacks to other tableau spots or empty spaces.
-
You can go through the stock stack as per the set rules, which may vary depending on the version you play. Some versions allow multiple passes.
-
The game ends when all cards are placed onto the foundation piles, or no more legal moves can be made.
Strategies
- Try to uncover and move Aces to the foundation piles as early as possible.
- Focus on uncovering facedown cards on the tableau to open new moves.
- Keep spaces open for valuable moves, only fill them with the most strategic play, typically with long descending sequences led by a King.
- Keep track of the stock cards, planning moves ahead especially if there are limited passes through the deck.
End of the Game
You win if you manage to get all cards sorted into the foundation piles. The game is lost if there are no more legal moves possible with cards left in the tableau or stock.
