Playing the Game
Moving Cards
To move cards between piles, click and drag the card you want to
move over to the pile you want to move it to, then drop it. (to move
blocks, just grab the topmost card of the block you wish to
move, the cards below will come along for the ride).
To deal from the stock (as in
Canfield, Klondike, Idiot's Delight, etc...) just click on the stock.
If the discard may be used to replenish the stock (Klondike,
Canfield), just click on the empty stock, and the cards will recycle.
To remove pairs of cards in games
like Monte Carlo, Doublets, and Fourteen out, drag one card onto it's
mate, both will be removed.
Some games offer a limited number of redeals (of the tableau), in
these games, a "Redeal" button will be available, indicating the
number of redeals still left (and de-activating when there are none).
In addition, several "auto play" options are supported for
building foundations as soon as cards become available. (see "Special Features")
Pile Types:
- Foundation - usually the goal of solitaire
games is to get all the cards into one of these piles.
- Tableau - your playing area. Generally
used for building cards in preparation for moving them to the
foundation.
- Reserve - A special reserve of cards which will
have specific rules for play. Found in Canfield, Free Cell, and others.
- Stock - A reserve of cards that is progressed
through in various manners depending on the game.
- Discard - Usually a pile the stock deals into.
Generally the top card of the discard pile is available for play.
Sometimes used as a waste pile, as in Idiot's
Delight and Monte Carlo.
Building
Most Solitaire variants allow building in the Tableau, and/or the
Foundations. Each game enforces different building rules for each
pile. To explain by example, imagine a pile whose top card is the 8
of Clubs:
- Build up by suit - A card with the next higher
value, of the same suit is required: only a 9 of Clubs can be played
on our 8 of Clubs. Example: Klondike
foundations.
- Build down by suit - A card with the next lower
value, of the same suit is required: only a 7 of Clubs can be played
on our 8 of Clubs. Example: Fan tableaus.
- Build down by alternating colour - A card with
the next lower value, of the other colour (Red or Black) is required:
either a 7 of hearts, or a 7 of diamonds may be placed on our 8 of
clubs. Example: Klondike tableaus.
- Build up by value - A card with the next higher
value, with no regard to suit, is required: Any of the four 9's may be
played on our 8 of clubs. Example: Auld Lang
Syne foundations.
- Build down by value - A card with the next lower
value, with no regard to suit, is required: Any of the four 7's may be
played on our 8 of clubs. Example: Will
O the Wisp tableaus.
- Build up or down by value - A card with the next
lower, or the next higher value, with no regard to suit, is required:
Any of the four 7's or the four 9's may be played on our 8 of Clubs.
Example: Golf discard.
- Build up by an increment - A card that is offset
from the current top card by an increment. For example, if our 8 of
Clubs were on the by 3's foundation of calculation, we could put any jack on it.
Example: Calculation foundations.