Miss Milligan

The author’s personal favorite, Miss Milligan is a challenging mix of Spider and Klondike. The charm of this game is the use of the pocket, which always feels deliciously like cheating.

Layout Size: Vertical scrolling is usually required on small screens.

Difficulty: Play thoughtlessly, and lose every time. Use the pocket cleverly, and you may win as many as two out of three!

Rules: Shuffle two decks together, and lay out eight cards face-up in a row to form the eight tableau piles. Above the tableaus are the eight foundations, which start out empty. To the right of the tableaus is a special pile called your pocket. Keep the rest of the double deck in your hand.

Play proceeds like Klondike. Build the foundations up by following suit; only Aces may be played on an empty foundation. Build the tableaus down by alternating color; only Kings may be played on an empty tableau. Full or partial builds may be moved among the tableaus. Miss Milligan also allows moving the top card of a foundation back down into the tableau, a move not often needed but occasionally handy.

(See picture: Miss Milligan. The initial layout is shown, with part of the middle removed for lack of room. The 8 of Clubs may go onto the 9 of Hearts, then the 9 of Hearts, 8 of Clubs may go onto the 10 of Clubs. After that you would deal from the hand because no other plays are available.)

Whenever you wish, deal eight cards at a time from the hand, one onto each tableau regardless of rank or color. Usually you’ll deal when you run out of other moves.

The top card of a tableau may be picked up and “put in your pocket,” provided that the pocket is currently empty. This is a very convenient and powerful way to unblock a difficult position. But be careful, because you can only take the card out of your pocket when it can be correctly built onto a tableau or foundation.

On the Screen: Solitaire Till Dawn will deal eight cards for you when you click on the hand. The number displayed on the hand is the number of deals remaining, instead of the number of cards in the hand.