The card values are 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,T (Ten),J (Jack),Q (Queen),K (King) and A (Ace).
The colors are spades, clubs, diamonds and hearts.
So we have 52 cards.
The rules
In the midst of the screen you see four cards, one below the other, which show the same card value when the game begins (e.g. four Jacks). These are the goal tiles where you have to put all the other cards.
Next to them are the work tiles, 4 to the left and 4 to the right. They have 6 cards each initially.
Below are three help tiles which are initially empty. On each of these you may put just one card at a time.
From the work tiles you can only take the outer, uncovered card. It can be put on an other tile when that one is empty, or when it has a top card with the same color and a card value next to the one you want to move.
For example: on a 8 of Hearts you may put a 9 of Hearts or a 7 of Hearts, nothing else. Here Aces and Twos are considered to be next to each other, too.
That much for the rules.
Strategy hints
A Bismarck game looks intimidating at first, impossible to solve. But with some patience and calculation most games can be solved.
Use the three help tiles only temporarily, or you will get stuck soon.
Find out where the cards are that fit to the goal tiles, and whether they can be reached easily.
Make a decision whether you want to fill a goal tile in the upward or downward direction, depending on the availability of the first few cards that should be placed there.
Do not simply concentrate on digging for cards that fit on the goal tiles. Instead you should walk through a work tile, by putting all its cards to matching cards on other tiles. That way you can build partial sequences which you can extend later on, and tiles are freed.
The buttons
- "Auto" puts all cards to the goal tiles that fit there.
- "Rep" (Repeat) repeats the last move as often as possible. That way you can move complete sequences to another tile, e.g. to add a card to the other end of the sequence.
- "Undo" takes back the last move. The name of the button then changes to "Strt" (Start), and when you tap on it the complete game is restarted.
