Solitaire is a solo card game played with a single deck that became immensely popular when Microsoft included it in their software. It became easily accessible to everyone and thousands of players around the world became regular players.
In case you are one of them and you want to improve your strategies, keep on reading, refresh your knowledge, and find some useful tips.
If you are a newbie and want to understand how this game works, go through this step-by-step guide and become one of the millions who fell in love with this game.
There are many versions of this card game, but let’s start from the beginning. The basic version of the game is called Klondike Solitaire, and it is one of the simplest of its kind.
Game Setup
Solitaire is played with one regular 52-card deck and the first step is to shuffle it randomly. We then place cards in seven columns facing down and each card goes onto the next column. Columns are being built at the same time, but their sizes are different. The first column contains only one card, the second has two, and so on until we reach the last one containing seven cards.
The last card in each column is facing up and we can know its value and suit. We place the leftover cards separately and create the “Stock”. We also faced the last card from the Stock up.
Columns and Foundation Piles
Columns are rows of randomly stacked cards that need to be placed in descending order. You can only see the first card from the column at the beginning of the game. The next card is revealed once you move the visible card from a certain column. When one column is empty, the only card that can be placed on it is a King.
Piles are the final results of card movements in columns. They consist of cards in ascending order, in the same suit, from Ace to King. We must complete four piles to win the game.
Movement and Placement of the Cards
There are a few simple rules regarding card placement. We can move a single card to another column but only if it is placed on top of a card of a different color in descending rank. The same goes for groups. We must place the first card in the group on top of a card of a different suit. For example, a Five of Spades can be placed on top of a Four of Diamonds.
The Stock
The stock is where all the remaining cards which have not been placed in columns are. There are 24 cards in Stock.
The Stock comes into play when there are no possible movements left among the columns. They are revealed one at a time and they all have to be distributed to complete the game.
Gameplay
- We will deal cards in 7 columns in random order. The remaining cards will be at the Stock in the upper left corner. Piles are in the upper right corner.
- You can move the cards among the columns following the rules for card movement. Once you run into an Ace, you can place it in the upper right corner and start piling.
- When there are no more moves left, use cards from the Stock.
- Try to reveal all the cards from the columns. If you have no moves, use cards from the Stock. Once you run out of cards in Stock, you can start again from the beginning of Stock.
- Place cards on top of piles whenever possible. Be careful about the order and suit of the cards in piles.
- Reveal all cards and pile them up!
The Goal of the Game
To win, arrange a deck of 52 cards into four final piles. The piles must go in ascending order, from Ace to King and the cards placed on top of one another have to be in different suits.
We place the piles separately from columns and Stock.
Tips and Tricks
It is crucial for the game to plan and predict future moves. If you are not careful, you can easily get stuck in a situation with no possible movements and you will not be able to complete the game.
Also, be aware of the cards that are in the game and the ones that yet have to be discovered from the columns and Stock. There are many options at the beginning of the game, but as you progress, you will easily be able to notice which cards are missing from the piles.
There it is – a short yet thorough explanation of how to play the game of Suits. Once you pick up on all the rules you might think it is simple, but don’t lay back. Each game of Solitaire can vary in difficulty depending on the order of the cards. You could often get stuck in situations with no movements.
Once you master the Suits, try out different variations of the game. Each of them carries a different level of difficulty. Other versions of Solitaire we suggest are FreeCell, or Pyramid for example.