 | Klondike is
almost certainly the most famous type of solitaire, but is probably not the most mentally
challenging. To give strategy a bigger role, this implementation has a deck display option
which will list the upcoming cards in the deck (after the initial pass through it). This
will enable planning to obtain the optimal deck order in the subsequent pass. Other
options are available which alter the difficulty of the game. (Klondike
Instructions) |
| FreeCell has
probably become at least the second most popular type of solitaire since its inclusion in
Win95. Even though FreeCell requires considerable strategy, winning is still quite common
for experienced players. The frequency of victory can be decreased (or increased), by
setting the game's options appropriately. The most notable variation is in the number of
free cells, which can range from one to eight. (FreeCell
Instructions) |
| Canfield is a
classic variation of solitaire which originated in an upstate New York casino in the
1890s. Gamblers paid $50 per game and received back $5 for every card they moved to the
suit stacks. As you would expect, the rules were designed so that players would remove, on
average, fewer than the ten cards needed to break even. Removing all cards and attaining
victory is quite rare, but can be made somewhat more common by using easier options. (Canfield Instructions) |
| Golf is a
fast-moving game which has nothing to do with its title besides some of the terminology it
uses. The quick pace of Golf facilitates playing several games in succession, with each
game considered a "hole", and the total number of cards remaining compared to
"par". The objective of Golf solitaire is to put all the cards in the layout in
a single pile instead of placing the deck in four suit stacks. (Golf
Instructions) |
| Pyramid has the
objective of eliminating the entire deck by finding pairs of cards which total thirteen
(Kings are eliminated singly). At the start of the game, only the cards in bottom row of
the pyramid are available. The other rows in the pyramid become accessible as the cards
below them are removed. (Pyramid Instructions) |
| Spider is a
challenging (and time-consuming) game using two decks which was supposedly the favorite
solitaire of FDR. While Spider has the usual objective of arranging all suits in order,
Spider does not provide a stack for each suit to be assembled in. Instead, the suits must
be ordered in the building stacks and are then moved to a discard pile. The game is won
when all cards in both decks are in the discard pile. Stacks in Spider can be built with
any suit, but multiple cards moved between stacks must all have the same suit. Several
non-standard options have been implemented to make the game less daunting for beginners. (Spider Instructions) |
| Clock is an ideal
game to play when you do not want an exceptionally strenuous mental workout. The game is
entirely deterministic, meaning that there is only one possible move that can be made at
all stages of play. If this is still too arduous, it is possible to make that move (and
finish the game) automatically. (Clock Instructions) |
| Calculation has
the usual goal of arranging the entire contents of the deck in four stacks of thirteen
cards, but the suits of the cards in these stacks is irrelevant. Instead, the four stacks
accept cards whose ranks differ by a specified interval. Even though the computer
calculates the accepted sequences of cards, the game is still extremely challenging. (Calculation Instructions) |
| Shamrocks has
the most building stacks (18) and the most generous building rules of any game on the
site. To counter these advantages, the stacks cannot accept more than three cards and
become unusable once all cards have been removed. (Shamrocks
Instructions) |
| Scorpion
allows cards other than kings can be moved to only one location, but the game is less
mechanical and more challenging than it would appear. The Scorpion layout has two areas
which represent the body and tail of a scorpion. When an impasse is reached, the stack
representing the "tail" of the scorpion is moved to the building stacks. This
will hopefully end the deadlock. (Scorpion Instructions) |
| King Albert
is named after the Belgian monarch during World War I and is another "FreeCell
without free cells" variation. It is necessary to obtain a free space by removing all
cards from a stack. To facilitate creation of empty spaces, seven cards are available
(representing King Albert's reserve army) which can be moved to a building stack when the
time is opportune. (King Albert Instructions) |
| Yukon begins with
the same layout as Klondike, but the remaining 24 cards are placed face up on the stacks
instead of being cycled through 3 cards at a time. Yukon has the most liberal card moving
rules of any game on this site. Not only can an unlimited number of cards be moved at a
time, the transferred cards do not even need to be in order. (Yukon
Instructions) |
| Beleaguered Castle
has the the objective of eroding away the contents of the "wall" stacks by
placing their contents in the suit stacks in the middle. Despite the different layout,
Beleagured Castle can be viewed as "Free Cell without free cells." To compensate
(partially) for this lack, stacks do not need to have alternating colors and the aces are
removed before the start of the game. (Beleaguered Castle
Instructions) |
| Flower Garden
has a layout consisting of six columns which represent the "garden". The 16
cards outside the garden compose the "bouquet" and are used to build the columns
as needed. (Flower Garden Instructions) |
