Solitaire
Solitaire card games, also called patiences or réussites, have certainly existed since the 18th century.
However, two variants have been widely popularized since 1995 when Microsoft decided to include them by default in Windows 3.11, 95, and later versions: Klondike and Freecell. Klondike has become so popular that the single generic name "Solitaire" very often refers to this variant.
Objectives
The principle of all solitaire card game variants is almost always the same: starting from a random deal of cards, the goal is to create sorted piles by suit (hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs) in order from ace to king.
Each variant is distinguished from the others by the way cards are dealt and arranged on the table: a series of visible or hidden piles, a draw pile, several transfer piles, etc. as well as by specific movement rules.
Arrangement and movements
- The main zone containing several piles of visible or hidden cards is often called the tableau.
- The arrival zone, where final piles sorted by suit and order are built up, is called the foundations.
- Depending on the variant, there may exist a draw pile, and some flippers.
Klondike
Starting arrangement of the Klondike variant is as follows:
- The tableau consists of 7 piles of decreasing size, for a total of 28 cards: the first pile contains 7 cards, the second one 6, the third one 5, and so on until the last one with only one card. The top card of each pile is visible, while the others beneath it are hidden.
- The remaining 24 cards form a draw pile.
- There are 4 foundation piles, one for each suit (hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs).
The following moves are possible:
- Move a card or a pile of visible cards from the top of a tableau column onto another tableau column. The newly formed pile must be in descending order (from king to 2) and alternate colors (red and black, knowing that hearts and diamonds are red while spades and clubs are black). For example, you can place a 7 of hearts onto an 8 of spades or clubs, but not onto an 8 of hearts or diamonds. If you have a pile consisting of the 7 of hearts and the 8 of spades, you can move it onto a 9 of hearts or diamonds. There's no limit in the size of piles you are allowed to move, as long as the rule is respected.
- Draw a card from the draw pile. The previously visible card in the draw pile becomes covered and thus unreachable.
- Take the visible card of the draw pile and put it in the tableau with the above rules.
- Take a visible card from the top of the draw pile or a column in the tableau and put it in the foundation piles, respecting suit and order. Aces allow to start new foundation piles. Note that movements to foundation piles are done automatically whenever possible if the corresponding option is enabled.
- Reveal a hidden card on top of a column of the tableau. Note that this move is done automatically.
Important points:
- Once a card is placed in the foundations, it can no longer be moved back to the tableau.
- Only a king can be placed in an empty tableau column.
Freecell
Starting arrangement of Freecell variant is as follows:
- The tableau consists of 8 piles: the first four with 7 cards each, and the four last ones with 6 cards each. All cards are visible; none is hidden, and there is no draw pile.
- There are 4 flippers, each allowing to place one card (any card)
- There are 4 foundation piles, one for each suit (hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs).
The following moves are possible:
- Move a card from the top of a tableau column onto another tableau column.
- Move a card from the top of a tableau column onto an empty flipper, or vice versa
- Take a visible card from the top of a tableau column or from a flipper and put it in the foundation piles, respecting suit and order. Aces allow to start new foundation piles. Note that movements to foundation piles are done automatically whenever possible if the corresponding option is enabled.
Important points:
- Once a card is placed in the foundations, it can no longer be moved back to the tableau columns or flippers.
- In the tableau, newly formed piles must be in descending order and with alternate red and black colors (see example like in Klondike). However, preexisting piles that have not been moved do not obey this rule.
- Any card can be placed in an empty tableau column.
- Unlike Klondike, normally, it isn't allowed to move piles of several cards at once. You must use flippers or empty tableau columns to achieve it. For example, if you want to move a pile made of the 4 of diamonds and the 5 of spades onto a 6 of hearts, you should theoretically proceed as follows: move the 4 of diamonds to an empty flipper, move the 5 of spades onto the 6 of hearts, and finally the 4 of diamonds from the flipper onto the 5 of spades. This implies that you have at least one free flipper available in order to perform the entire operation.
Fortunately, all Freecell software allow moving such card piles at once as a shortcut, so that you don't have to remember how to make all those tedious moves yourself, and the Playroom is no exception. So you can request to move entire piles of cards at once. However, you must still remember that you need to have enough empty slots to do so. In order to move a pile of n cards, you must have at least (n -1) free slots available. There are 4 flippers available by default, thus you can move a series of up to 5 cards at once with them. Note that an empty tableau column allows to double that capacity.
Victory and defeat
The game is won when all foundation piles, sorted by suit and in order, are fully built. The final score is then calculated taking into account the amount of time passed and the total number of movements made from the beginning. The less time you spend, and the fewer moves you make, the better your score. So your goal is to make as few points as possible.
The game is lost if, for any reason, you cannot make any moves or if no progress is made after many moves, i.e., getting stuck in a cycle. This typically happens when you cycle through the draw pile without being able to take any actions.
Not all games can be won—in fact, most cannot. The difficulty level depends a lot on the initial deal and so isn't easily customizable.