Solitaire, also known as Patience, is a popular card game that can be played by one or more players. The game is thought to have originated in China and was first recorded in Europe in the early 18th century. It is typically played with a standard deck of 52 cards, but there are many variations that use different numbers of cards and/or different rules.
The objective of Solitaire is to remove all of the cards from the tableau, which is the main playing area of the game. The tableau consists of a number of piles, usually seven, each containing one or more face-up cards. The remaining cards are placed face down in the stock pile.
Players begin by flipping over the top card of their stock pile and placing it face up on one of the empty piles in the tableau. They then proceed to turn over the next card in their stock pile and either place it on an empty pile or on top of a face-up card in another pile, so long as the value of the new card is one higher or lower than that of the face-up card it is being placed on (e.g., an Ace can be placed on a Two or a King). If there are no available moves, then the player must flip over another card from their stock pile and continue trying to make moves. Once all moves have been exhausted from bothStockpileand Tableau,the player has lostthe game. Some variations add additional rules for how Cardscan be moved inthe Tableau(e.g., only Kings can be moved into an empty space).
There are many variantsof Solitairewith different namesandrules; someof theseare listedbelow:
Klondike: Thisisthe mostcommon formof Solitaireandis whatmost peoplethinkof when they hearthe word “Solitaire”. Itusesa standarddeckof 52cardsandthe goalisto moveallofthecardstotheFoundationstacks(see below).
Pyramid: Thisversion usesthesame52-carddeckasKlondikebuthasanadditional24pyramidcardsdealtintothetableauinadifferentlayout(seebelow).Theobjectiveistomoveallofthecardstothefoundationstacksbypairingthemtogethersothattheytotal13(e.g.,anAceandaQueen).Kingscannotbe usedin thisgame mode .
FreeCell: Thisformalso usesastandard52-carddeckbutwithfourfreeregeneratingcellspacesin additiontothetableauspaces(seebelow).Thisvariantallowsthemovementoffreecells contentsasapartialundoingmovewhichcanbepivotalindeterminingsolvability . Asingle freemove maybe undone ,however multiplemoves maybe chained together so long asthey meet certaincriteria regardingemptyspaces ,nosummaryblockade s ,etcetera .