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How to Play Solitaire at Home

Solitaire is one of the most popular games worldwide. It’s a game that you can play at home when you feel bored, anxious, or stressed. The great thing about Solitaire is it’s a one-person game. The only thing you need is a standard deck of cards. Or, if you don’t have cards, you can play the game online on this website

The Ultimate Solitaire Tutorial

In this post, we will go over how to play Solitaire at home. We will cover basics such as card setup, rules, gameplay, and the game’s objective. 

The Setup

Before we dive into how to play Solitaire, let’s first cover how to create the card setup. Your setup should consist of three sections. They are: 

  • Tableau – The tableau is where a majority of the gameplay takes place. It consists of 28 cards arranged in seven piles that grow in sequence. The first pile to the left has one card, the second pile has two, and the seventh has seven cards. 
  • Ace foundation – The ace foundation lies at the top right side of the tableau. It consists of four piles, each representing one card suit
  • Stockpile – The stockpile is the cards that remain after creating the tableau. It consists of 24 cards placed at the top left side of your tableau. 

Next up, we will cover how to create the tableau. For easy understanding, we will build the tableau column-wise, starting from the left. 

Here’s how you build the tableau:

  • Deal one card face-up in the first column (remember that we are starting from the left)
  • Deal two cards in the second column with the topmost card face-up (you’ll be moving to the right)
  • Deal three cards in the third column with the top card face-up. 
  • Deals four cards in the fourth column with the topmost card face-up. 
  • Deal five cards in the fifth column with the top one face-up. 
  • Deal six cards in the sixth column with the topmost one face-up. 
  • Deal seven cards in the seventh column with the top one face-up. 

Once you build your tableau, transfer the remaining cards to your stockpile.

How to Play Solitaire at Home - 1

Rules and Gameplay

There are three ways to move cards in Solitaire. The first is moving cards inside the tableau. You can move cards in the tableau by arranging them in alternating colors and descending order, from a king to an ace. For example, you can transfer a five of hearts beneath a six of clubs. You cannot move a five of hearts and place it below a six of hearts or diamonds.

The second way to move cards is from the stockpile to the tableau. When you have no move left on your tableau, reveal a card from the pile, then transfer it to the tableau. 

When revealing cards in your stockpile, you can uncover one card at a time or in threes, then use only the topmost card. The third way to move cards is from the tableau to the ace foundation pile. You should arrange cards in the foundation piles in ascending order from an ace to a king. The cards should also be of the same suit. 

The Object of Solitaire

The goal of Solitaire is to transfer all the cards from the tableau and stockpile and arrange them successfully in the ace foundation piles. When all four suited foundation piles are complete, you have won the game. If you have no more moves left, then you lose the game. 

In Summary

Solitaire is a fun game that you can play on your own when you feel bored or stressed. It will only take you one or two attempts to understand the gameplay. Remember that your goal should be to transfer all cards to the foundation pile. Once you do this, you’ll have won the game.