Moames

Cedar Solitaire

About Cedar Solitaire

Cedar Solitaire is free classic solitaire, the Klondike card game many people first played on a family computer. Build the columns down in alternating colours, move all 52 cards up to the foundations, and pick draw 1 or draw 3. A solver checks every deal before it reaches you, so every game can be won.

How to play

  1. Tap a face-up card to move it, together with any cards on top of it. It goes to a foundation if it can, otherwise to the best column. Drag it instead to choose where it goes.
  2. Build columns down in alternating colours, such as a red 8 on a black 9. Only a king can go into an empty column.
  3. Tap the stock to turn over one or three cards. When the stock runs out, tap it again to turn the waste back over.
  4. Move every card to the four foundations, from ace to king in each suit, to win.

Classic solitaire rules

Cedar Solitaire plays the classic Klondike rules. The deal makes seven columns of one to seven cards, with only the last card in each column face up. You can move a face-up card onto a card one rank higher of the opposite colour, and you can move a run of face-up cards in one go as long as the first card fits. When you move the last face-up card off a column, the card under it turns over. An empty column only takes a king, or a run that starts with a king. The four foundations above the table start empty and build up by suit from ace to king. The 24 cards not dealt to the table wait in the stock in the top left corner.

Draw 1 or draw 3

Choose how many cards the stock turns at a time with the Draw 1 and Draw 3 buttons. With draw 1, every card in the stock comes to the top in turn, so the game is more forgiving and a good place to learn. With draw 3, three cards turn over together and only the last of them can be played, so some cards stay out of reach until the cards in front of them are used. Playing a card from the waste changes which cards line up on the next pass, which is the main skill in draw 3. You can go through the stock as many times as you like in both modes. Best times, wins and win streaks are kept separately for each mode.

Every deal can be won

Many solitaire deals cannot be won however well you play. Cedar Solitaire runs a solver on each new deal before you see it and only deals games it has won itself, with every face-down card known. That means a game that seems stuck has a way through, and the answer is usually an earlier choice: which king went into an empty column, or which card you sent to a foundation too soon. Undo has no limit, so step back and try another line. Hint suggests a useful move, such as playing a card up to a foundation or freeing a face-down card. When only the stock can help, it lights up the stock instead.

Strategy for winning more games

Turning face-down cards over matters more than anything else, so look first for moves that free one, and start with the columns that hide the most cards. Aces and twos can always go straight to the foundations, but think before sending higher cards up. Once a black 6 is on its foundation it is no longer on the table to hold a red 5, and tapping it to bring it back down costs a move. Do not empty a column unless a king is ready to fill it, and when two kings could go there, pick the one whose queen and jack you can reach. In draw 3, avoid using the stock as a first resort. Play out the table first, then turn the stock and watch which cards come up.

Controls, auto-finish and records

Tap a card to send it to the best place, or drag it to pick the spot yourself, such as the other of two black 8s for a red 7. Tap the stock to turn cards. On a keyboard, Space or D turns the stock, Z undoes and H shows a hint. A card with nowhere to go gives a small shake. Once the stock and waste are empty and every card on the table is face up, the game finishes itself, playing each card up to the foundations. The timer starts with your first move. Your best time, total wins and current streak are saved in your browser for each mode, and starting a new deal before you finish the current one resets the streak.

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