Strategy: playing one card at a time
In brief
Since you can only move one card at a time, every card needs somewhere to go. The tips below help you find those places: play the moves available in the tableau first, clear columns, choose carefully between the two copies of a card, and avoid burying useful cards in the waste. The examples come from the won game for deal FT1-N-AAAAAAV.
Play the tableau before drawing
All 40 tableau cards are visible from the start: you can look for available moves before touching the stock. In the example game, the first move places the 8♥ from column 3 on the 9♥ in column 2, freeing the A♥. Moves 2 and 3 then place the A♥ followed by the 2♥ on foundation 2. The first draw does not happen until move 15.
Stock: 64 cards; waste empty. foundation 1: empty, foundation 2: empty, foundation 3: empty, foundation 4: empty, foundation 5: empty, foundation 6: empty, foundation 7: empty, foundation 8: empty. column 1: ace of diamonds, 3 of spades, king of hearts, 2 of hearts; column 2: jack of clubs, 3 of hearts, 2 of spades, 9 of hearts; column 3: 9 of clubs, jack of hearts, ace of hearts, 8 of hearts; column 4: 8 of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, king of clubs, 7 of diamonds; column 5: 10 of diamonds, 9 of spades, ace of hearts, jack of spades; column 6: king of clubs, jack of spades, 8 of spades, queen of spades; column 7: 9 of diamonds, queen of hearts, 6 of diamonds, 4 of hearts; column 8: 9 of hearts, ace of spades, ace of clubs, 3 of hearts; column 9: 6 of clubs, 5 of spades, 7 of hearts, 4 of diamonds; column 10: 5 of diamonds, 9 of clubs, 2 of spades, 10 of clubs.
Clear a column
An empty column accepts any card: it is the game’s only free space. With four cards in each column at the start, a column can empty quickly when its cards find places to go. In the example game, column 3 becomes empty on move 13, when its last card goes to column 10; on move 14, the top card of column 1 is placed there.
Stock: 64 cards; waste empty. foundation 1: up to the ace of spades, foundation 2: up to the 4 of hearts, foundation 3: empty, foundation 4: up to the ace of clubs, foundation 5: empty, foundation 6: up to the ace of hearts, foundation 7: empty, foundation 8: empty. column 1: ace of diamonds, 3 of spades, king of hearts; column 2: jack of clubs, 3 of hearts, 2 of spades, 9 of hearts; column 3: empty; column 4: 8 of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, king of clubs, 7 of diamonds, 6 of diamonds; column 5: 10 of diamonds, 9 of spades; column 6: king of clubs, jack of spades, 8 of spades, queen of spades, jack of spades; column 7: 9 of diamonds, queen of hearts, jack of hearts; column 8: 9 of hearts, 8 of hearts; column 9: 6 of clubs, 5 of spades, 7 of hearts, 4 of diamonds; column 10: 5 of diamonds, 9 of clubs, 2 of spades, 10 of clubs, 9 of clubs.
An empty column is mainly useful for moving several cards in succession, one at a time, using it as an intermediate space. If you fill it too soon with a card that frees no other card, it is no longer useful.
Choose between two copies
There are two copies of every card. A card may therefore have two possible destinations, and the choice matters: it determines which column grows longer and which remains available to receive something else. In the example game, before move 123, the D♣ in column 5 can go on either R♣, in column 3 or column 6.
Stock: 29 cards; waste: 13 cards, 6 of clubs on top. Foundation 1: up to the queen of spades, foundation 2: up to the king of hearts, foundation 3: up to the 10 of diamonds, foundation 4: up to the 3 of clubs, foundation 5: up to the ace of spades, foundation 6: up to the 3 of hearts, foundation 7: up to the 2 of diamonds, foundation 8: empty. Column 1: jack of clubs; column 2: 8 of spades; column 3: king of clubs; column 4: jack of spades; column 5: queen of clubs; column 6: king of clubs; column 7: 9 of diamonds, 8 of diamonds; column 8: 9 of hearts; column 9: 6 of clubs, 5 of clubs; column 10: 5 of diamonds, 9 of clubs, 2 of spades, 10 of clubs, 9 of clubs, 8 of clubs, 7 of clubs.
Watch the waste
The stock cannot be cycled through again, and only the top card of the waste can be played. Each card drawn but not played covers the previous ones. In the example game, the last of the 64 cards is drawn on move 195: 16 cards are then waiting in the waste, and 71 cards are already on the foundations. The waste cards must then be played in order, from the last drawn to the first.
Before drawing, it is therefore better to prepare places in the tableau: an empty column, or a card of the same suit and one rank higher.
Think one card at a time
Two consecutive cards of the same suit cannot move together. To move an ordered column, you need a place for each card: another column or an empty column. The Examples page shows a group that the app refuses to move.