master, it’s just the constant adding and multiplying that can injure some brains. The odds of winning are 1 in every 2 hands.
HOW TO DEAL Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal a single card, face up.
WINNING The goal is to remove all cards from the table.
HOW TO PLAY Deal cards one at a time in a row, and remove any adjacent card or combination of cards that totals seven or a multiple of seven (14, 21,28, etc.). For example, you may not remove any cards in the sequence 8-9-J-6, but in the sequence 8-9-J-6-A, you may remove both the 6 and the ace because 6 + 1 = 7. In this game, aces are worth 1, jacks 11, queens 12, kings 13. Once a pair has been removed, close the gap and continue dealing.
There is no redeal in Seven Up; the game ends when all cards are dealt.
SHAMROCKS
DIFFICULTY :
medium
TIME LENGTH :
short
DECKS : 1
The legendary luck of the Irish comes in handy here. Shamrocks is not a difficult game (the odds of winning are 1 in every 10 hands), but it always seems that one measly card stands between you and victory.
HOW TO DEAL Start with a fifty-two-card deck, remove one ace, and place it face up on the table. This is your first (of four) foundations. Next, shuffle and deal sixteen fanned tableau piles of three cards each, all face up. Move aces to the foundations as they become available.
WINNING Build four foundations by suit in ascending rank from ace to king.
HOW TO PLAY The topmost tableau cards may be played directly to the foundations, or use them to build on another tableau pile in descending
or
ascending rank (regardless of suit or color). The twist is that no tableau piles may ever contain more than three cards total. Move cards one at a time only, never in groups or sets. Once a tableau slot is empty, it remains empty for the entire game.
SIMPLE SIMON
DIFFICULTY :
low
TIME LENGTH :
short
DECKS : 1
This is a simplified version of the much tougher game Spider. Whereas wins in Spider are rare, in Simple Simon you should experience the thrill of victory every 1 in 3 hands.
HOW TO DEAL Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal ten tableau piles in the following pattern: three columns with eight cards each, all face up; a fourth column with seven face-up cards; a fifth column with six face-up cards; a sixth column with five face-up cards; a seventh column with four face-up cards, etc.
WINNING Build four foundations by suit in descending rank from king to ace.
HOW TO PLAY Move kings to the foundations as they become available. The topmost tableau cards may be played directly to the foundations, or use them to build on another tableau pile in descending rank (suits and colors do not matter). The one caveat is that you may not build kings on aces—in other words, ranking is not continuous.
Move cards one at a time or, if they are grouped in descending rank, in sets. Whenever a tableau slot is empty, fill it with any card or properly grouped set of cards. There is no redeal.
SPIDER
DIFFICULTY :
low
TIME LENGTH :
short
DECKS : 2
Like Yukon, Spider is one of the quintessential Solitaire games. It’s a true classic, balancing luck and skill, and requiring a decent amount of stamina. The odds of winning are 1 in every 5 hands.
HOW TO DEAL Start with two fifty-two-card decks (104 cards total), and deal ten tableau columns in the following pattern: four columns of six cards each, with the top card in each column face up; and six columns of five cards each, also with the top card in each column face up. The remaining cards are your stock.
WINNING The goal is to remove all cards from the tableau by building eight sequences of thirteen cards, each by suit and in descending rank from king to ace. Every time you successfully build a sequence of thirteen cards, remove it from the tableau.
HOW TO PLAY Use the topmost tableau cards to build on another tableau column in descending rank (suits and colors do not matter). You are allowed to move cards in groups, as long as the cards being
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