It is popularly rumoured that Napoleon spent most of his days playing Solitaire while he was in exile. For example, Tableau is French for “Table”, and Talon is French for “Heel”.

From the French we get many of the terms still used in Solitaire today. Some variants of Solitaire are still used for cartomancy today.įrom the Rhineland, the Solitaire craze moved west into France. Some early evidence suggests that Solitaire began as a fortune telling game, and only later became a game of strategy. The game was first recorded in the 1780s in a German book about games, entitled Das Neue Königliche L'Hombre-Spiel. Solitaire is a delightful puzzle game that boasts a wonderful history. The cards remaining after building the tableau are placed face down and are called the stock. Only the top card in each pile is face up. The first pile has one card, the second pile has two cards, the third pile has three cards, and so on until there are seven piles.

In Solitaire, there are four types of piles: the tableau, the stock, the waste, and the foundations. Ī version of Solitaire that you can play online for free can be found here. If you are looking for cards to play Solitaire with, pick up one of our standard decks of Bicycle Playing Cards with red backs or blue backs, or check out one of our more recent arrivals. Many other versions of Solitaire also exist, some of which will be covered following this explanation of how to play Klondike Solitaire.įor more classic card games, check out our guides for 40 Great Card Games for All Occasions, and for The Best Two Player Card Games, as well as our index for Card Game Rules. The most well-known version of Solitaire is Klondike, which is what is explained here, and is the game that most people identify with “solitaire”. The objective of most solitaire games is to organize a shuffled deck of cards into four piles (one for each suit) in ascending order from Ace to King. Solitaire or Patience, as it is commonly called in parts of Europe, is a game that can be played with just one player, and requires only a standard deck of 52 playing cards. (Pictured above: The set up of a traditional game of Klondike Solitaire) Card Game Rules for Solitaire

Simple rules of solitaire