Card games have always been one of the best ways for people to pass the time. They have been there even before the invention of computers and mobile games. Decades later, card games are still popular and fun. Out of the many card games that exist, Solitaire is the most unique. You can play it by yourself. Also, it has various forms. Therefore, you won’t get bored easily.
Today, we are going to teach you how to play a popular Solitaire game known as Yukon Solitaire. This game is the perfect company when you are all by yourself at home and want to disconnect from the world for a few hours. It is fun, interesting and once you get the hang of it, Yukon Solitaire can be quite addictive.
About Yukon Solitaire
When most people come across a solitaire game, their minds quickly rush to Klondike Solitaire. The latter being the standard solitaire game, it shouldn’t come as a surprise how popular it is. However, for those of you who have played the standard version of solitaire for too long, the game may not be as exciting as it used to be. And that’s why you should familiarize yourself with new versions, such as Yukon Solitaire.
Yukon Solitaire has a different gameplay compared to Klondike. In this version, at the beginning of the game, the players have to deal all the cards. Meaning that there is no stockpile available during gameplay. Another key difference is that in Yukon Solitaire, cards can be moved even if the stack isn’t descending in a numerical sequence.
How to Play Yukon Solitaire
For you to fully understand how this game is played, let’s start with the objectives. Yukon Solitaire requires players to build 4 foundations where all the cards are placed in ascending order. In each foundation, the cards ought to follow the same suit. That is if one foundation pile is spades, then all cards in that foundation should be spades, beginning with Aces, twos up to tens then Jacks, Queens, and at the top, there should be a King.
Setting up Yukon Solitaire is a bit different from Klondike Solitaire, but it’s equally as easy. First of all, you will need to get your hands on a 52 card deck, minus the Jokers. You will then proceed to create a tableau containing 7 columns. Note that the final card arrangement after setup should have the following card numbers; 1 card in the 1st tableau, 6 cards in the 2nd tableau, 7 cards in the 3rd, 8 cards in the 4th, 9 cards in the 5th, 10 cards in the 6th and 11 cards in the 7th.
The first cards dealt with the 7 columns should all be face down except for the one in the first column. Additionally, the cards dealt face down and up vary depending on the column. This is the sequence you should follow when dealing cards in the 7 columns;
- In the 1st tableau, there should be 1 card facing up
- 2nd tableau should have 1 card facing down and 5 facing up
- 3rd tableau should have 2 cards facing down and 5 facing up
- 4th tableau should have 3 cards facing down and 5 facing up
- 5th tableau should have 4 cards facing down and 5 facing up
- 6th tableau should have 5 cards facing down and 5 facing up
- 7th tableau should have 6 cards facing and 5 cards facing up
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By now you should have a mental picture of how the layout for Yukon Solitaire looks like. The key takeaway here is that except for the first tableau which starts with 1 face-up card, all the rest start with a face-down card. And the other 6 tableaus have 5 face-up cards.
Once you are done with the tableau, you should move over to the foundation piles. In Yukon Solitaire, the game always begins with empty foundation piles. During set up, all that is needed is room for 4 stacks of cards.
Having set up the game, you can begin moving cards. Unlike other solitaire games, here cards can be moved in any order provided the player abides by the rules listed below. The game is won when a player moves all the 52 cards to the 4 stacks, with each stack being of the same suit and following the order mentioned above (from Aces to Kings). Should a player get stuck and run out of all legal moves then the game is lost.
Rules for Playing Yukon Solitaire
- Face-up cards are the only ones that can be played.
- The moment a face-down card is exposed in the tableau, it should be turned face up so that it can be eligible for play in the next move.
- Should there be an empty tableau, players are allowed to fill that space with a King. Or a set of cards that are headed by a King.
- Every foundation needs to follow the same suit.
- The foundation piles need to have the sequence beginning with Aces and end with only Kings.
There is another important rule that should be followed when moving cards within the tableau. Cards that can be moved in the tableau can not be the bottom ones. Players can move any face-up card in the 7 columns provided where it is being moved, the card on top has a greater value and has an alternating color. That is a black 4 can only be moved on top of a red 5. The cards beneath the card being moved need not follow a descending sequence. They move with the card as a unit.
Yukon Solitaire Strategies
The number one strategy for playing Yukon Solitaire is being patient. This variation of Klondike Solitaire doesn’t require speed, not unless you are timing yourself for a challenge. You must evaluate all moves before making one. During gameplay, try and move all Aces to the foundation stacks as soon as you can.
Additionally, you should attempt to get all the cards to be face-up within the first few minutes of the game. The more cards you have exposed, the easier it is for you to switch up your game plan and move cards to foundation stacks. To expose cards within the tableau, you may have to play within the 7 columns first before you can start moving cards to the foundation.
Only when there are no other moves that can help expose the face-down cards is when you should start sending cards to the foundation piles. Obviously, you should start with the Aces and send any twos you can get your hands on.
The Bottom Line
This variation of Klondike Solitaire features more lenient rules. And despite being that way, it doesn’t mean every game of Yukon Solitaire is a walkover. This variation requires a methodical and slow approach. It does come with its fair share of stressors, but you can be guaranteed of enjoying your wins because you will have earned them. Should this game become a favorite, you can advance to a more complicated version of Yukon, Russian Solitaire. It requires the same strategies and approach but it is more difficult to win.
