How to Play Archway Solitaire

Archway Solitaire Rules

| Players: 1 | Type: Solitaire | Supplies: 2 Decks |

Objective

The objective of Archway is to build the four ace foundation piles in ascending order to the kings in suit, and to build the four king foundation piles in descending order to the aces in suit.

Setup

Take an ace of each suit and a king of each suit out of the deck and place them at the bottom of the layout to form the eight foundation piles. Above the foundation piles, deal four central columns of twelve face-up cards each, splayed down.

The remaining cards in the deck are organized by ranks into 13 reserve piles that form an arch around the four columns. Each of the 13 reserve piles must consist of cards of only one rank, thus creating a reserve pile for each rank from ace to king. For example, all remaining aces go in the ace reserve pile, all remaining 2s go in the 2 reserve pile, and so on. Some reserve piles may be empty. Position the reserve piles of aces at the bottom left of the arch, the reserve pile of 7s at the top in the middle, and the reserve pile of kings at the bottom right. The rest of the reserve piles should be placed in sequential order based on rank between these piles.

Game Play

You may only place cards on the ace foundation piles if they are one rank higher and of the same suit as the top card of the pile it is being moved to. You may only place cards on the king foundation piles if they are one rank lower and of the same suit as the top card of the pile it is being moved to. Cards are ranked ace-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-jack-queen-king. All cards in all 13 reserve piles are available for play onto a foundation pile; you are not limited to the top card of the reserve piles and may select any needed card from any of the 13 reserve piles.

You may play the top card from any of the four central piles onto a foundation pile. Once the top card is taken, the next card becomes available to play. When one of these four central piles runs out of cards, you may move the top card from another central pile to this position. When there are no more moves, the game is over.

To Win

Archway is won if all four ace foundation piles are built in ascending order and suit from the ace to the king, and all four king foundation piles are built in descending order and suit to the ace. If no more moves are available and the foundation piles are not complete, the game is lost.