How to Play Backbone Solitaire

Backbone Solitaire Rules

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

Objective

The objective of Backbone is to build the eight foundation piles from the ace in ascending order to the king in suit. There will be eight foundation piles in total, two per suit.

Setup

Deal two columns side by side in the center to form the reserve piles. Each column will have 11 face-up cards, splayed downward. Place one card that overlaps the top cards of the columns. There are a total of 23 cards in the reserve.

On each side of the reserve, place four cards face up to form the eight tableau piles. Place the remaining deck face down to form the stock. Leave room for eight foundation piles.

Game Play

There will be eight foundation piles that build up from the ace in ascending order to the king in suit, with two foundation piles per suit. When an ace becomes available, place it above the tableau to form a foundation pile. To add a card to a foundation pile, it must be one rank higher and of the same suit as the top card of the foundation pile it is being moved to.

Only one card at a time may be moved during this game. The tableau piles are built in descending order and in suit, using the top card from another tableau pile, the top card of either reserve pile, or the top card of the waste pile. For example, the 7 of spades may be moved onto the 8 of spades. When a tableau pile is empty, the top card of either reserve pile, waste pile, or another tableau pile may fill this spot. Following the previous example, you could move the 4 of clubs to the empty tableau space where the 7 of spades was moved from.

The single card that overlaps the reserve piles must be moved to a foundation pile or a tableau pile before the top card of each of the two reserve piles becomes available for play. Following the previous two examples, since the 4 of clubs was moved off of the two reserve piles, now the top cards of each reserve pile, the 4 of spades and the 8 of hearts, are available for play. The top card of each reserve pile is available for play onto a foundation pile or a tableau pile.

When there are no more available moves the player wants to make, flip the top card of the stock over to form or add to the waste pile. The top card of the waste pile is available for play onto a foundation pile or onto a tableau pile.

When the stock is depleted, you may redeal by flipping over the waste pile to form a new stock. You may redeal once per game. When there are no more moves after the stock is depleted a second time, the game is over.

To Win

Backbone is won if all cards are built onto the foundation piles in ascending order from the ace to the king, in suit. If you run out of moves before all cards are on the foundation piles, the game is lost.

Variations

There is a variation that allows no redeals, and cards in the reserve may only be used to build onto a tableau pile or a foundation pile, and may not be used to fill an empty tableau pile. This restriction makes the game much harder.

An easier variation would be to reduce the number of cards dealt into the reserve. Another easier variation would be to allow one more redeal.