How to Play British Square Solitaire

British square solitaire uses two decks of playing cards and has a unique foundation building style where you build up to kings then down to aces in the same pile.

British Square Solitaire Rules

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

Objective

The objective of British square solitaire is to build the foundation piles from ace to king, then back to ace.

Setup

Shuffle the decks together. Deal one card to each of the 16 tableau piles, in a 4 x 4 grid. Place the remaining deck face down to form the stock.

Game Play

As an ace of each suit becomes available, remove it from the top of a tableau pile, or the top of the waste pile, to form the foundation piles. There will be four total foundation piles, one foundation pile per suit. Each foundation pile is built up in sequence from ace to king, then the second king is played on top of the first king, then the pile is built in sequence back down to ace, following suit.

The top card of each foundation pile, and the top card of the waste pile are available for play. Only one card may be played at a time, and only one card may move from tableau pile to tableau pile. Tableau piles may be built up or down in suit, however, once the direction of that pile is set, it may not change until that pile is back to one card. When a tableau pile becomes empty, it may be filled with the top card of another tableau pile, the top card of the waste, or the stock.

The player may flip over the top card of the stock to form or add to the waste pile. There is only one pass through the stock allowed. When the stock is exhausted, it is not redealt. British square solitaire continues until there are no more moves available.

To Win

To win british square solitaire the player must have all foundation piles built from ace to king, then back to ace, and the game is won. If the player runs out of moves before the foundation piles are complete, the game is lost.