How to Play Casket Solitaire
Casket Solitaire Rules
| Players: 1 | Type: Solitaire | Supplies: 2 Decks |
Objective
The objective of Casket is to uncover the jewels in the center and build the eight foundation piles in ascending order from the ace to the king, in suit.
Setup
Deal 13 cards face down to a reserve pile in the center, then flip the top card face up. This reserve pile is known as the “jewels.” Deal a row of five cards above the jewels reserve pile to form what is called the “lid” of the casket; these are the “lid” reserve cells. Deal two tableau piles on each side of the jewels reserve pile to form the walls, and four tableau piles at the base to complete the casket shape. The walls and the base of the casket form the eight tableau piles. Place the remaining deck face up to form the stock, and leave room for eight foundation piles and three waste piles that start empty.
![Casket Solitaire set up: card layout](../images/casket-set-up.png)
Game Play
When an ace becomes available for play, move it outside the tableau to form a foundation pile. There are eight
foundation piles, two per suit, that are built from the ace in ascending order to the king:
ace-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-jack-queen-king. 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 pile it is being played on.
The top card of each of the eight tableau piles, the top card of each of the three waste piles, the top card of the
stock, and all five cards in the “lid” cells are available for play onto a foundation pile or one of the eight tableau
piles. Only one card may be moved at a time from one pile to another pile.
The five “lid” reserve cells may only hold one card. When one of the five lid cells becomes empty, it is immediately
filled by the top card of the “jewel” reserve pile. If the top card of the “jewel” pile is face down, flip it face up.
When the “jewel” pile is empty, empty spaces in the “lid” row may be filled by the top card from any tableau pile, the
top card of the stock, or the top card of any waste pile.
Tableau piles may be built in descending order and in suit. To add a card to a tableau pile, the card must be one rank
lower and of the same suit as the top card of the tableau pile it is being moved onto. When a tableau pile becomes
empty, it is immediately filled using the top card of the stock. If the stock is empty, it may be filled using any card
from the lid reserve cells, the top card of another tableau pile, or the top card of any of the three waste piles.
For example, the 5 of hearts in a lid reserve cell at the top of the casket may be moved onto the 6 of hearts tableau
pile at the bottom of the casket. Since the 5 of hearts creates an empty cell in the lid, the top card of the jewels
reserve pile, which is the 9 of spades, is moved to fill this empty cell. Following this example, the 4 of hearts may
now be played onto the 5 of hearts and 6 of hearts. Since the 4 of hearts creates an empty space in the tableau, the top
card of the stock, the 10 of clubs, is used to fill this empty tableau space.
When there are no more available moves the player wants to make, move the top card of the stock onto any of the three
waste piles. The top card of each waste pile is available for play onto a tableau pile or foundation pile. The top card
of each waste pile becomes available for play onto a lid reserve cell when the jewels reserve pile is empty. When the
stock is depleted and there are no more moves, the game is over.
To Win
Casket is won if all cards are built onto the eight foundation piles. If there are no more moves after the stock is depleted and the foundation piles are not completed, the game is lost.
Variation
A harder variation would be that once the jewels pile is empty, the lid piles may not be filled by any card.