Russian Solitaire
Build each suit down and dig out the hidden cards
How to play
Russian Solitaire on Matsuri is a free online game of the classic Yukon-style patience built in suit: seven columns, every card dealt, no stock, and a deal a solver has proven can be won. It plays in any browser on phone or desktop and inside Telegram via @MatsuriGamesBot, with no download. The daily deal is the same for everyone, and a challenge link gives a friend your exact deal.
Russian Solitaire is a famously tough relative of Yukon. All 52 cards are dealt into seven columns: the first holds one card, the other six hold one to six cards face down with five face up on them, and there is no stock. Columns build down in the same suit, so a nine of spades only takes the eight of spades, but any face-up card can be moved together with every card lying on it, in whatever order they are. Only a king, with whatever lies on it, fills an empty column, and a face-down card left on top turns over. Build the four foundations up from ace to king; a card that can go up goes by itself. Most shuffles of this game cannot be won at all, so every deal here comes from a set a solver has proven winnable. Drag a card and everything on it, or tap it to send it to its only possible place. If you play into a dead end the table offers to rewind to the nearest position that still wins, and the bulb shows a good next move. Each card home scores 10, a win adds 500 and up to 300 more for finishing near the deal's par, each undo costs 20 and a rewind 50. The daily deal is the same for everyone.
- Drag a face-up card (everything on it comes along), or click it and it hops to its place.
- A card only goes on the next higher card of its own suit (♠8 on ♠9), however mixed the cards on it are; only a K fills an empty column. A hidden card left on top turns over.
- Build the foundations up from A to K: cards that can go up do so by themselves. Z undoes (−20), H or 💡 shows a good move.
How to play Russian Solitaire
All 52 cards are dealt into seven columns. The first column holds a single face-up card; the other six hold one to six face-down cards with five face-up cards on top. There is no stock and no redeal. In the columns a card goes only on the next higher card of its own suit, so the eight of spades goes on the nine of spades and nowhere else.
Any face-up card can be moved together with every card lying on it, whatever their order, as long as that card lands on the next higher card of its suit. Only a king, with whatever lies on it, may fill an empty column. A face-down card left on top of a column turns face up. Build the four foundations up by suit from ace to king; a card that can go up does so by itself, because nothing can ever need it again. Get all 52 cards home to win.
Russian Solitaire strategy and tips
- Every card has exactly one place it can go, so before each move find that card and ask what the move will bury. A move that covers a low card of another suit often costs you the game later.
- Uncovering face-down cards matters more than anything else. When you have a choice, take the move that turns over a card in the column with the most hidden cards.
- Because whole groups move, you can lift a long jumble off a card you need. Look below the top of each column, not just at the top cards.
- Plan your empty columns around kings. An empty column only takes a king, so it is best spent on a king that has the cards you need trapped under it.
- Use undo to explore. The game is hard and its hidden cards are a gamble, and an undo costs far less than a game played into a corner.
Modes and difficulty
The daily deal is the same for everyone and changes at 00:00 UTC; your first try goes on the daily leaderboard. Practice deals another proven deal as often as you like. After a game you can send it as a challenge: your friend gets the very same deal with your score to beat.
Playing Russian Solitaire on Matsuri
Most shuffles of Russian Solitaire cannot be won at all, which is why it has a reputation for being cruel. Here every deal comes from a set a solver has proven winnable, so a lost game always had a way through. The bulb button shows a move from a winning line, and if you play into a position that can no longer be won, the table offers to rewind, for a flat 50 points, to the nearest earlier position that still wins. Each card home scores 10, a win adds 500 and up to 300 more for finishing near the deal's par, and an undo costs 20.
A little history
Russian Solitaire is a member of the Yukon family, patience games in which any face-up card can be moved with the cards on top of it. Yukon builds down in alternating colours; Russian Solitaire asks for the same suit, which leaves each card a single place to go and makes it far harder. A sibling called Alaska lets cards build up or down in suit. In Russia it is played online as Русский пасьянс, and it has long been part of solitaire collections such as PySol and Pretty Good Solitaire.
Questions
- Is Russian Solitaire free to play online?
- Yes. It is free, needs no download or account, and plays in any browser on phone or desktop, or inside Telegram through @MatsuriGamesBot.
- How is Russian Solitaire different from Yukon?
- The layout and moves are the same: any face-up card moves with every card on it. But Russian Solitaire builds down in the same suit instead of alternating colours, so each card has only one possible place and the game is much harder.
- Can every deal be won?
- Most shuffles of Russian Solitaire cannot be won at all, so every deal here comes from a set a solver has proven winnable. If you play into a dead end, the table offers to rewind to the nearest position that can still be won.
- How does scoring work, and is there a daily deal?
- Each card on a foundation scores 10; a win adds 500 and up to 300 more for finishing close to the deal's par; an undo costs 20 and a rewind 50. The daily deal is the same for everyone and has a leaderboard.