Yukon Solitaire

Yukon is a seven-column solitaire with no stock: every card is on the table from the start. Its defining rule lets you pick up any face-up card together with everything lying on top of it, even when those cards are in no order at all.

It looks like Klondike and plays very differently. The seven columns are the same and so is the way you build, but that one rule sets the game apart, and it is also the most fun.

Rules step by step

1. The deal. Seven columns are dealt left to right. Column 1 gets a single face-up card. Each of the other columns gets face-down cards first (one in column 2, two in column 3, up to six in column 7) and then five face-up cards on top. That makes 21 cards face down and 31 face up. Nothing is left over, so there is no stock and no waste.
2. Build down in alternating colors. A card can land on a card that is exactly one rank higher and of the other color. A black 6 goes on a red 7, a red 6 on a black 7.
3. Move a card with everything on top of it. Any face-up card can be picked up. The cards above it come along, whether or not they form a sequence. Only the card you pick up has to fit the card you land on. The cards riding with it can be anything.
4. Turn cards over. When a move leaves a face-down card at the end of a column, it flips face up by itself.
5. Empty columns take kings. Only a king, with whatever lies on it, may go into an empty column.
6. Foundations. Each suit is built from ace to king in its own pile. Only the card at the end of a column can go up, one at a time.
7. No way back. A card on a foundation stays there. This version does not move foundation cards back to the columns.
8. Win when all four foundations hold thirteen cards.

The page shows time and moves. There is no score.

How Yukon feels

Klondike hands you a hidden card every few turns from the stock, so luck keeps arriving. Yukon gives you everything at once, and the challenge is the order of operations. A long mixed pile can be shifted onto a single matching card in one move, which lets you uncover face-down cards early and open columns that Klondike would keep locked.

The price is that the same freedom makes it easy to bury an ace or a two under a stack that cannot move again soon. Most lost games come from a pile built carelessly, not from a missing card.

Strategy

• Go for the face-down cards. Every move that turns one over adds information and options. Prefer those over tidy-looking shuffles.
• Count your landing spots. Before you pick up a card with a pile on top, check that the card you will land on is not needed to hold something else.
• Watch the aces and twos. Look for them in the face-up stacks at the start. Plan to reach them before you stack more weight on top.
• Use kings as anchors. An empty column is only useful when a king is ready to fill it. Free a king first, then empty the column.
• Leave sequences alone. A tidy run such as red 9, black 8, red 7 is strong. Splitting it for a small gain usually costs more later.
• Try the hint when stuck. It names a legal move that helps, not a guaranteed good one. Undo is unlimited, so test an idea and take it back.

Frequently asked questions

Is every deal winnable?

Not every random shuffle is. The default deals come from a pool that an offline solver has checked, and it found a winning line for each one. The solver sees every card, including the face-down ones, while you do not, so a winning line existing does not make it easy to find. Pool deals also lean toward easier wins than a random shuffle, because only deals the solver could finish are kept. A deal that does not come from the pool is labelled as not checked.

How is Yukon different from Klondike?

There is no stock, no waste and no drawing. In return you may move any face-up card with the cards on top of it. The foundations and the build rule are the same as in Klondike.

Can I undo a move?

Yes, as often as you like, and redo too. Using the hint marks the game as played with help in your own stats.

Do I need an account?

No. Settings, stats and the game in progress stay in your browser. The privacy page lists the entries.

How do I share a deal?

Every deal has its own web address. Copy it and a friend opens the same cards on this page.

Related games

• Klondike, draw one uses the same columns with a stock.
• Klondike, draw three is the harder way to draw.
• FreeCell shows every card from the start too, with cells to park cards in.
• Spider is another long game of building columns.

Last updated 2026-10-30