How to Play Devil’s Grip

Objective

Finish with 24 tidy piles: eight in the top row with jacks on top, eight in the middle row with queens on top, and eight in the bottom row with kings on top. Every pile is a single suit, built in steps of three. If cards are left over when the stock runs out, the number left is your score, and lower is better.

Setup

Take out all eight aces and set them aside; they are not used. Shuffle the remaining 96 cards together. Deal 24 cards face up in three rows of eight. Place the other 72 cards face down as the stock, and leave room beside it for a face-up waste pile.

The row a card lands in during the deal does not matter yet. Each row has its own base card, and part of the game is moving cards into the right rows.

How to play

Build by placing a card on a grid card of the same suit that is three ranks lower: a 7 of clubs on a 4 of clubs, a queen of hearts on a 9 of hearts. You can build on any grid card, even one sitting in the wrong row, and you can move a built pile as a unit onto a matching card. A pile of 5 and 8 of spades, for example, can later be moved onto a 2 of spades.

You may swap any two cards or piles in the grid at any time. Swapping is how you get each pile into its proper row: piles starting with a 2 belong on top, piles starting with a 3 in the middle and piles starting with a 4 on the bottom.

Whenever a move leaves a gap in the grid, fill it at once with the top card of the waste pile, or with the top card of the stock if the waste is empty. This is the only way new twos, threes and fours can enter the grid.

When you have no useful moves and no gaps, turn three cards from the stock onto the waste. The top card of the waste is available to build onto the grid. The stock is dealt through only once.

1. 1Build same-suit cards three ranks apart
2. 2Swap cards and piles into their proper rows
3. 3Fill every gap from the waste, or the stock
4. 4When stuck, turn three cards onto the waste
5. 5Play until the stock is gone and no moves remain

Scoring

When the stock is exhausted and no moves are left, count the cards in the waste pile. That is your score. Zero means every card made it into the grid and you have won.

A clean win is rare. Keep a running best score and try to beat it.

Variations

Unlimited passes: many computer versions let you turn the waste back over and go through the stock as often as you like. It makes a win far more likely.

One at a time: turning single cards from the stock instead of three gives you access to every card. It is a gentler way to learn the game before trying the standard rules.

Calculation is a one-deck relative that also builds foundations in steps, by ones, twos, threes and fours, and makes a good next game once Devil’s Grip clicks.

Tips from the table

Swaps are free, so use them to plan rather than to fix. Before you open a gap, look at the top of the waste: the card that fills the gap is decided by what is showing there.

Get twos, threes and fours into their correct rows as soon as they appear, and move loose builds onto them. A 5 sitting on its own is useful only once a 2 of its suit arrives beneath it.

With two decks there are two of every card. If one 2 of diamonds is already in place, the second one can start a fresh pile, so do not bury a matching card under the wrong one.

Frequently asked