Objective
Move all 104 cards onto eight foundation piles. Each foundation starts with an ace and is built up in the same suit, all the way to the king. With two decks there are two foundations for every suit.
Setup
Shuffle the two decks together. Deal ten columns of four cards each, dealing across in rows, with every card face up. Overlap the cards in each column so you can see them all. Leave room above the columns for the eight foundations.
The remaining 64 cards form the stock. Keep it face down. Cards you turn from it go face up onto a waste pile beside it.
How to play
Only the bottom card of each column, the one fully showing, is available. Move one card at a time. You can move an available card onto a foundation, or onto the bottom card of another column if it is the same suit and one rank higher. For example, the seven of clubs can go only on an eight of clubs.
Move each ace to the foundation row as soon as it becomes free, then build on it in suit: two, three, four and so on up to the king. A king can never be placed on an ace.
When a column is completely cleared, the space can be filled with any available card: a card from the bottom of another column or the top card of the waste pile.
When you run out of useful moves, turn the top card of the stock face up onto the waste pile. The top card of the waste is always available to play to a column or a foundation. You go through the stock only once. There is no redeal.
- 1Move aces to the foundations as they come free
- 2Build columns down in suit, one card at a time
- 3Fill an empty column with any available card
- 4Turn the stock one card at a time onto the waste
- 5Play the waste’s top card to a column or a foundation
Winning
You win if all 104 cards end up on the foundations. The game is over when the stock is empty and no more moves are possible.
Because a full win is rare, many players keep score by counting the cards on the foundations at the end. Keep track of your best count and try to beat it. A game where you get more than half the deck home is a good one.
Variations
Lucas: take the eight aces out first and place them as foundations, then deal thirteen columns of three cards. Starting with the aces in place makes the game a little friendlier.
Josephine: play exactly as usual, but you may move a whole built sequence from one column to another as a unit. This makes the game much easier.
Maria: deal nine columns of four, and build the columns down in alternating colors instead of in suit.
Limited: deal twelve columns of three cards instead of ten columns of four.
Tips from the table
An empty column is the most powerful thing in the game. Do not fill it with the first card that comes along. Wait until a card in that space will free something important.
Before you turn a card from the stock, look over every column for a move. Once a card goes under the waste pile, it can be hard to dig back out.
Work toward buried aces and twos first. A low card stuck under a column holds up a whole foundation.
Watch the waste pile. A long run of unplayable cards on the waste is a warning sign, so plan your columns to take the cards you expect to see.
Video Guides Are on the Way
We’re filming Game Guides that walk through full hands at the table, from the deal to the score.
Frequently asked
Can I move more than one card at a time?
No. Only one card moves at a time in the standard game. Moving whole sequences is the Josephine variation.
Is there a redeal?
No. You go through the stock once. When it is empty and you have no moves left, the game is over.
What can go in an empty column?
Any available card: the bottom card of another column or the top card of the waste pile.
Did Napoleon really play it?
Legend says he played patience during his exile on St. Helena, which is where the name comes from. Nobody knows for certain which games he played.
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