Yukon Solitaire

Introduction to Yukon Solitaire

Yukon Solitaire looks very similar to Klondike Solitaire except that the 24 cards that would have been in a Stock are evenly distributed face-up into all but the leftmost column. Also, the rules are a bit different.

The are several variations of Yukon Solitaire, including Russian Solitaire, Alaska Solitaire, and Australian Patience.

The game requires concentration and visualization skills to consistently win. The player must be able to plan sequences of moves, sometimes quite a few in advance. It's said that a good player can win more than 80% of their games.

Goal

The goal of Yukon Solitaire is to build all 4 ordered suits from the Ace to the King in the Foundations.

Rules

When the game starts, all 52 playing cards of a standard deck are dealt into the Tableau.

In total, 21 cards are dealt hidden. The remaining 31 cards are dealt face-up, 1 into the leftmost column, and 5 into each of the other 6 columns.

In Yukon Solitaire, technically, only one card may be moved at a time. However, within the Tableau, if there are other cards on top of the card being moved, they all come along for the ride. Piles can sometimes grow very long. If not a King, the source card must be moved onto a target card that is bottom-most in a pile, next in rank to the source card, and of the opposite color.

When a card that is directly on top of a hidden card is moved, the hidden card is automatically brought into play by turning it face-up.
Since the King has no next-in-rank, it can't be moved to another pile, so it must be moved only into a vacant column. It's important to note that the King is that only rank that is allowed to be put into an empty column.

One card at a time may be sent to the Foundations. The game also allows a card to be played in the opposite direction, provided that it's too a valid location.

Layout

The game screen is made up of 2 different areas.

The Foundations are located along the left side of the screen and consists of 4 cells. Each cell is called a foundation. It's in these foundations that suits are built, beginning with the Ace and ending with the King.

Along the top of the screen is the Tableau. Horizontally, it consists of 7 columns. Depending on the current state of the game, any column may be either empty or contain a pile of one or more cards. This is where the majority of the action occurs during a game.

Yukon Strategy

Here are a few tips on how to win at Yukon Solitaire:

• The game has three main priorities: exposing hidden cards, freeing ranks that are to be sent to the Foundations, and vacating columns so that Kings can be moved in order to gain access to the card directly under each. The player will learn from experience when each priority should take precedence.
• Plan several moves ahead. Pick a card that would be of benefit to move, then search for a card that it might be moved onto. If none, the card can't be moved. If one, then note the card that is directly on top of it, and then search for a card that it might be moved onto. If two, follow both prospective paths. Continue the process until eventually, the answer to whether the original card could be moved or not has been answered.
• There is another strategy to search for a sequence of moves that might end in a benefit. Except for the King, if a card is to be moved, it must be to the bottom of a pile. Pick a bottom card, then search for a card that might be moved onto it, then for a card that might be moved onto the card that wooed be exposed by moving the first card. The process continues in a chain until either a benefit can be realized or not.
• Just because a move can be played, it doesn't mean that it's always the best thing to do. It's better to delay moves until they have to be played to keep as many options open for as long as possible. That said, there is never a benefit in delaying the sending of an Ace to the Foundations. However, since an Ace within a pile can be moved onto an available Two, moving a Two into a foundation is not always a good idea.
• Remember that for any rank and color (other than for an Ace) there are only two possible cards that can ever be moved on top of it. So, if say both black Jacks are visible in the Tableau and one has a red Ten on top of it, then there is no benefit in delaying the moving of the other red Ten onto the other black Jack if it is exposed. Enacting such inevitable moves makes it easier to keep track of delayed moves that are not inevitable.
• Explore all options. Suppose that the player discovers that a hidden card could be turned by simply moving a red six onto a black seven. However, the other red six is in a pile. It could be moved onto the black seven instead, then a card onto what was under the red six, and so on until not only is a hidden card turned in a different pile, but a valuable Ace is freed.
• Don't vacate a column until just before moving a King into it. For example, the player might move a black eight to vacate a column, but now a red nine has been used that cannot be used to place the other black eight. Even if the other black eight is hidden at the time, if the game is to be won, at some point it must be turned, and it might well be turned before the other red nine is turned.