Play Yukon solitaire

Yukon looks like Klondike at first glance, but it plays very differently: there is no stock at all, and you may pick up any face-up card together with every card on top of it, even when those cards are not in order. That freedom makes for big, satisfying moves. Deal Yukon now and play it here, free, with no account and no money.

Your round in progress is saved automatically in your browser, and Yukon keeps its own statistics: rounds played, rounds won, best time and fewest moves for wins.

How to win

Move all 52 cards to the four foundations, one per suit, each built up from Ace to King.

Rules

The deal

• One 52-card deck, with no stock and no waste.
• Seven tableau columns. Column 1 has a single face-up card.
• Columns 2 to 7 have 1 to 6 face-down cards respectively, each with five face-up cards on top.
• That makes 21 face-down and 31 face-up cards at the start, 52 in total.
• Each deal shows its deal number, so it can be replayed.

Moving cards

• The tableau builds down in alternating colours, for example a black Jack on a red Queen.
• Any face-up card can be moved together with every card on top of it, even if those cards are not in sequence. The card you pick up must fit its destination: one rank lower and the opposite colour.
• Only a King, together with any cards on top of it, may fill an empty column.
• Foundations build up by suit from Ace.

End of the round

• Won: all cards are on the foundations.
• Lost: no legal move changes the position.
• Starting a new deal mid-round counts the unfinished round as abandoned.

Controls

• Tap or click the face-up card you want to move (everything on top of it comes along), then tap the destination; or drag and drop.
• Double-click or double-tap a card to send it to its foundation when legal.
• Hint (H) highlights one legal move without making it; Auto move (A) plays the move the hint would show.
• Undo (U) is unlimited, right back to the deal; New deal is N. Yukon has no stock, so there is no Draw.
• Keyboard: Tab moves between piles, Enter or Space selects and places, and Esc cancels a selection.

Tips

1. Head for the hidden cards. Column 7 hides six face-down cards and column 6 hides five. Moves that start uncovering those deep columns tend to open the game up more than tidying the short ones.
2. Think about what you carry. When you move a card from deep in a column, every card on top of it goes too. Check that the pile you are moving will not bury a card you need, and look at what the move reveals underneath.
3. Use out-of-order moves to dig. Because the cards on top do not need to be in sequence, a single move can lift a messy pile off a face-down card. Look for a card part-way down a column that fits somewhere else.
4. Plan for your Kings. Only a King, with whatever sits on top of it, can fill an empty column. A King buried in the middle of a column can take a whole pile with it, which is often the best use of a gap.
5. Every card is already on the table. With no stock to fall back on, the card you need is somewhere in the columns. When you are stuck, the missing cards are either still face down or buried under other face-up cards, so look for the move that reaches them.
6. Hold back mid-rank cards if they are useful. A red 6 on the tableau may be the only home for a black 5. Send cards to the foundations when they are no longer needed as a base.

The strategy guide has more on planning moves in open games, and the glossary explains terms such as tableau and foundation.

Related games

• Klondike Draw 1 uses a similar starting shape but adds a stock and only lets you move ordered runs.
• FreeCell shows every card face up and moves runs according to your free space.
• Spider Two Suits is another game where clever column management decides the round.