Patience · 1–2 players
Australian
Patience.
Build all 52 cards onto four foundations in the classic solo game. You can also race a bot with two decks, taking turns or playing simultaneously.
Choose your rules
Play solo or challenge a bot?
The choice starts a new game and updates the illustrated guide and variant rules below.
Select one of your cards, then choose its destination.
Uncover the cards.
Build by suit.
Follow the illustrated guide, then use the complete rules below for precise moves and variant differences.
Illustrated guide
See how the cards move.
Examples are separate from the live game. The last steps change with the selected mode.
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Lay out one deck.
Shuffle 52 cards. Deal seven face-up columns of four cards. The remaining 24 cards form your stock. Leave room for a waste pile and four foundations.
Each player has a whole deck.
Each player shuffles their own 52-card deck and lays out seven face-up columns of four cards. The other 24 cards become that player’s stock. Eight empty foundations sit between the two players.
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Build upward by suit.
Start each suit’s foundation with an Ace, then add Two, Three and so on up to King. Only an exposed tableau card or your top waste card can move directly to a foundation.
Build upward by suit.
Start either foundation for a suit with an Ace, then add Two, Three and so on up to King. Only an exposed tableau card or your top waste card can move directly to a foundation.
Build downward in the same suit.
Move a tableau card onto an exposed card one rank higher in the same suit. For example, 9♠ may go onto 10♠. In competitive play, each player moves cards only inside their own tableau.
Move a buried card with its covering cards.
Select any card in a tableau column. Every card covering it comes along, even if those covering cards have unrelated suits or ranks. Only the first card of the moving group must fit the destination.
A King fills an empty column.
Only a King may move into an empty tableau column. If the King has covering cards, those cards move with it as a group.
Draw once through your stock.
Turn a stock card onto your waste pile. Only the top waste card can be used. You may cover it with another drawn card, but you cannot recycle the waste into a new stock.
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Keep uncovering useful cards.
You can draw from your stock whenever you choose. There is no turn limit, but the waste cannot be recycled. When the stock is empty and no useful move remains, the game ends.
Drawing ends your turn.
Make as many legal moves as you wish, then draw one card from your stock to end your turn. Once the stock is empty, use Pass turn. Two consecutive passes without a move end the game.
Both players move at once.
There is no turn order. Both players can move and draw from their own layouts while racing to fill the shared foundations. The first successful play takes an available foundation space.
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Complete all four foundations.
Move every card from the tableau, stock and waste to its suit foundation. All four piles end with a King. If cards are stranded when no useful move remains, you lose.
Count cards on the foundations.
Each card you contribute to a shared foundation counts for you, even if the other player began that pile. Whoever contributed more cards wins; equal totals are a tie.
Complete rules
The rules below describe the classic single-player game. Select a two-player mode above to see its changes under Variants.
Origin & history
Australian Patience comes from Australia. The single-player game can also be adapted into a two-player contest. Its unusual tableau lets groups of cards travel together even when the cards within a group are not ordered.
Objective
Move all 52 cards onto the four foundations, building each suit from Ace to King.
Equipment & setup
Use one standard 52-card deck. Deal 28 cards into seven tableau columns of four, all face up and overlapped so every rank and suit remains visible. Put the remaining 24 cards face down as the stock. Leave space for one face-up waste pile and four empty foundations, one per suit.
Gameplay
A foundation starts with an Ace and builds upward in the same suit, one rank at a time, to King. Only an exposed tableau card or the top card of your waste pile may go directly to a foundation.
Within your own tableau, place a card on an exposed card one rank higher in the same suit, such as 9♠ on 10♠. You may select a buried card; every card covering it moves with it. Only the first card of the moving group needs to fit the destination. A King, together with any cards covering it, may move into an empty column.
Turn the top stock card face up onto your waste pile when you choose to draw. Only the top waste card is available. You may draw again over an unhelpful card, but the waste is never turned over to refill the stock. A buried waste card becomes available only after the cards above it move away.
Scoring & points
The solo game has no point score. Progress is measured by how many of the 52 cards reach the foundations.
End of game & winning
You win when every card is on a foundation, with a King on top of each suit. If the stock is empty and no useful move remains while cards are still in the tableau or waste, the game ends in a loss.
Variants
Single player is the main game. Two competitive versions are also available: Turn-based and Simultaneous. Changing the selector above starts a new game.
Two-player, turn-based
- Each player uses a separate 52-card deck, with seven columns of four cards and a 24-card stock. Use different card backs to identify who placed each card.
- Both players build on eight shared foundations, two for each suit. Each player may move cards only in their own tableau and waste.
- Make any number of legal moves on your turn, then draw one card to end it. Once your stock is empty, pass instead. Two consecutive passes without a move end the game.
- Each foundation card scores one point for its owner. The player with more foundation cards wins; equal totals are a tie.
Two-player, simultaneous
- Each player has a separate deck, tableau, stock and waste. Both build on eight shared foundations, two per suit.
- There is no turn order. Both players may move and draw at the same time; the first successful move claims an available foundation space.
- Count the cards each player contributed to the foundations. The player with more wins.
- Play ends when neither side can progress. Once both stocks are empty, you may also finish and count.
Strategy
These ideas can help you preserve options in the solo game; no opening or move guarantees a win.
- Read the whole tableau first. Since every card is face up, look for moves that expose an Ace or a card needed by a foundation before shifting a group.
- Save empty columns for useful Kings. A vacant space accepts only a King. Move one there when it opens a route for other cards, especially if it frees a buried card.
- Think beyond the first card of a group. The group may be legal to move even if its covering cards are mixed, but those cards will land together. Check whether the move makes them easier or harder to uncover later.
- Use the stock deliberately. Turning a card can reveal a needed move, but there is only one pass through the stock. Before covering a playable waste card, consider whether you can use it now.
How our bots play
The single-player game has no bot. In both two-player modes, the bot follows these priorities:
- Build a foundation when possible. It first looks for an exposed card that fits the next rank of a shared foundation.
- Use the waste card. If no foundation move is available, it tries to place its top waste card in its tableau.
- Uncover cards in its tableau. It considers moving a buried card together with the cards above it, while avoiding tableau arrangements it has already tried during that sequence of moves.
- Draw or pass. With no useful move, it turns its next stock card. In turn-based play, that ends its turn; once its stock is empty, it passes.
The bot uses its own visible cards and the shared foundations. It does not inspect your tableau or the order of either face-down stock.
Category
Patience · Competitive Building · Layout
Also known as
Australian Patience
Documented countries
Australia
Bibliography
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