How to Play Dragon Solitaire
Dragon Solitaire is similar to Chinese Solitaire, a game that's based off Scorpion, but you build cards by suit. As a variation of Chinese Solitaire, the game is named Dragon because it represents good luck in Chinese culture.
Objective
The goal is to move all 52 cards from the stock pile and tableau into 4 foundation piles by suit in ascending order.
The Setup and Play Area
Tableau: This is the area where there are 7 columns. The first 3 columns have 8 cards, and the last 4 columns have 7 cards, totaling 52 cards. The first column has 8 face-up cards, the second column has 7, the third has 6, the fourth has 4, and every subsequent column has one less face-up card.
Foundation piles: These are the 4 piles at the top to the game where cards are placed by suit in ascending order from Ace to King.
Available moves
- Only Aces can start in the foundation, and subsequent cards must be in ascending order by suit. For example, only a 2 of Diamonds can be played on an Ace of Diamonds, or a 5 of Clubs can be placed on a 6 of Clubs.
- Similar to Yukon, a card and all the cards beneath it can be moved on top of the bottom card of a tableau column if it is one rank lower and of the same suit. For example, if you have a 5 of Hearts and an 8 of Spades underneath it, both cards can be moved together on top of a 6 of Hearts that sits at the bottom of the tableau.
- Tableau cards can be moved by sequencing them in descending order by the same suit. For example, a 5 of Spades can be placed on top of a 6 of Hearts.
- Face-down cards are turned face-up when there are no cards below them.
- If a tableau column is empty, a King can be placed there.
- You win when all cards are moved to the foundation.
Strategy
- Prioritize moving cards to reveal the face-down cards and make them playable.
- Only deal cards from the stock pile when you have no other moves.
- Avoid having lower-ranking cards above higher-ranking cards in the same column. This will make sequencing these cards challenging.
- Free up columns. This way, you can move a King, start building new sequences, and free up cards in the process.
- Look out for deadlocks. If 9 of Spades, 7 of Spades, and 8 of Spades are in order, the game is lost, as you will never be able to sequence those cards. Similarly, if there is a 6 of Diamonds followed by a Jack of Spades in one column and a Queen of Spades followed by a 5 of Hearts in another column, the game is lost as you won’t be able to sequence those costs. Restart the game if you see this.
Frequently Asked Questions
How difficult is Dragon Solitaire?
Dragon is a challenging game. We looked at 5,287 random games played. Of those, 425 were won, or 8.04%.
What are some games similar to Dragon Solitaire?
Chinese Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, Spiderette, Big Spider, Scorpion, and Beetle have similar rules and setups.
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