How to Play Harp Solitaire
Harp Solitaire is a variation of Double Klondike with 4 passes through the stock pile.
How to Play
Objective
Your goal is to move all cards to the 8 foundation piles by suit, from Ace to King, in ascending order. You do this by moving and organizing cards from the stock pile and tableau.
The Setup and Play Area
Foundation piles: These are the 8 piles where you aim to move playable cards in order from Ace to King by suit. Successfully placing all 104 cards in the foundation wins the game.
Tableau piles: This area consists of 9 columns, with the first column containing one card and each subsequent column containing one additional card. Each card starts face down, except the last card in each column, which is face-up. In total, there are 45 cards in the tableau.
Stock pile: The rest of the cards, or 59 total, go into the stock pile. You only get 4 passes through the stock pile.
Waste pile: Cards are moved one at a time from the stock pile to the waste pile. The top card of the waste pile can be moved to either the foundation or the tableau if it is a legal move.
Available moves
- Foundations must be built in ascending order by suit. For example, a foundation pile will start with an Ace of Spades, followed by a 2 of Spades and so on until it ends with a King of Spades.
- Tableau cards can be moved by sequencing them in descending order, alternating between red and black. For example, you can move a 9 of Clubs on top of a 10 of Hearts in another tableau column.
- The top card of each tableau column can be moved to the foundation.
- You can move multiple cards at one time. To move a group of cards, they must be sequenced, and the top card of that group must be placed on top of a playable card of the opposite suit and one rank higher.
- The top card of the waste pile can be played into the tableau or foundation. You dispense cards from the stock pile into the waste pile.
- Only Kings can move into empty tableau columns.
Strategy
- Reveal face-down cards early. Aim to reveal as many face-down cards as possible. This allows you to see what cards you’ve got and what moves you can make.
- Move aces to the foundations as soon as they’re available. This will clear the card from the tableau, enabling you to build more.
- Try to build the foundations evenly. If one foundation is built immediately in the game, you now have fewer cards of that color to help you sequence.
- Try to empty the tableau columns quickly. This allows you to move Kings to these empty columns and free up cards to help you sequence.
- Only empty a tableau once you have a king to fill the slot. It’s best to empty a tableau once you know you have a king. Otherwise, you may block other potential moves.
- Try to reveal cards in the larger tableau columns first. Critical cards may be placed behind numerous cards in these columns. Prioritize revealing them.
- If you get stuck, use the undo button. You may not always make the right moves, and you may need to reverse some to win the game.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the odds of winning?
When looking at 187 random games played, 10 were won, making the win rate 5.35%. In comparison, Double Klondike has a win rate of 54.50%. This suggests that the limited pass-throughs of Harp Solitaire make the game considerably more difficult than Double Klondike.
What are similar games to try?
Klondike or Triple Klondike,Double Klondike, and Batsford Solitaire all have similar rules.
What are other popular Solitaire games?
Be sure to check out these Solitaire games:
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