How to Play Outback Solitaire
Outback Solitaire is a version Australian Solitaire with 2 decks of cards. It's named after the Outback, a remote region of Australia.
How to Play
Objective
Your goal is to move all cards to the foundation by suit, from Ace to King, in ascending order.
The Setup and Play Area
Foundation piles: These are the 8 empty piles at the top right, where you’ll order cards from Ace to King by suit.
Tableau piles: This is the area with 8 columns, each with 7 cards face-up, totaling 56 cards.
Stock pile: The rest of the cards, or 48 cards, go into the stock pile. You can only pass through the stock pile once.
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
- Move and sequence cards in the tableau in descending order by suit. You can move a card and cards underneath it on top of a card as long as it’s one rank lower and of the same suit. A 5 of Spades, for example, can be placed on a 6 of Spades.
- Similar to Yukon, you can move groups of cards even if they aren’t sequenced, as long as the top card of that group is one rank lower and of the same suit as the card you are placing it on top of. For example, a 5 of Hearts followed by a King of Diamonds can be moved on top of a 6 of Hearts.
- Only Kings can move into empty tableau spaces.
- When all cards have been moved to the foundation, you win!
Strategy
- Plan ahead and take your time. Because all the cards in the tableau are face-up, look carefully at every card before making moves, not just the top cards.
- Move aces to the foundations as soon as they’re available.
- Don't worry about deadlocks because you have 2 decks of cards.
- 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.
- Because foundations are built from Ace to King, try to make low cards available so you can move them out of the tableau into the foundation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the odds of winning?
When looking at 301 random games played, 25 were won, making the win rate 8.31%. Australian Patience, on the other hand, is easier, with a win rate of 21.88%
What are similar games to try?
Try Australian Solitaire, which is the single-deck version of Outback. You can also try Alaska and Russian Solitaire, which are both Yukon-style games where you can move cards as a group as long as the top card of the game is properly sequenced.
What are other popular Solitaire games?
Be sure to check out these solitaire games:
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