# Play Sevens Online for Free

## Sevens Objective

To win Sevens, you must be the player with the fewest penalty points once a player reaches 100\. You get penalty points for cards remaining in your hand after someone has played all 13 of their cards into the grid.

## How to Play Sevens on Solitaired

The game of Sevens is played with four players and one deck of cards. To both customize the game and make it intuitive to learn and play, Solitaired uses these features:

* **Difficulty levels:** If you're new to the game, you can adjust the difficulty level to Easy under the Options menu, or choose Medium or Hard if you want to increase the challenge.
* **Highlighted turns and play cues:** Players take turns clockwise. On your turn, your cards are highlighted. If you have a playable card, both the card and its matching slot are highlighted. If you can't play any card, click Pass.
* **Card counts and points:** Watch how many cards your opponents have left. If a player gets rid of all their cards, everyone else scores penalty points for the cards still in their hands. The total lists every player's running total.
* **Undo button:** You often have a choice between two playable cards, so if you think you could've made a better play, you can undo your move by clicking the Undo button.
![Sevens card game setup](https://defbnszqe1hwm.cloudfront.net/images/Sevens-card-game-setup.webp)  

## Sevens Rules

* **All players begin with 13 cards.** Although you can only see your own cards, you can also see how many cards your opponents have remaining throughout the game.
* **The player with the 7♦ goes first.** The grid is set up with four lines of 13 slots, one line for each suit (clubs, hearts, diamonds, spades) and each line starting with an ace and ascending in order to king. Each suit's line cannot have cards placed into slots until a seven is played, and the very first card to be played must be the 7♦.
* **You cannot play suited cards unless a seven is first played on the line.** A seven opens up the play for each suit. For example, unless the 7♥ is played, you can't play heart cards.
* **Take turns playing one card into the grid, building in descending and ascending order from the seven.** After a seven is played, you add cards of that same suit that are one rank higher or lower than the cards on that line. For example, after the 7♥ is played, then a 6♥ can be played to the left, and an 8♥ can be played to the right. If a 6♣, 7♣, 8♣, 9♣ has been played, a 5♣ can be played to the left, and a 10♣ can be played to the right.
* **If you have multiple playable cards,** you can choose which one to play.
* **You must pass** if you don't have any playable cards.
* **The first player to play all their cards wins the round.**
* **Once a player reaches 100 penalty points, the player with the fewest points wins the game.** If a player plays all their cards, the remaining players are given penalty points for cards left in their hand: 1 per ace; 10 per face card; and numbered cards (2 through 10) worth their number in points. The points accumulate over each round.
![Sevens card game rules](https://defbnszqe1hwm.cloudfront.net/images/Sevens-card-game-rules.webp)  

## Sevens Strategies

* **Assess your hand.** Before you play a card, check out what you've been dealt so that you know what roadblocks you might face. For example, if you have several high-ranking face cards or several low-ranking cards, (four, three, two, and ace), you know you'll be highly dependent on other players playing ascending cards or descending cards, respectively, to make your slots available. The same can be true if you have several cards in just one suit, but this also means you have cards that can block your opponents in the same situation.
* **See if you can reasonably hold back a seven.** If you have enough cards to continue playing each turn, consider holding back a seven if the cards of the same suit are close in rank. For example, if you only have a 4♦, 7♦, 9♦ and the rest of your cards are different suits, you can hold back the 7 for a while unless it's the only playable card you have.
* **Prioritize kings and aces over queens and twos at game's end.** Your goal is to play as often as possible while limiting your opponents' ability to play, so if you have kings and aces, play those before queens and twos of another suit. Kings and aces won't open slots for opponents, but queens and twos of other suits allow opponents to play their kings and aces and possibly win the game.
* **Hold back the last suit card you have.** To force other players to pass, hold onto your last suit card when you can make other plays. If it's your last suit card, you won't need it to open slots, but playing it will definitely give others the opportunity to play more cards. So if the 5♣ is the last club you have, hold onto it as long as possible to keep other players from playing the 4♣, 3♣, 2♣, and A♣.

Sevens is a fun multiplayer game that depends on how you strategize your plays with the cards you're dealt. If you're looking for more multiplayer games that rely on strategy, you should try [Rummy](https://solitaired.com/rummy) or trick-taking games like [Euchre](https://solitaired.com/euchre) or [Bridge](https://solitaired.com/bridge). Play these games on Solitaired where you can choose from several multiplayer or Solitaire games for free!