How to Play Solitaire Turn 3

Objective

Arrange all of the cards into four foundation piles, one for each suit, ascending from Ace to King. Stack cards of opposite colors in descending order to help arrange the tableau and flip over face-down cards.

Solitaire Turn 3 Setup

There are four main areas in a game of solitaire:

• Tableau: This area consists of seven columns of 28 cards, 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.
• Stock pile: The remaining cards, or 24 in total, go here and are then dealt into the waste pile 3 at a time.
• Waste pile: If cards from the stock pile are not used, they are placed into a waste pile. The top card of the waste pile can be played into the foundation or tableau if allowed. Once all cards are turned over, the remaining cards in the waste pile that haven't been moved to either the tableau or foundation can be redrawn from the stock pile in the same order.
• Foundation: These are 4 piles where you aim to move playable cards in order from Ace to King by suit. Successfully placing all 52 cards in the foundation win the game.

Rules

• Only face-up cards can be moved. Cards that are face down are unavailable to move. Reveal them by moving face-up cards above them to other tableau areas.
• A card can be moved on top of another card if they are of the opposite color and one rank lower. For example, a Queen of Spades can be played on a King of Hearts or Diamonds, but not on a King of Clubs or any card that has a lower ranking.
• Only Kings can move into empty columns. If a column is empty, no cards can be placed there other than a King.
• Moving cards from the stock pile to the waste: You can move cards from stock to the waste pile. When the stock runs out, you can click and refill the stock pile again from the waste cards.
• Moving cards from waste to tableau: Cards are move 3 at a time from the stock pile into the waste pile. You can move the top card of the waste card to the tableau if it is an allowed move: either one rank down and of opposite suit, or a King to an empty column.
• Moving tableau cards from column to column: Individual or stacks of sequenced cards in the tableau can be moved on top of a card of the opposite color and higher rank.
• Moving cards to the foundation: Move cards to the foundation when available. The foundation piles must be started with an Ace first and then built using the same suit. For example, if an Ace of Spades is placed on a foundation pile, the only card that can go on top is a 2 of Spades, and then a 3 of Spades, until the full stack through King of Spades is built.

Strategies

• Try to reveal cards in the larger tableau columns first. The last two columns in the tableau have 11 cards unrevealed. Many of these cards may be important to sequence and solve the game. It's important to focus on revealing these cards first if possible, as the shorter tableau columns have fewer cards and therefore are easier to surface.
• Turn over the first card from the stock pile when starting. You want to make as many moves as possible within the tableau to start the game. However, you should consider the first card in the stock pile as part of your option set to make your initial moves. For example, you may find that the first card from the stock pile can create a sequence, which can then help reveal another card.
• Pull from the foundation if needed. If you're stuck, see if pulling down a card from the foundation lets you make another move on the tableau.
• Look to clear a tableau column when you have a King available. Only Kings can be moved to an empty tableau column which can help free up cards.
• Use the hint button. You can use our hint button to help you identify which cards to move or our undo button to try different moves. Lastly, you can also always start a new winnable or random game at any time.

How Difficult is it to Win?

Solitaire Turn 3 is considered medium in difficulty. We looked at 1,429,916 random games played. Of those games, 158,382 were won, or 11.1%. Turn 3 is a harder game than Turn 1 , which has a 33.0% win rate, as you can only play every third card from the stock pile into the game. 

Other popular Solitaire Games

• Spider Solitaire - Play with 1, 2, or 4 suits and arrange cards into 8 foundations that represent the 8 legs of a spider.
• FreeCell - Use 4 open cells where you can place any card as you organize a tableau of face-up cards.
• Pyramid Solitaire - Cards are organized in a pyramid shape, and you remove cards by pairing ones that add to 13.
• TriPeaks - Clear cards in a tableau shaped as three triangles by matching cards that are one rank higher or lower than waste pile cards.
• Crescent Solitaire - Place cards in two types of foundations: one where you organize cards in ascending order and another in descending order.
• Golf Solitaire - Clear cards from a face-up tableau by matching ones that are one rank higher or lower than the waste pile card.
• Forty Thieves - A two-deck game where cards can only be moved one at a time and sequenced by suit.

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