Russian Solitaire
Play Russian Solitaire free online with all 52 cards in seven columns and no draw pile. Your task is to uncover the hidden cards and move the entire deck to four suit piles, called foundations. In the columns, build downward within one suit; a face-up card can carry the whole group attached to it, even when that group is out of order.
The game above needs no download or account. Take your time, ask for a Hint, or use Undo to try another move.
How to play Russian Solitaire
Start by looking for an exposed Ace and a group you can move to reveal a hidden card. Every card is already on the table. There is no stock, waste or redeal to bring in another option, so progress comes from making the cards in the columns accessible.
- Build the columns down in suit. Put a Queen of hearts on a King of hearts, then a Jack of hearts on that Queen. A matching color alone is not enough.
- Move attached cards together. Choose any face-up card with a legal destination. Every card overlapping it toward the end of the column comes along, whatever its rank or suit.
- Uncover the hidden cards. When the last face-up group leaves a hidden card uncovered, that card turns over automatically.
- Send single cards to the foundations. Start each foundation with an Ace and add the remaining ranks of its suit through King. Move all 52 cards there to win.
What is in the starting layout?
From left to right, the seven columns contain 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 cards. The first column has just one face-up card. Each of the other six has five face-up cards, with one to six hidden cards behind them. In total, you start with 31 visible and 21 hidden cards.
Match the suit, not just the color
For a move onto another column, compare the card you select with the exposed card you want to place it on. The receiving card must be one rank higher and exactly the same suit. A 6 of spades needs the 7 of spades. The 7 of clubs is not a substitute, even though both suits are black.
The selected card decides where a group can go
Notice what happens afterward: the 9 of diamonds is now the exposed end card. The King and Queen are covered. A legal group move may uncover something useful in its old column while blocking a card in its new one.
Empty columns and foundation piles
Only a King can fill an empty column. It may arrive alone or bring an attached group. A lower card cannot use that space, even briefly.
The four foundations have a different job: collect the suits in ascending order, Ace, 2, 3 and onward to King. Only the exposed end card of a column can go to a foundation. You cannot move a group there or add a card through the cards covering it.
There is no direct move back from a foundation on this board. If you still need a card in the columns, use Undo to reverse the move that sent it up.
Find the card that your next move needs
Suppose a face-up 6 of spades covers a hidden card. Moving its group would uncover that card, but first you need the 7 of spades free at the end of another column. If the 7 is covered, inspect what is covering it and work backward from there. This gives each move a purpose: opening a receiving card, uncovering information, or reaching a foundation card.
Five checks before moving a group
You do not have to plan the entire deal at once. Follow one short route, then inspect the new position.
- Locate the exact receiving card. For each non-King you hope to move, look for the next higher card of its suit and the cards blocking it.
- Inspect both ends of the move. What becomes exposed where the group leaves, and which useful card will it cover where it lands?
- Make a space for a reachable King. Moving a King with attached cards can release a hidden card elsewhere; an empty column cannot hold a lower card temporarily.
- Check the next lower card before using a foundation. A 7 of spades on a foundation can no longer receive the 6 of spades in the columns. Undo lets you reconsider that choice.
- When progress stops, use Undo to revisit a decision. Moving the same group back and forth does not uncover anything new.
Help with your current deal
- Choose where a card goes
- Drag a face-up card to its destination. For a group, begin on the card you want to select, rather than the last card in the column.
- Tap instead of dragging
- With 1-Tap Move enabled in Settings, a tap lets the game choose a legal move. To pick the destination yourself with two taps, switch that setting off, tap your card, then tap its target.
- Undo and Hint
- Undo takes back your previous move, including any card it turned over. Hint suggests a continuation; its search has a limit, so a suggestion alone does not promise a win.
- Restart and New Game
- Choose Restart from the game menu to deal the same cards again. Choose New Game when you want a different arrangement.
- Make the cards easier to read
- Open Settings to adjust the available card and display options. Sound can also be turned off there.
Will my unfinished game be kept?
The browser can keep your Russian Solitaire position on this device if local storage is available. Return using the same browser. Deleting site data removes the saved game, and a private session may discard it when you close it.
Watch how to play Russian Solitaire
Follow the seven-column deal, same-suit building, mixed-group moves and King-only spaces.
Duration: 1 minute 27 seconds.
In this video
The video ends with a historical solver result. Its 7% figure describes a particular study, not your personal chance of winning. The questions below explain that limit.
Russian Solitaire and Yukon: the rule that changes
Yukon Solitaire uses the same seven-column deal and allows the same mixed-group moves. Its columns alternate colors, so a black 6 can land on either red 7. Russian requires the matching suit instead, leaving just one possible receiving card for that 6. Alaska Solitaire also matches suits, but permits a move one rank higher or lower; Russian builds downward only.
If you prefer having a draw pile, classic Solitaire offers that option. Russian instead makes you find your next opportunity within the existing columns.
Russian Solitaire questions
Can I move a group that is not in sequence?
Yes. Select any face-up column card and take every card attached below it toward the exposed end. Those attached cards can be mixed. The selected card must still fit the destination: one rank lower in the same suit, or a King if the destination is empty.
Why does a move work in Yukon but not in Russian Solitaire?
Yukon asks for the opposite color. Russian asks for the same suit. For example, the 6 of spades can go on the 7 of hearts in Yukon, but needs the 7 of spades here. The receiving card must also be exposed at the end of a different column.
What can I put in an empty column?
A King, either by itself or carrying the cards attached to it. No other rank can start a column. Once a King occupies that space, its Queen can be added only when the King is exposed and the Queen has the same suit.
Is Russian Solitaire always winnable?
No. The board starts with a random deal, without a promise of a solution. The historical solver study quoted in the video found winning routes for about 7% of 2,000 deals with perfect information. That figure belongs to that sample and method; it is not a measured player win rate or a prediction of your next result. See the win-rate study for the distinction.
Does a hint guarantee that I can finish?
Only a complete winning route establishes a solution. Hint searches within a limit and may first display an immediate or previously found suggestion. If a winning route is found, hints can follow it. If the search stops without one, it has not necessarily proved the position impossible.
Can I bring a foundation card back into a column?
This board does not allow direct moves from a foundation back to a column. Use Undo to return to the position before the foundation move. If you made more moves afterward, step back through those first.
Try to reveal one hidden card
Choose the first face-up card in a column that still has hidden cards. If it is a King, look for an empty column. For any other rank, find the next higher card of the same suit, exposed in another column.
Move that card and its attached group to reveal the hidden card beneath. If no legal destination is available, try a different column or look for a move that frees the destination you need.
