| A Patience game | |
 Initial layout | |
| Origin | US |
|---|---|
| Named variants | Belvedere |
| Type | Half-open packer |
| Family | Fan |
| Deck | Single 52-card |
| Playing time | 8 min [1] |
| Odds of winning | 1 in 4 [1] |
Bristol is a Patience game using a deck of 52 playing cards. [2] It is a fan-type game in the style of La Belle Lucie. It has an unusual feature of building regardless of suit on both the foundations and on the tableau; it is also one of the easiest to win. It was invented by Morehead & Mott-Smith around 1950. [3]
Eight piles (or fans) of three cards each are dealt onto the tableau. Any king that is not on the bottom of its pile is placed underneath. Then three cards are placed under these piles. These form the bases for the three reserve piles.
Whenever an ace becomes available, it becomes a foundation, on which it can be built up regardless of suit up to a King. The same is done on the three other aces.
The top card of each pile on the tableau and the top card of each reserve pile is available to be built on the foundations and around the tableau. Like the foundations, the piles on the tableau are built down regardless of suit. Only one card can be moved at a time and when a pile becomes empty, it is never filled.
Cards in the stock are dealt onto the reserve three at a time, one for each pile. In effect, gaps on the reserve are filled during the deal; therefore, when a reserve pile becomes empty, it is not filled until the next batch of three cards is dealt.
The game is won when all cards end up in the foundations. Considering that all building is done regardless of suit, the chance of achieving this is very high.
Belvedere is played exactly the same as Bristol except for one rule: an Ace is separated from the deck at the beginning of the game and immediately set up as a foundation.
Klondike, also known as Canfield, is a card game for one player and the best known and most popular version of the patience or solitaire family, as well as one of the most challenging in widespread play. It has spawned numerous variants including Batsford, Easthaven, King Albert, Thumb and Pouch, Somerset or Usk and Whitehead, as well as the American variants of the games, Agnes and Westcliff. The distinguishing feature of all variants is a triangular layout of the tableau, building in ascending sequence and packing in descending order.
Gargantua is a patience or solitaire card game that is a version of Klondike using two decks. It is also known as Double Klondike.
Canfield (US) or Demon (UK) is a patience or solitaire card game with a very low probability of winning. It is an English game first called Demon Patience and described as "the best game for one pack that has yet been invented". It was popularised in the United States in the early 20th century as a result of a story that casino owner Richard A. Canfield had turned it into a gambling game, although it may actually have been Klondike and not Demon that was played at his casino. As a result it became known as Canfield in the United States, while continuing to be called Demon Patience in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. It is closely related to Klondike, and is one of the most popular games of its type.
House in the Woods is a patience game which uses two decks of 52 playing cards. The game is basically a two-deck version of La Belle Lucie, but it borrows two things from its cousin Shamrocks, namely the building of cards up or down and the fact that there are no redeals.
Beleaguered Castle is a patience or solitaire card game played with a deck of 52 playing cards. It is sometimes described as "Freecell without cells" because its game play is somewhat akin to the popular solitaire computer game of that name but without extra empty spaces to maneuver. Beleaguered Castle is also called Laying Siege and Sham Battle.
British Square is a patience or solitaire card game which uses two decks of 52 playing cards each. It is a fan-type game in the style of La Belle Lucie. It has an unusual feature of switchback building whereby each foundation is first built up and then built down.
Crescent is a solitaire card game played with two decks of playing cards mixed together. The game is so called because when the cards are dealt properly, the resulting piles should form a large arc or a crescent. An alternative and less common name for the game is La Demi-Lune.
Tournament is a patience or solitaire card game which uses two decks of playing cards shuffled together. It is a variant of the much older game of Napoleon's Flank or Nivernaise and was first known as Maréchal Saxe.
Intelligence is a Patience game which uses two decks of playing cards mixed together. It is basically a two-deck version of another solitaire game, La Belle Lucie, and its game play is somewhat closer to the parent game than its cousins House in the Wood and House on the Hill. As the name suggests, with intelligent play good players should be able to win about half of their games.
Duchess or Glenwood is a patience or solitaire card game which uses a deck of 52 playing cards. It has all four typical features of a traditional patience or solitaire game: a tableau, a reserve, a stock or talon and a wastepile. It is relatively easy to get out. It is a reserved packer, the same type of game as Canfield or Demon. Arnold describes it as "an interesting game with a fair chance of a favourable outcome."
Heads and Tails is a solitaire card game which uses two decks of playing cards. It is mostly based on luck.
Colorado is a solitaire card game which is played using two decks of playing cards. It is a game of card building which belongs to the same family as games like Sir Tommy, Strategy, and Calculation. It is considered an easy game with 80% odds of being completed successfully.
Westcliff is the name of two closely related patience or card solitaire games of the simple packer type, both of which are played using a deck of 52 playing cards. One version is particularly easy to win, with odds of 9 in 10; the other is harder with odds closer to 1 in 4. The game has a variant, Easthaven.
Napoleon's Square is a patience or solitaire card game which uses two decks of playing cards. First described in a revised edition of Lady Cadogan's Illustrated Games of Patience or Solitaire in the early 1900s, it is an easy variation of Napoleon at St Helena. It is not determined if Napoleon actually played this game, or any solitaire game named after him.
Duchess of Luynes is a patience or card solitaire game played with two packs of playing cards. It is a member of the Sir Tommy family. A unique feature of this game is the building of the reserve, which is not used until the entire stock runs out.
The Plot is a Patience game which is played with two decks of playing cards.
Four Seasons is a patience or card solitaire which is played with a single deck of playing cards. It is also known as Corner Card and Vanishing Cross, due to the arrangement of the foundations and the tableau respectively. Another alternate name is Cross Currents.
Archway is a patience or solitaire card game of the open builder type that uses two packs of 52 playing cards. Its goal is to bring all 104 cards into the foundation. It was invented by David Parlett, and is based on an old French solitaire game called La Chatelaine.
Algerian or Algerian Patience is a unique and difficult patience or card solitaire using two decks of playing cards. The object of the game is to build 8 foundations down from King to Ace or up from Ace to King in suit.
Corona is a relatively long and difficult patience or card solitaire using two decks. The object of the game is to move all of the cards to the foundations. Successfully winning the game is considered difficult.
| Closed games |
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| Half-open games |
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| Open games |
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