Games of patience, or (card) solitaires as they are usually called in North America, have their own 'language' of specialised terms such as "building down", "packing", "foundations", "talon" and "tableau". Once learnt they are helpful in describing, succinctly and accurately, how the games are played. Patience games are usually for a single player, although a small number have been designed for two and, in rare cases, three or even four players. They are games of skill or chance or a combination of the two. There are three classes of patience grouped by object.
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, something which "defies explanation" as it has one of the lowest rates of success of any such game. Partly because of that, 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.
Pyramid is a patience or solitaire game of the Simple Addition family, where the object is to get all the cards from the pyramid to the foundation.
Monte Carlo is a pair-matching patience card game where the object is to remove pairs from the tableau. Despite its name, it has no relation to the city with the same name nor to any casino-related game. Alternative names for this game include Good Neighbors and Weddings.
Gargantua is a patience or solitaire card game that is a version of Klondike using two decks. It is also known as Double Klondike and as Jumbo.
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.
Quadrille is the name of two loosely related card games of the Patience or solitaire type which are often confused. Both use a pack of 52 playing cards. The earlier one was also known as La Française or Royal Quadrille, the slightly later one as Captive Queens. The name is derived from the desired end result of the earlier game in which the four Kings and Queens are arranged in a square formation as in the European dance of quadrille that was fashionable in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Baroness is a patience or card solitaire that is played with a single deck of 52 playing cards. It is similar to other members of the Simple Addition family and is also distantly related to Aces Up.
Rouge et Noir is a patience card game which is played using two decks of playing cards. It is a unique game where two types of building are done in the same game.
Imaginary Thirteen is a solitaire card game which is played with two decks of playing cards. Its gameplay makes it a two-deck version of Calculation and its name is taken from the fact that when a sum is over thirteen, thirteen is subtracted to get the value of the next card, with spot cards worth their face value, jacks eleven, queens twelve, and kings thirteen.
Elevens is a patience or card solitaire of the Simple Addition family that uses a standard 52-card deck, with the goal of removing pairs of cards that add to eleven. Odds of winning are slightly better than 1 in 10.
Patience (Europe), card solitaire or solitaire (US/Canada), is a genre of card games whose common feature is that the aim is to arrange the cards in some systematic order or, in a few cases, to pair them off in order to discard them. Most are intended for play by a single player, but there are also "excellent games of patience for two or more players".
German Rummy or Rommé is the most popular form of the worldwide game, Rummy, played in Austria and Germany. It is a game for 2 to 6 players and is played with two packs of French playing cards, each comprising 52 cards and 3 jokers. There are no partnerships. In Germany, the Germany Rummy Association is the umbrella organisation for local rummy clubs and organises national competitions. The game is often just known as Rommé in Germany and Rummy in Austria.
Travellers is a card game of the patience or card solitaire genre which uses a single card pack of either 52 or 32 playing cards. It is an interesting game based on "an entirely new principle" which Parlett describes as a "rhythmical feature that might be called 'shuttling'", as in the game of Weavers. It should not be confused with the twin-pack patience game, also called Travellers.
Hope Deferred is a simple game of patience, played with a French-suited Piquet pack of 32 cards. The aim of the game is to get rid of all the Clubs from the pack.
Quadrat ("Square") or Viereck ("Rectangle") is a simple, German patience game, which is played with a French pack of 32 or 52 cards. Zudecken ("Covering") is a very similar patience with slightly altered rules.
Good Thirteen is a simple, German patience game for one person, played using a French pack of 52 playing cards. It also goes under the name Thirteens.
Birthday is a simple, German patience game, which is played with a French pack of 52 cards.
Little Lots is a patience game and one of the most popular and widespread card games in the world.
Counting Patience is a simple patience game that can be played with a French Skat pack of 32 cards or a standard French pack of 52 cards.
