| A Patience | |
 Screenshot of Royal Parade (the pile, bottom left, is for discarded aces) | |
| Type | Half-open builder |
|---|---|
| Deck | Two 52-card packs |
| Playing time | 15 min [1] |
| Odds of winning | 1 in 30 [1] |
Royal Parade is an old, English, two-pack patience of the half-open builder type. The object of the game is to move cards to the foundations to create a 'gallery' full of picture cards. [2]
The rules for Royal Parade were first published in Tarbart's 1901 compendium, Games of Patience, in which a tableau of 24 cards in 3 rows is laid out; this is called the 'Parade'. Subsequently, a row of 8 depots is laid out below it. [3] Bergholt (1917) modifies the start in that the aces are only removed as they appear, creating additional spaces in the tableau, and, significantly, adds the privilege of allowing the last row dealt to be reversed if desired. He also gives hints on tactical play. [4] In the first American publication of the game, Coops (1939) gives Three-Up and Hussars as alternative names. She drops the name Parade, simply calling it the tableau, and the depots are now called the talon. [5] Phillips follows Tarbart but calls the tableau the "Grand Parade". [6] Dalton confusingly calls the tableau the lay-out, a term normally referring to all the table cards, and the depots are called the fourth row. He also includes Bergholt's privilege. [7] Morehead & Mott-Smith (1950) felt that the "urgency of getting foundations into position so far overrides all other considerations as to destroy nearly all opportunity for skill", and simply give Royal Parade as a variant of their new version of the game, known as Virginia Reel. The latter, by contrast, gives "great scope for skill". [1] More recent rules usually insist on the aces being discarded before play and omit Bergholt's privilege, both of which make the game harder to get out. The rules continue to be published and the game has continued to acquire additional secondary names such as Financier and Royal Procession. [1] [7] [8] [lower-alpha 1]
The following description is based on Tarbart, whose account is the basis for all subsequent descriptions. [3]
The eight aces are removed before the two packs are shuffled and cut. Three rows of eight cards are dealt to the tableau or "Parade". These form 24 foundations. When the patience is finished, the top row will be founded on the eight 2s which are built up in suit by threes, e.g. 2♣, 5♣, 8♣, J♣. The base cards of the middle row will be the 3s, again built up in suit by threes, e.g. 3♥, 6♥, 9♥, Q♥ The base cards of the last row are the 4s which are also built up in suit by threes, e.g. 4♠, 7♠, 10♠, K♠.
The aim is to build up in suit on the foundations of the Parade and by threes.
After the 24 cards have been dealt to the Parade, building up commences on any 2s in the top row, 3s in the middle row and 4s in the bottom row, any spaces thus created being filled by an appropriate base card (2, 3 or 4), until there are no more build options. Then 8 cards are dealt out in a row from left to right below the Parade to form eight depots. These cards become available for play either as base cards onto any spaces or to build on existing cards as before. When all available cards have been played, another row of 8 cards is dealt onto the depots, overlapping vertically any existing cards.
If the patience goes through, there will be no cards on the depots and the middle row will comprise all the queens, the top and bottom rows containing all the kings and knaves.
The two main variations that increase the chances of getting the patience out were introduced by Bergholt: [4]
Albert H. Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith created Virginia Reel as an improvement on Royal Parade with odds of 1 in 4 of getting it out. Differences include: [8]
Napoleon at St Helena is a 2-deck patience or solitaire card game for one player. It is quite difficult to win, and luck-of-the-draw is a significant factor. The Emperor Napoleon often played patience during his final exile to the island of St Helena, and this is said to be the version he probably played. Along with its variants, it is one of the most popular two-deck patiences or solitaires. The winning chances have been estimated as 1 in 10 games, with success typically dependent on the player's ability to clear one or more columns. The game is the progenitor of a large family of similar games, mostly with variations designed to make it easier to get out.
Grandfather's Clock is an easy patience or solitaire card game using a deck of 52 playing cards. Its foundation is akin to Clock Patience; but while winning the latter depends entirely on the luck of the draw, Grandfather's Clock has a strategic side, with the chances of winning being around 3 out of 4 games, especially if careful consideration is given to which cards would be released in instances where you have a choice of plays between identical cards.
Agnes is a patience or solitaire card game that emerged in England about the same time as Klondike appeared in the US. The classic version has the unusual feature of packing in colour, a feature it shares with Whitehead. By contrast, the later American variant appears to have been influenced by Klondike with packing is in alternate colours. The classic game has been described as the best single-pack patience yet invented.
Virginia Reel is a patience or card solitaire game which uses two decks of 52 playing cards mixed together. The object of the game is to place all the cards in the 24 foundations. It was created by Albert H. Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith as an improvement on the older game of Royal Parade.
Bisley is a patience or card solitaire which uses a deck of 52 playing cards, and while difficult, it often can be completed successfully. It is closely related to Baker's Dozen, but the foundations are built upwards from Ace and downwards from King simultaneously. It is one of the few one-deck games in which the player has options on which foundation a card can be placed.
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.
Big Ben is a patience or card solitaire which uses two decks of playing cards mixed together. It is named after Big Ben, the nickname of the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster in London.
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.
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.
Emperor is an English patience or solitaire card game which is played using two packs of playing cards. Although similar to other members of the large Napoleon at St Helena family, Emperor introduced the unique and distinguishing feature of worrying back as well as the novel term "sealed packet".
Queen's Audience, sometimes known as King's Audience, is a pictorial patience or solitaire card game which uses a single pack of 52 playing cards. It is so named because the Jacks and their 'entourage' end up adjacent to their respective Queens as if having an audience with them.
Deuces or Twos is a patience or card solitaire game of English origin which is played with two packs of playing cards. It is so called because each foundation starts with a Deuce, or Two. It belongs to a family of card games that includes Busy Aces, which is derived in turn from Napoleon at St Helena.
Amazons is an old patience or card solitaire game which is played with a single deck of playing cards. The game is played with a Piquet pack minus the kings or a standard 52-card pack that has its twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes, and kings removed. This game is named after the female-led tribe, the Amazons, because the queen is the highest card, and all queens are displayed if the game is won.
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.
Fortune's Favor or Fortune's Favour is a patience or card solitaire which is played with a deck of 52 playing cards. It is so-called probably because the chances of winning are completely on the player's side. It is a significantly simplified version of the game Busy Aces, a member of the Forty Thieves family of solitaire games.
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.
Batsford is a patience or card solitaire similar to Klondike except that it uses two decks instead of one. The cards are turned up one at a time during a single pass through the deck, and there is also a reserve pile available for a single King.
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