Play Alexandria Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)
Deal three decks into a 13-column pyramid, fill twelve foundations, and get just one pass through the stock: a 75% win rate rewards careful planning.
Alexandria Solitaire is Thomas Warfield's three-deck version of Thieves of Egypt, itself an Egyptian-flavored member of the Forty Thieves family. The pyramid-shaped deal grows to thirteen columns — rising from one card to seven in the middle and falling back down to one — and a full dozen foundations must be completed to win.
The name suits the scale: like the ancient city's famous library, the game hoards an enormous archive of cards, with 107 of the 156 waiting in the stock. Since only a single pass through the stock is allowed, every card you unlock in the tableau before turning to the stock counts. The game is medium in difficulty, with a 75% chance of winning, and your odds here rest on a mix of skill and luck.
Similar games include Thieves of Egypt Solitaire, Forty Thieves Solitaire, King of Egypt, and Cleopatra.
When you want fewer foundations to track and a full reshuffle instead of one pass, original Solitaire delivers that simplicity.
If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.
Enjoy playing!
How to play Alexandria Solitaire
Layout:
12 foundation piles: Build up from Ace to King in the same suit.
13 tableau piles: Alternate color construction. Cards in sequence down by alternate colors can be moved as a group. Only Kings can fill empty spaces. At the start of the game, the piles are dealt one card, then two, and so on up to seven in the middle pile, then back down to a single card in the last.
Stock: Click to turn over 1 card at a time to the waste pile. There are no redeals.
Waste: The top card can be played on the foundations or tableau.
Foundation:
There are twelve foundation piles.
Any ace in the foundation may be transferred to any vacant pile.
A card can be added to a foundation pile only if it's one rank higher and the same suit as the pile's current top card, so the only card that fits on a 10 of hearts is a J of hearts. There can be no more than 13 cards in a pile.
The top card of each foundation can be moved back into play if another pile will accept it.
Tableau:
Thirteen tableau piles hold 49 cards in total, dealt in a downward fan. The first pile receives one card, and each pile after it receives one more than the last, up to seven cards in the seventh pile; from there each pile receives one fewer, down to a single card in the thirteenth. Every card is dealt face-up.
A card can be added to a tableau pile only if it's one rank lower and the opposite color of the pile's current top card, so the only cards that fit on the 8 of hearts are the 7 of spades and 7 of clubs.
Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card are free to be played onto the foundation or any other tableau pile.
Only kings may fill empty spots in the tableau.
If the cards are alternately red and black, groups of cards in succession from high to low can be shifted from one tableau column to another.
Stock and waste:
There is one waste pile, and the remaining 107 cards make up the stock.
When you click the stock, one card is dealt to the waste pile. You only get a single pass through the stock.
The top card of the waste pile can be played to the tableau or foundation.
