Play Contradance Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)
Sixteen foundations do the work: eight climb Six to Queen, eight count down Five to Ace and a King, and luck decides your fate about 40% of the time.
Contradance Solitaire, also known as Cotillion, takes its name from the lively partner dances of the eighteenth century — and with sixteen foundations lined up in two matching rows, the table really does resemble two lines of dancers facing each other. There is no tableau at all: eight foundations build down in suit from the Fives — Five to Ace, capped with a King — while the other eight build up in suit from the Sixes to the Queens. The game is simple, and about 40% of deals end in a win; with two decks in play and so little to decide, luck ends up doing almost all the work.
All 104 cards begin in the stock. Flip them to the waste one at a time and play every Five and Six you uncover to an empty foundation, then keep feeding the piles until each downward run has been crowned with its King and each upward run has reached its Queen. Since two decks are in play, there are eight of each starter rank, so all sixteen piles must be opened and finished to win.
You get two passes through the deck: when the stock runs out, the waste is turned over and dealt through once more. A card you skip in the first round therefore gets exactly one more chance, and that redeal is usually where the game is won or lost.
Captive Queens Solitaire and Quadrille are two solitaire games that are comparable to this one.
Fancy something calmer after all those foundations? Original Solitaire is the answer.
If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.
Enjoy playing!
How to play Contradance Solitaire
Layout:
16 foundation piles: The first eight build down in suit from Five to Ace and finish with a King; the other eight build up in suit from Six to Queen. All piles start empty.
Stock: Click to flip over cards one at a time to the waste. There is one redeal.
Waste: Top card is playable.
Foundation:
Foundation piles are classified into two types.
The Fives Foundations
There are eight piles in the fives foundations. Any Five may be moved to any vacant pile. A card can be added to a fives foundation pile only if it's one rank lower and the same suit as the pile's current top card, with the ranks wrapping around so that a King follows the Ace. Each pile is therefore built Five, Four, Three, Two, Ace, King, and holds no more than six cards.
The Sixes Foundations
There are eight piles in the sixes foundations. Any Six may be moved to any vacant pile. A card can be added to a sixes 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 clubs is a J of clubs. Each pile is built from Six up to Queen and holds no more than seven cards.
Cards cannot be removed from any foundation once they have been placed on it.
Stock and waste:
The stock is made up of the complete two decks, and there is just one waste pile.
When you click on the stock, one card from the stock is dealt to the waste. When the stock is exhausted, the waste is turned over to form a new stock; you get two passes through the stock in total.
The top card of the waste is accessible for foundation play.
