Play Courtyard Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)
Every empty column refills itself instantly from the waste, no banked spaces to save you, a two-deck Forty Thieves cousin ruled mostly by luck.
Courtyard Solitaire is a two-deck game from the Forty Thieves family and a near-twin of Busy Aces, a classic that has appeared in solitaire collections since 1939. The layout is identical: twelve tableau columns of one card each, eight foundations to fill from Ace to King, and a single pass through the stock.
The one thing Courtyard changes is what happens to empty columns. In Busy Aces you may hold a space open and fill it with any card you like; in Courtyard the space is claimed instantly — the top card of the waste slides in on its own, and when the waste is empty the stock supplies the card instead. You never get to bank a space for later, which means you lose your most powerful tool for digging out buried cards, and every column you clear turns into a small gamble.
The game is medium in difficulty. It is played with two decks, and your odds of victory are mainly determined by chance.
This game keeps company with Busy Aces Solitaire and Forty Thieves Solitaire, both cut from the same Forty Thieves cloth.
Fancy the original? Queue up the classic Solitaire instead.
If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.
Enjoy playing!
How to play Courtyard Solitaire
Layout:
8 foundation piles: Build up from Ace to King in the same suit.
12 tableau piles: Build down in the same suit. Only the top card of each pile may be moved. Spaces are automatically filled from the waste, or from the stock if the waste is empty. At the start of the game, each pile is dealt one card.
Stock: Click to flip over 1 card at a time to the waste. There are no redeals.
Waste: Top card is available for play.
Foundation:
There are eight foundation piles.
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 diamonds is a J of diamonds. 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:
Twelve tableau piles of one card each, built downward. Every card is dealt face-up.
A card can be added to a tableau pile only if it's one rank lower and the same suit as the pile's current top card, so the only card that fits on an 8 of hearts is a 7 of hearts.
Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card are free to be played onto the foundation or any other tableau pile.
Empty tableau spots are instantly filled with the top card of the waste. If the waste is empty, a card from the stock is used instead.
Only one card may be moved at a time; sequences are not permitted.
Stock and waste:
There is one waste pile, and the remaining cards make up the stock.
Click the stock to deal one card to the waste. There is only one pass through the stock.
The top card of the waste can be played to the tableau or foundation.
