Play Cromwell Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)

Deal two decks into twenty-six four-card fans, all face up, and pick apart sequences before you run out of room. Empty a fan and it's gone for good.

Cromwell Solitaire is what happens when the old fan games are scaled up to their limit. Two full decks are dealt face up into twenty-six fans of four cards each — every one of the 104 cards is on the table before you touch a thing. There is no stock, no waste, and no redeal; the game is a completely open puzzle from the first move to the last.

The building rules are strict to match. Fans build down in suit, and a descending same-suit sequence may be picked up and moved as a single unit, but an emptied fan can never be refilled — every fan you dismantle permanently shrinks your working surface. Deciding which fans to sacrifice, and when, is the heart of the game.

The game is difficult, but since nothing is hidden, careful planning is rewarded. That's why permanently losing a fan matters so much — with two decks in play, skill decides more of your outcome than luck does.

Forty Thieves Solitaire shares that two-deck scale, while Bristol Solitaire is another fan-based game built on the same idea.

You know the classic Solitaire already — it's never a bad time to go back to it.

If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.

Enjoy playing!

How to play Cromwell Solitaire

Layout:

8 foundation piles: Build up in suit from Ace to King.

26 tableau piles: Build down in suit. Descending same-suit sequences may be moved together, and empty spaces may not be filled. Each pile is dealt four cards at the start of the game.

Foundation:

There are eight foundation piles — with two decks in play, each suit is built twice.

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 an 8 of spades is a 9 of spades. 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:

Twenty-six tableau piles of four cards each, fanned 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 spades is a 7 of spades.

Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card are free to be played onto the foundation or any other tableau pile. A descending sequence of cards in the same suit may be picked up and moved as a single unit.

The tableau's empty spaces may not be filled — once a fan is gone, it is gone for good.