Play Father Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)

Grandfather's two-deck cousin: four foundations climb from the aces, four count down from the kings, and empty tableau spots wait for you to fill them. 40% win rate.

A two-deck member of the Grandfather family in which half of the eight foundations are built up from the aces while the other half are torn down from the kings. Father Solitaire keeps its parent's two-card tableau piles but trims twenty of them down to twelve, and empty spaces are never refilled from the stock — you decide when and how to fill every gap yourself. You'll win about 40% of the time, moderately difficult odds that come from having to fill every empty space yourself. It is played with two decks, and your odds of victory are determined by both skill and chance.

Grandfather Solitaire is the closest relative, and Grandmother's version belongs to the same family too. Don't confuse Father with Tvete's Grandfather Solitaire — despite the name, it's a different game.

For a change of pace, classic Solitaire strips away the two-deck complexity and gets back to basics.

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

Have fun!

How to play Father Solitaire

Layout:

8 foundation piles: Four piles build up in suit from Ace to King, and the other four build down in suit from King to Ace.

12 tableau piles: Each pile can hold up to two cards, and non-empty piles only accept cards from the waste. Empty spaces are not refilled automatically. At the start of the game, each pile is dealt one card face-up.

Stock: Click to turn over 1 card to the waste. You get two passes through the stock.

Waste: The top card can be played on the foundations or tableau.

Foundation:

Foundation piles are classified into two types.

Foundation A:

Foundation A has four piles, and any ace may be moved to any vacant pile in foundation A. Each pile must begin with a distinct suit. A card can be added to a foundation A 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 9 of spades is a 10 of spades. There can be no more than 13 cards in a pile.

Foundation B:

Foundation B has four piles, and any king may be moved to any vacant pile in foundation B. Each pile must begin with a distinct suit. A card can be added to a foundation B 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 a 10 of diamonds is a 9 of diamonds. There can be no more than 13 cards in a pile.

Cards that can be played to a foundation are moved there automatically, and cards cannot be removed from any foundation once they have been placed on it.

Tableau:

Twelve tableau piles, each dealt one face-up card at the start.

Regardless of suit or rank, the top card of the waste can be added to any tableau pile that holds fewer than two cards. Cards from other tableau piles may not be placed on non-empty tableau piles.

Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card can be played onto the foundation or moved to any empty tableau pile.

Empty tableau spots are not refilled from the stock. A space stays open until you fill it yourself with the top card of the waste or an uncovered tableau card.

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.

When you click on the stock, one card from the stock is dealt to the waste. You get two passes through the stock.

The top card of the waste can be played to the tableau or foundation.