Play Needle Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)

Fan a full deck into a U-shaped tableau, stash up to eighteen cards in the reserve, and out-plan Haystack, the stingier, tenser cousin, with no stock to bail you out.

Needle Solitaire is the forgiving cousin of Haystack, and the name is a wink at the old saying: you are hunting for the card you need in a haystack of forty-four. The whole deck lands on the table at once. Eight columns fan out in a shallow U shape, tapering from eight cards at the wings down to nothing in the middle and back up again, so the board looks a little like a pin cushion of face-up cards.

What makes Needle gentler than Haystack is the reserve. Instead of parking just eight cards off to the side, Needle lets the reserve hold up to eighteen, giving you far more room to shuffle awkward cards out of the way while you dig for aces. Only the reserve's top card is ever live, so the order you stack it in still matters, but the extra depth turns many dead-end Haystack deals into winnable ones.

There is no stock and no waste to bail you out; every card is visible from the first move. That openness is the appeal. With the full layout in plain sight, Needle rewards players who read the board and plan a route rather than those who simply hope for a lucky flip.

Next up: Haystack Solitaire, the tighter version this game loosens, and Athena Solitaire.

For a change of pace from all that open information, the original Solitaire hides its cards 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 Needle Solitaire

Layout:

4 foundation piles: Build up by suit from Ace to King.

9 tableau piles: Dealt in a U shape of 8, 8, 4, 2, 0, 2, 4, 8, 8 cards, all face-up. Build down in alternating colors. Empty columns may be filled with any card.

Reserve: A single reserve column, dealt eight cards face-up. Any single card may be parked here, up to eighteen cards, but only the top card can be played back out.

Foundation:

There are four foundation piles, one for each suit.

A foundation pile is started with an Ace. From there, add cards of the same suit in ascending order, so the only card that can be played on the 5 of clubs is the 6 of clubs. Each pile is complete at the King.

The top card of each foundation can be moved back into play if another pile will accept it.

Reserve:

There is one reserve column, dealt eight cards face-up to start. You may move any single card onto it at any time, and it will hold as many as eighteen cards. Only the top card of the reserve is available for play, to the tableau or a foundation, so treat the reserve as a temporary parking spot rather than a dumping ground.

Tableau:

Nine columns fan out in a shallow U, with 8, 8, 4, 2, 0, 2, 4, 8, 8 cards. 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 card that fits on the 8 of spades is a 7 of hearts or a 7 of diamonds. Only one card may be moved at a time; sequences are not permitted.

Any card may be placed in an empty column.