Play Penelope's Web Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)
Build all eight columns like Streets and Alleys, but only a King can refill an empty one, so clear space with care. This tough single-deck puzzle wins only about 10% of the time.
Penelope's Web Solitaire is Streets and Alleys with a single, punishing twist: an empty column may only be filled by a King. The name comes from Homer's Odyssey, in which Penelope promised to choose a suitor as soon as her weaving was finished — and then unpicked her work every night so that it never would be. The image fits: the layout you patiently weave together here has a way of unraveling again whenever a space opens up and no King is free to claim it.
Everything else is pure Streets and Alleys. The entire deck is dealt face-up into eight columns — four of seven cards and four of six — beneath the four foundations, and you build the columns downward without regard to suit, one card at a time, while the foundations climb from Ace to King in suit.
That one restriction changes the whole character of the game. In Streets and Alleys an empty column is a wildcard that accepts anything; here it is worthless until a King can be dug free to fill it, so clearing a column at the wrong moment can leave you with fewer options rather than more. The game is very difficult, with roughly a 10% chance of winning. It is played with a single deck, and since every card is visible from the start, your odds of winning come down mostly to skill.
Streets and Alleys Solitaire and Beleaguered Castle Solitaire take that same open-tableau idea and run with it in their own directions.
You already know classic Solitaire; it's a good place to land once the King-hunting here gets old.
If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.
Enjoy playing!
How to play Penelope's Web Solitaire
Layout:
4 foundation piles: Build up from Ace to King in the same suit. The foundations sit centered above the tableau.
8 tableau piles: Build down in any suit. Only the top card of each pile is playable, and only a King may fill an empty space. Four piles are dealt seven cards and four are dealt six, all face-up.
Foundation:
There are four foundation piles.
The foundations are begun with the Aces as they become available. 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 J of hearts is a Q of hearts.
The top card of a foundation may be moved back to the tableau if you need it.
Tableau:
Eight tableau piles of six or seven cards each, all dealt face-up.
A card can be added to a tableau pile only if it's one rank lower than the pile's current top card and of any suit, so the only cards that fit on an 8 are the four 7s.
Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card are free to be played onto the foundations or any other tableau pile.
Only a King may fill an empty space in the tableau.
Only one card may be moved at a time; sequences are not permitted.
