Play Royal Cotillion Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)
Named for the ballroom dance, this two-deck patience builds eight foundations up by twos while the right wing refills itself from the waste. Wins are rare; luck runs the show.
Royal Cotillion Solitaire is a classic two-deck patience named after the cotillion, the formal French ballroom dance that opened grand balls in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The layout mirrors the dance floor: the eight foundations sit in the middle like the leading couples, flanked by a left wing and a right wing of cards waiting their turn.
The aces and twos are dealt to the foundations at the start, and both families build up by twos in suit. The left wing is a fixed reserve that's never replenished, while every gap in the right wing refills itself from the waste, so most of your decisions come down to which of two identical cards to play. The game moves quickly, with a low chance of winning, since luck decides more of the outcome than skill does.
Odd and Even Solitaire and Double Dot Solitaire are the closest relatives to this one in the catalog.
Want something more forgiving? Original Solitaire is the game to open next.
If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.
Enjoy playing!
How to play Royal Cotillion Solitaire
Layout:
8 foundation piles: The four aces and the four twos are dealt here at the start. Build up by twos in suit (A, 3, 5, ... and 2, 4, 6, ...), wrapping past the King until each pile holds 13 cards.
4 reserve piles: The left wing. Three face-up cards each; only the top card of each pile may be played, and only to the foundations. These piles are never refilled.
16 tableau piles: The right wing. One face-up card each. No building is allowed. Empty spots are automatically refilled from the waste, or from the stock when the waste is empty.
Stock: Click to flip over cards one at a time to the waste. There are no redeals.
Waste: Top card is playable.
Foundation:
There are eight foundation piles, split into two groups of four.
One ace of each suit and one two of each suit are dealt to the foundations before play begins, so every pile already has its starting card.
A card can be added to a foundation pile only if it's exactly two ranks higher and the same suit as the pile's current top card, so the only card that fits on a 5 of spades is a 7 of spades. Sequences wrap past the King, and a pile is complete once it holds 13 cards.
Reserve:
There are four reserve piles of three cards each, all dealt face-up.
Only the top card of each reserve pile is available, and it may only be played to the foundations. No cards may be moved into the reserve, and empty reserve piles stay empty, so dig through the left wing whenever you can.
Tableau:
Sixteen tableau piles of one card each, dealt face-up in a block of four rows.
No cards may be built on the tableau; each card's only destination is a foundation pile.
Whenever a tableau spot is emptied, it is immediately refilled with the top card of the waste. If the waste is empty, the refill comes from the stock instead. You may not fill spaces yourself.
Stock and waste:
There is one waste pile and the remaining 68 cards comprise the stock.
When you click on the stock, one card from the stock is dealt to the waste. There is only one pass through the stock.
The top card of the waste can be played to the foundations.
