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Stages takes Busy Aces' two-deck grind and lets whole same-suit runs move as one, turning a stiff climb toward eight wrap-around foundations into a friendlier game.
Stages Solitaire is a two-deck game that grew out of Busy Aces, and it keeps almost everything about its parent while quietly loosening the one rule that makes Busy Aces stiff. In both games you spread the cards across a wide row of columns and build them down by suit toward eight foundations. The difference is that Stages lets you pick up an ordered same-suit run and move it as a single unit, where Busy Aces would force you to move the cards one at a time.
That extra freedom is what earns Stages its reputation as the friendlier of the two. Because you can relocate a whole run, cards that were trapped under a matching sequence become reachable, and long chains you have carefully built stay intact when you shift them. The tableau breathes a little easier, and more deals resolve in your favor.
The rest is comfortable and familiar. Two decks feed twelve short columns, the eight foundations climb from Ace and wrap past King back to Ace, and a single deal from the stock to the waste gives you one last look at the cards you have not yet placed. It is a game of tidy planning, where recognizing which run to move first is the whole art.
Busy Aces Solitaire and Forty Thieves Solitaire are solitaire games comparable to this one.
Stages fans owe it to themselves to see where the whole idea began, in original Solitaire.
If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.
Enjoy playing!
How to play Stages Solitaire
Layout:
8 foundation piles: Build up by suit, wrapping from King back to Ace, until every card of the suit is home. Cards are collected automatically when a legal play is available.
12 tableau piles: Each pile starts with a single face-up card. Build down by suit, and move ordered same-suit runs as a group.
Stock: Deal one card at a time to the waste. There is a single pass with no redeals.
Waste: The top card of the waste is playable.
Foundation:
There are eight foundation piles, dealt with two full decks.
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, wrapping from King around to Ace to gather the whole suit, so the only card that fits on the 7 of hearts is the 8 of hearts.
Cards are moved to the foundations automatically whenever a legal play appears, and they cannot be taken back once placed.
Tableau:
Twelve tableau piles are dealt one face-up card each. There are no face-down cards.
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 the 8 of spades is the 7 of spades.
An ordered descending run of a single suit may be moved together from one pile to another, which is the rule that sets Stages apart from Busy Aces. Any exposed card or run may also be played onto the foundations.
Empty tableau columns may be filled with any available card or run.
Stock and waste:
The remaining cards after the deal make up the stock, with a single waste pile beside it.
When you click on the stock, one card is dealt to the waste. You only get one pass through the stock, with no reshuffle.
The top card of the waste can be played to any tableau pile or foundation.
