Play Variegated Canfield Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)

All eight Aces start on the foundations, so Variegated Canfield skips the classic guessing game. Two decks, alternating-color tableau, moderate difficulty mixing skill and luck.

Variegated Canfield Solitaire is a two-deck take on Canfield that removes the variant's famous guesswork: instead of a random card deciding where the foundations begin, all eight Aces are placed on them before play starts. The name fits: "variegated" means many-colored, and the five tableau piles are built in strictly alternating reds and blacks.

The real opponent is the reserve. Thirteen cards sit beside the tableau, and only the top one is in play. Every time you empty a tableau pile, the space is refilled from the reserve automatically, so opening columns is the fastest way to work through it. The stock deals three cards at a time, and you get three passes through it.

The game is moderately difficult. It's played with two decks, and your odds come down to a mix of skill and luck, knowing when to clear a column matters more than any single card.

Next up: Canfield Solitaire, the single-deck original, and Double Canfield Solitaire, its other two-deck sibling.

For a change of pace, Solitaire strips all of this back to the basics.

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

Enjoy playing!

How to play Variegated Canfield Solitaire

Layout:

8 foundation piles: Build up in suit from Ace to King. The eight Aces are dealt here at the start of the game.

5 tableau piles: Build down in alternating colors. Each pile is dealt one card at the start, and empty spaces are refilled automatically from the reserve.

Reserve: 13 cards, only the top card face-up. The top card is playable to the tableau or foundations.

Stock: Click to deal three cards at a time to the waste. Three passes through the stock are allowed.

Waste: Top card is playable.

Foundation:

There are eight foundation piles.

Each pile starts with an Ace. 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 an 8 of hearts is a 9 of hearts. A pile is complete when it reaches the King, 13 cards in all.

Cards that fit are moved to the foundations automatically. The top card of each foundation can be moved back into play if another pile will accept it.

Reserve:

There is one reserve pile, which originally contains thirteen cards. Only the top card is dealt face-up; the rest lie face-down beneath it. There are no cards that may be moved into the reserve.

The reserve's top card can be played to the foundations or the tableau, and it jumps out on its own whenever a tableau pile becomes empty.

Tableau:

Five tableau piles of one card each, all 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 cards that fit on an 8 of spades are the red 7s. Face-up cards that form an alternating-color sequence may be moved together.

Empty tableau spots are immediately filled with the top card of the reserve. Once the reserve is exhausted, any card may occupy a vacant spot.

Stock and waste:

There is one waste pile, and the remaining seventy-eight cards comprise the stock.

When you click on the stock, three cards are dealt to the waste at once. Three passes through the stock are allowed.

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