Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (4 page)

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   low
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   short
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

This is named after a mythical all-female tribe of warriors. In honor of the Amazon women, the hand in this game is won when queens appear on all four foundations. The game is easy to learn, easy to play, and moderately easy to win (odds of winning are 1 in every 5 hands).

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and remove the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, K, A of each suit, leaving twenty-four cards. Deal four tableau cards, face up.

WINNING
The object is to build four foundations by suit and in ascend ing rank (7-8-9-10-J-Q). The game is won when each of the four queens is successfully played onto its appropriate foundation pile.

HOW TO PLAY
The starting layout is as basic as it gets: four tableau cards dealt face up. If you turn up a 7, move it to the foundation directly above (unless this slot is already filled, in which case you may move the 7 to any other vacant foundation).

In Amazons, you may not move or play cards from one tableau pile to another, nor may you play a tableau card on any other foundation pile except the one directly above it. In the
example below
, you may promote 7 of diamonds from the tableau to the foundation, but you
may not
play 8 of diamonds on 7 of diamonds because the diamond foundation pile is not directly above the 8 of diamonds. Instead, you must exhaust your stock pile and hope that the 8 of diamonds is later turned up in the diamonds column.

After completing your moves, deal four more cards from the stock to the tab leau, and make as many moves as your cards allow. In the example below, 7 of clubs is turned up in the second tableau pile; since its foundation slot is already occupied, move 7 of clubs to any other vacant foundation slot. (This is the only time you are allowed to ignore the rule about playing tableau cards only to the foun dation piles directly above them.) In this case the obvious move is above 8 of clubs, which you may now move up to the foundation directly above it.

Note that you may only ever play the topmost tableau card. If a card you need becomes buried in a tableau pile, all you can do is wait and hope it will turn up.

Once you exhaust the stock, create a new pile by taking up the four tableau piles from left to right and turning them face down. Do not reshuffle. You may deal and redeal as many times as necessary until the game is either won or lost.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   high
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   long
   
3. DECKS
   : 2
   

The odds of winning Archway are less than 1 in 100 games. For some, this is reason enough to skip this two-deck monster. For the rest of you, Archway is a true Solitaire challenge requiring an equal mix of both skill and luck.

HOW TO DEAL
Start with two fifty-two-card decks (104 cards total). Take one ace from each suit and one king from each suit—these will become part of your eight foundations—and place them at the bottom of your tableau.

Next, deal four piles (twelve cards per pile) face down in the center of the table, and turn up the top card of each pile. This is your tableau.

Finally, deal the remaining cards into thirteen piles organized by rank. For example, deal all aces into a pile, all 2s, all 3s, etc. These thirteen piles are your
reserve
and should be arranged in the shape of an arch around your tableau, like so:

WINNING
The object is to move all tableau and reserve cards onto the eight foundation piles, organized by suit and by rank. On the aces, build in ascending rank (X of diamonds-2 of hearts-3 of hearts…J of diamonds-Q of hearts-K of hearts), while on the kings, build in descending rank (K of clubs-Q of clubs-J of clubs…3 of clubs-2 of clubs-A of clubs).

HOW TO PLAY
Once dealt, Archway is simple to play. Move tableau and reserve cards onto your foundations as appropriate. There are only a few restrictions.

Only the top tableau and reserve cards may be played. If a card you need is buried deeply in a tableau or reserve pile, you must wait until all those suffocating cards on top are played.

There is no building. You may not, for example, move a card from a reserve pile onto another reserve pile or onto a tableau pile. Cards may be moved only onto the foundations.

The lone exception to this rule is if there’s a vacant spot on the tableau or reserves, in which case you may move the top card from any other tableau or reserve pile into the vacant spot. Tableau cards can be dealt to a vacant reserve spot, and vice versa.

The game ends when you successfully build all eight foundations or exhaust your reserves and run out of moves.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   high
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   short
   
3. DECKS
   : 1