Yukon Solitaire

About Yukon Solitaire

Solitaire, particularly the most widely played Klondike version, has a lot of cousins. The game is so popular that alternative versions were created, partly to cash in on the success of the original and mostly to satisfy fans' thirst for the game. Of all the various relations, Yukon Solitaire is one of the closest - I guess in family terms, Yukon is like a first cousin, one that is more like a brother or sister than a relative only seen at family gatherings.

The closeness between the two games has a lot to do with the way Yukon is set-up and played.

Card layout

As with many versions of Solitaire, the end goal is the same: to successfully move all cards from the layout to the foundations.

To anyone that has played Klondike, the card layout of Yukon Solitaire will be very familiar. Seven columns of overlapping cards are laid out, the first column containing one card, the second column two cards and so on. Each column has the top card face-up while the rest settle face-down. From here, the layout differs from Klondike.

Instead of the remaining 24 cards being placed into a stock pile, four cards are added to each column (barring the leftmost card), each of which is face-up and overlapping.

Playing the game

As the player it is your job to remove move the cards from the columns and place them according to suit and in sequence in the vacant foundations. In Yukon Solitaire it is possible to move groups of cards between columns as well as single cards, even if they aren't in order of sequence. However, in the column that you choose to move a group of cards to, the exposed card must be higher by one number and of an alternate color.

Once a face-down card is exposed in any column it can be turned face-up and be eligible for play. The fact that cards can be moved in groups does not make the task of completing the game easier and having no stock to fall back on definitely makes winning much more of a challenge.

Your first task will be to expose the ace cards and move them to the foundations; from here you can work through each suit until all suits are complete. When moves between columns and foundations are no longer possible, a game is over.

Yukon Solitaire is a game of considerable thought and skill, as well as the obligatory slice of luck. If you like a bit of a challenge in your game of Solitaire, this is the game for you!