Beetle (solitaire)
Beetle is a solitaire card game resembling Klondike, but with several key differences in setup and gameplay. It is generally considered to have a low winning percentage, making it a challenging solitaire variant.
Objective:
The objective of Beetle is to move all cards from the tableau and the stock pile onto the four foundation piles.
Setup:
- A standard 52-card deck is used.
- Tableau: Seven piles are dealt in a row, similar to Klondike. The first pile receives one card, the second two cards, and so on, up to seven cards in the seventh pile. The top card of each tableau pile is dealt face up, while the remaining cards are face down.
- Foundations: Four foundation piles are started above the tableau. These piles will be built up in suit from Ace to King.
- Stock: The remaining cards form the stock pile, placed face down to the side of the tableau.
- Waste Pile: An empty waste pile is placed next to the stock.
Gameplay:
- Building on the Tableau: Cards on the tableau are built down in alternating colors (red on black, black on red). Only the top card of a tableau pile can be moved.
- Moving Sequences: A sequence of face-up cards in the tableau can be moved as a unit to another tableau pile if the bottom card of the sequence can be placed on the top card of the destination pile.
- Empty Tableau Piles: Empty tableau piles can be filled only with a King, or a sequence of cards headed by a King.
- Foundations: Aces are moved to the foundations as they become available. Cards are then built up on the foundations in suit and in ascending rank (2, 3, 4, ..., Queen, King).
- Stock Pile: Cards are turned over from the stock pile one at a time onto the waste pile. The top card of the waste pile is available for play onto the tableau or the foundations. There is typically only one pass through the stock.
Winning:
The game is won when all cards have been moved to the four foundation piles.
Variations:
Variations of Beetle solitaire may involve different rules regarding the number of passes allowed through the stock, or the ability to move single cards to empty tableau piles.