How to Play Yukon Solitaire — Rules & Strategy Guide

What Is Yukon Solitaire?

Yukon Solitaire is a single-deck card game that takes the familiar Klondike foundation-building framework and removes the stock pile entirely. All 52 cards are dealt to the tableau at the start, and many of them are face-up — but the real twist is group moves. In Yukon, you can pick up and move any face-up card along with every card on top of it, regardless of whether those cards form an ordered sequence. This single rule change turns Yukon into a deeply strategic and highly replayable game.

Yukon was designed as a more skill-intensive alternative to Klondike. With no stock to fall back on, every decision in the tableau matters, and victory depends on your ability to uncover hidden cards and build efficient sequences to the foundations.

How Yukon Differs from Klondike

If you already know Klondike (classic solitaire), understanding Yukon is straightforward — it’s the same goal with two fundamental differences:

The lack of a stock makes Yukon feel more decisive — there’s no deck to cycle through for a lucky draw. Everything you need is already on the table.

How to Set Up Yukon Solitaire

Yukon uses a single standard 52-card deck. The tableau consists of 7 columns and 4 foundations:

1. Column 1 receives 1 card, dealt face-up.
2. Columns 2–7 are dealt like Klondike: column 2 gets 2 cards, column 3 gets 3, and so on up to column 7 with 7 cards. In each column, only the top card is face-up and the rest are face-down — just as in Klondike. This uses 28 cards.
3. Deal the remaining 24 cards face-up across columns 2 through 7, placing 4 additional face-up cards on top of each column.

After the deal:

• Column 1 has 1 face-up card.
• Column 2 has 1 face-down + 1 face-up (Klondike portion) + 4 face-up = 6 cards total.
• Column 3 has 2 face-down + 1 face-up + 4 face-up = 7 cards total.
• Column 7 has 6 face-down + 1 face-up + 4 face-up = 11 cards total.
• Total face-down cards: 21 (1+2+3+4+5+6 in columns 2–7).
• Total face-up cards: 31.

The four foundation piles start empty above the tableau.

Rules of Yukon Solitaire

Objective

Move all 52 cards to the four foundations, building each one in suit from Ace to King.

Tableau Building Rules

• Cards are placed on tableau columns in descending rank and alternating colour, just like Klondike. A black 9 can go on a red 10, a red Queen on a black King, etc.
• Only Kings (or groups led by a King) may be placed in empty columns.

The Group Move Rule

This is what makes Yukon unique. You may pick up any face-up card in a column along with all cards on top of it and move the entire group to another column, provided the bottom card of the group can legally be placed on the destination card (correct rank and alternating colour).

The cards being moved do not need to be in sequence. For example, imagine a column with a face-up red 7 buried under a black 3, a red Jack, and a black 5. You can grab the red 7 and drag the 3, Jack, and 5 along with it, placing the whole group onto a black 8. The unordered cards above the 7 simply come along for the ride.

This rule is powerful because it lets you uncover face-down cards that would be locked in Klondike. Mastering group moves is the key to mastering Yukon.

Foundation Building

• Build each foundation in suit, ascending from Ace to King: A♠, 2♠, 3♠ … K♠.
• Cards can typically be moved back from the foundations to the tableau if needed, depending on the implementation.

Flipping Face-Down Cards

Whenever the top card of a column is face-down (because all face-up cards have been moved away), it is automatically flipped face-up and becomes available for play.

Strategy for Uncovering Face-Down Cards

The 21 face-down cards are the primary obstacle in Yukon. Every strategic decision should ultimately serve the goal of revealing them. Here are the most effective approaches:

1. Target Columns with the Most Face-Down Cards

Columns 6 and 7 have the most hidden cards (5 and 6 face-down, respectively). Prioritise moves that peel away face-up cards from these deep columns, even if it means making seemingly inefficient group moves.

2. Move Groups Aggressively

Don’t be afraid to make large, messy group moves. Moving a face-up card and its unordered stack to another column is worthwhile if it exposes a face-down card. You can reorganise later — uncovering hidden information is more valuable than maintaining neat sequences early on.

3. Don’t Fixate on Foundations Early

It’s tempting to send Aces and Twos to the foundations immediately, but in Yukon those low cards might be useful for intermediate moves in the tableau. Build foundations when it doesn’t compromise your ability to uncover hidden cards.

4. Plan Two or Three Moves Ahead

Yukon rewards forward thinking more than almost any other solitaire variant. Before making a move, think about what it enables. A move that flips a face-down card is good; a move that flips a card and creates a new opportunity to flip another card is excellent.

Creating and Using Empty Columns

An empty column in Yukon is a powerful strategic asset — but only Kings can fill them. That means:

• Creating empty columns is valuable because it gives you a place to relocate Kings and their groups, opening up other columns.
• Don’t empty a column unless you have a King ready to fill it, or unless doing so uncovers a critical face-down card.
• Multiple empty columns can chain together — move a King to the first empty column to free space, then use the newly freed space for further reorganisation.

Empty columns function similarly to free cells in FreeCell: they expand your maneuvering room. The more empty columns you have (with Kings to fill them), the more complex group rearrangements you can execute.

Win Rate

Yukon Solitaire has an estimated win rate of roughly 25% with skilled play. This makes it harder than standard Klondike (1-card draw, ~30%) and significantly harder than FreeCell (~99.999%). However, unlike some very difficult solitaire variants, Yukon is winnable often enough to feel rewarding and keep you engaged.

The relatively low win rate means that losing is a normal part of the experience. If you win one in every four games, you’re playing well.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Sending cards to foundations too early. That Ace or 2 might be needed as a stepping stone for a group move.
• Ignoring face-down cards in deep columns. If you’re only working with columns 1–4 and haven’t touched columns 6–7, you’re likely headed for trouble.
• Filling empty columns without a plan. Dropping a King into an empty column is permanent — make sure it’s the right King.
• Making moves that don’t uncover anything. Every move should either flip a face-down card, build toward the foundation, or set up a subsequent move that does one of those things.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I move any face-up card in a column?

Yes, as long as the bottom card of the group you’re moving can legally be placed on the destination column (one rank lower, opposite colour). All cards above the selected card move with it, regardless of their order.

What if there are no valid moves?

If no move is available and no face-down cards can be flipped, the game is lost. There is no stock to draw from in Yukon.

Can any card go into an empty column?

No. Only a King (or a group led by a King) can be placed in an empty tableau column.

Is Yukon harder than Klondike?

Generally, yes. The lack of a stock pile means you have fewer fallback options. However, the group-move rule gives you more tactical flexibility, so Yukon is harder but also more skill-rewarding.

How long does a game of Yukon take?

Games typically last 10 to 20 minutes. Yukon requires more deliberate planning than faster variants like TriPeaks or Golf, so rounds take longer on average.

Can I move cards back from the foundations?

In most implementations, yes. Moving a card back from the foundation to the tableau is allowed and sometimes strategically important — especially for intermediate group moves.

Yukon Solitaire is a demanding, deeply satisfying solitaire variant for players who want more control and less luck. Focus relentlessly on uncovering face-down cards, use group moves creatively, and treat empty columns as strategic assets. With practice, the one-in-four win rate climbs steadily.