Instructions

Solitary Aces is a solitaire game often called Aces Up.

Goal

The goal of Solitary Aces is to remove all the cards except for the four aces. Only cards that have a lower value than another card with the same suit can be removed. Aces are high.

Layout

The layout consists of four foundations (at the top) and one stack (left).

Playing

Cards are dealt four at a time from the stock, one to each foundation. If two or more of the top cards match suit, throw out all but the highest card of that suit. Any card can be moved to an empty foundation.

You can use the gizmos to help when you get stuck. The first one swaps the order of two cards. The second one removes a card (not aces though). The number of gizmos available and the number replenished each hand depends on the difficulty level.

Scoring

• Each card removed scores four points.
  
• Each time you undo a move, it will reduce the score by one point.
  
• There is a bonus for completing the solitaire hand quickly.
  
• The score is carried over to the next hand if you remove all 48 cards.

Options

The option window enables you to change several of the game settings. This window is displayed the first time you start the game and whenever you press the options button.

• The deck can be changed.
  
• The difficulty can be changed. The easier the game, the more gizmos available.
  
• Hints can be disabled. With hints disabled, the computer will not enforce the rule that requires all possible cards to be removed before more cards are dealt.
  
• Autoplay can be disabled. With autoplay on, cards will be removed automatically.
  

Gameplay Tips

Leave one or more empty spaces available so that you can move cards that then can be removed immediately.

Terms

Wikipedia has a great description of many common solitaire terminology. Some of them are repeated here to better explain this game.

Stock

A pile of cards, face down, which are left over after setting up the other layout areas. These can be turned over into the waste, usually one-by-one, but sometimes in groups of two or three, when the player wishes.

Waste

The area where the cards from the stock go when they are brought into play. Only cards from the stock can be played to the waste. Only the topmost card is available for play.

Foundation

The aim of many solitaire games is to clear the tableau and move all the cards to the foundations. Usually they are built up by suit from Ace to King, but some games have different rules. Usually only thirteen cards are allowed in each foundation.

Cards

The cards are derived from David Bellot's SVG-Cards at SVG-Cards.