Objective
Move all 52 cards to the four foundations, building each foundation up by suit from Ace to King.
Setup (classic Yukon deal)
- There is no Stock and no Waste — all 52 cards are dealt into the tableau.
- Deal: Column 1 starts with 1 face-up card. Columns 2–7 start with 1–6 face-down cards (increasing by 1 each column), then 5 face-up cards.
- Foundations start empty.
Piles (what each area is)
- Tableau: 7 columns where most play happens.
- Foundations: four suit piles (Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs) built up from Ace → King.
Allowed moves
- Tableau builds: place the moving stack’s top card onto a tableau column if it is one rank lower and the opposite color (example: 8♥ on 9♣). Empty columns accept Kings only.
- Move stacks: you can grab any face-up card in a tableau column and move it together with all cards above it (the moved stack does not need to be internally ordered).
- Foundations: move a face-up top tableau card to its foundation if it is the same suit and one rank higher (Ace starts an empty foundation).
- From foundations: you can move the top card of a foundation back to the tableau if legal.
- Flip: after cards are moved away from a column, if the new top card is face-down it flips face-up automatically.
Controls and helpers
- Drag and drop: drag a tableau stack or a foundation top card to make a move.
- Double-click / double-tap: on a tableau column’s top card, attempts a move to the foundation (if legal).
- Undo / redo: Undo is available in the HUD and via Cmd/Ctrl+Z; Redo via Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Z (or Ctrl+Y on Windows).
- Hint: suggests a legal move when one exists.
Auto-finish
Auto-finish becomes available once all tableau cards are face-up and at least one tableau-to-foundation move is available. It then repeatedly moves available top tableau cards to foundations.
Saving and sharing
- Your progress auto-saves locally in the browser and restores if you refresh or reopen the tab.
- Use Share to copy a short link that recreates the same starting deal (seed-based).
Why is it called Yukon Solitaire?
Yukon belongs to the patience, or solitaire, family of one-player card games. It is usually described as Klondike-like because it uses seven tableau columns, four foundations, alternating-color tableau building, and Kings in empty columns.
The Yukon name shares its geographic origin with Klondike: both refer to the Yukon Territory of Canada, which became widely known during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896–1899. Card game historians note that patience game names from that era often borrowed from the gold-rush geography. The precise invention story for the Yukon variant is not as thoroughly documented as Klondike's path to global recognition through Microsoft Windows Solitaire in 1990.
Strategy tips
- Uncover Aces as the first priority. Aces start foundations. Buried Aces block you from scoring entirely — clear the cards above them first.
- Use the "move any face-up card with its pile" rule aggressively. This is Yukon's defining feature. Even a disordered pile can be repositioned if the bottom card fits the target — use this to unlock buried cards.
- Plan several moves ahead. Since there is no stock pile, every card is already somewhere in the tableau, but hidden cards still need to be uncovered. Think through chains of moves before committing.
- Use empty columns as staging areas. Temporarily parking a stack in an empty column often lets you rearrange two other columns far more efficiently.
- Don't rush cards to foundations. Sometimes you need a card back from a foundation to unblock a tableau column. Keep that option in mind rather than committing everything upward too quickly.
How is Yukon different from Klondike?
Yukon has no stock or waste pile — all 52 cards are dealt into the 7 tableau columns at the start. That does not mean every card is face-up: columns 2–7 still contain face-down cards that must be uncovered through play.
The other key difference is movement. In Yukon, you can move any face-up card together with all cards above it, even if those cards do not form a valid sequence. In Klondike, you can only move ordered alternating-color runs.
What are common Yukon variants?
Russian Solitaire is the best-known Yukon-family variant. It keeps a similar layout and movement idea, but tableau building is by suit instead of alternating color, which makes it much stricter.
Alaska is another Yukon-family game often associated with same-suit building up or down. Double Yukon and Triple Yukon are larger multi-deck versions with more tableau columns and more foundations.
Can I really move a disordered pile?
Yes. In Yukon, grabbing a face-up card picks up every card on top of it as one stack, regardless of their order. The only rule is that the bottom card of your moving stack must be one rank lower and the opposite color of the card you are placing it on.
Is every Yukon deal winnable?
No. Some Yukon deals cannot be solved regardless of how you play. Yukon removes stock-draw luck, but the initial shuffle still matters because key cards can be buried in ways that block progress.
Observed win rates vary widely depending on the rule implementation and the player group being measured. If you are completely stuck after exhausting all legal moves, starting a fresh deal is the right call.
Can I undo in Yukon Solitaire?
Yes. Unlimited undo is available via the Undo button or Cmd/Ctrl+Z. Yukon rewards careful planning, so undoing a sequence of moves to try a different approach is a normal and useful part of the game.
Sources and further reading
These references informed the rules, variant, and difficulty notes on this page.