Golf Solitaire

How to play Golf Solitaire

Golf Solitaire is the two-minute card game that hides inside a full deck. All fifty-two cards are dealt into seven columns of five; you may only play the bottom card of a column, and you may only play it on a card of the same rank. Suits mean nothing here. Empty the board and you win, and a single click sends a fresh card back from the stock when you are stuck.

At a glance

Golf Solitaire is a quick card game: move cards onto the waste pile by rank, one above or below, to clear the tableau.

Game type

Card game

Players

Single player

Pieces

52 cards

Best for

Quick sessions

• Fifty-two cards are dealt into seven columns of five cards each, face up. The remaining cards sit in the stock at the top left.
• Click the bottom card of a column to pick it up. Only the bottom card of a column can ever be played — that restriction is what makes golf golf.
• Click a card of the same rank in any other column to pair them and remove both. Kings pair with kings, fives with fives. Suits are irrelevant in this game.
• When no pair is available, click the stock. It deals one card onto the shortest column and costs you a par step.
• Clear all fifty-two cards to win. A good deal finishes in around twenty-five to thirty steps; the par shown in the header is a pace to beat, not a limit.
• Stuck? Press Hint and the game will flash a valid pair. Stuck for real? Undo steps the whole board backwards.

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Frequently asked questions