The rules of Solitaire Réfléchi

Setup

A deck of 52 cards, without jokers, is shuffled. Cards are dealt into 7 columns of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 cards, making 28 cards, all face up: this is the only setup difference from Klondike, where only the last card in each column is face up. The remaining 24 cards form the stock, face down. Beside it are the empty waste pile and 4 empty foundations.

Allowed moves

• Onto a column: a card can be placed on the last card in a column if it is of the opposite color (red on black, black on red) and exactly one rank lower. A 7 of hearts goes on a 8 of spades or clubs.
• From the waste pile: only the top card can be played, onto a column or its foundation.
• To a foundation: only one card at a time, either the last card in a column or the top card of the waste pile.

Ranks run from ace (lowest) to king: ace, 2 through 10, jack, queen, king.

Groups of cards

You can take a card from the middle of a column along with all the cards placed on it, on one condition: the group must already be in order, with each card one rank lower than the previous one, alternating red and black. The longest possible group therefore runs from king to ace, making 13 cards.

In this game, all the cards in the columns are visible: being able to see a card does not mean you can move it. If a card placed on it does not follow the sequence, the app rejects the group. The Examples page shows this rejection in the very first deal.

The empty column

An empty column accepts only a king, either alone or with an ordered group placed on it. No other card can go there: the Examples page shows this rejection in an actual game.

The foundations

Each foundation takes a single suit: first the ace, then the 2, the 3 and so on up to the king, one card at a time. In the app, each suit has a fixed position (spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs); when you drag a card, the app finds the correct foundation automatically.

The stock and recycling

Tap the stock to turn cards over onto the waste. The app offers two draw options, available in the New Game window:

• Draw 1 (“Easy”): one card at a time; each card in the stock can be played in turn. This is the default option.
• Draw 3 ("Hard"): three cards at a time, fanned out on the waste pile; only the last one can be played, and the next one becomes available once you have played it.

When the stock is empty, a tap returns the entire waste pile to the stock, face down and in the same order, and you start again, with unlimited passes. Each stock reset costs points (see scoring below).

The end of the game

The game is won when all 52 cards are on the foundations. The app does not declare a loss: when no useful moves remain, you undo moves or start a new game.

What the app adds

These points are specific to the Solitaire Réfléchi app; other versions of the game score differently.

• No automatic moves: no card moves to the foundations by itself, and the game does not finish itself. Tapping the last card in a column or the waste pile sends it to its foundation when possible; two quick taps (the “Double click” setting) then look for a place on the tableau (the longest column first, then an empty column for a king). You can also drag the cards.
• Taking back from a foundation: the top card of a foundation can be taken back by dragging and placed on the tableau, without gaining or losing points.
• Undo: the last 100 actions; undoing removes the points earned by the undone move, but the move counter does not go back down.
• Interactive rules: a rejected move displays the rule that forbids it (this setting is enabled by default).
• Game code: each deal has a code (for example TF1-D1N-AAAAAAB) that reproduces it exactly, including its stock. See the FAQ.

Scoring in the app

The score starts at 0 and never falls below 0: resetting the stock early in the game therefore costs fewer than 100 points. The 52 cards in the foundations earn 520 points; a won game adds 5 for each card moved from the waste pile to a column and deducts the cost of its stock resets. The game code also awards +5 when a face-down card is turned over in a column, but none of the cards in the columns are face down, so this never happens.