Playing a game

Once a game is dealt, the board takes the whole window. Everything below works the same in the Game Gallery, the Daily Challenge and a game resumed from a replay.

Moving cards

• Drag a card, or a run of cards, onto a pile that will take it. Dropping it somewhere that won't take it sends it back with a buzz.
• Double-click a card to send it to the best place it can go — usually a foundation.
• Click the stock to deal from it, and click an empty pile's outline when the game lets you act on it.
• Clicking during the opening deal skips the animation.

Some games have extra actions, shown as buttons in the top bar only when the game has them: Redeal and Rotate (each with the number left) and Draw. Draw lets you pull one buried card to the top of its pile: press it, then click the card — Esc cancels.

Auto-move

CardTray can move cards to the foundations for you. The Auto-move option has three settings: Off, Safe moves only (the default — only moves that can never hurt you) and Every move to the foundations. Change it under Options in the pause menu, or in Settings. A change applies to your next game, never the one in front of you, so a replay always plays back the way the game was played.

The top bar

The top bar shows the game's name (plus Beta if it is a Beta game), then Score, Time and Moves. When you have played this exact deal before, a vs best figure shows your best score on it — it turns green once you are ahead. Hover it for your fastest time and fewest moves on the deal.

On the right are Is this winnable? (see Solvers), Undo, Redo, any extra actions, and ⋯ — the game menu. The bar slides out of the way while you play; move the pointer to the top edge of the window to bring it back. It always shows while the game is paused or over.

Time counts only while you are actually playing. It stops when the game is paused, the window is minimised or hidden, the PC is locked, or the PC sleeps.

Keyboard shortcuts

The letter shortcuts are ignored while you are typing in a field and while Ctrl or Alt is held.

The pause menu

Press Esc or click ⋯. The board is covered while you are paused, so a timed game can't be studied with the clock stopped. The menu has:

• Resume
• Try this deal again — the same cards from the start.
• New deal — a fresh deal of the same game.
• Resign — end the game as a loss. Shown once you have made a move.
• Was this deal winnable? — see Solvers.
• Rules — the full rules, without leaving the game.
• Options — Card deck, Table and Auto-move.
• Enter fullscreen (F11) / Exit fullscreen
• Report a problem — Beta games only. It shows the game's variant, rules revision and seed for you to copy into your report, so we can deal the exact same cards.
• Sound effects, Ambience and a volume slider. Ambience is the theme's background soundscape; on a deck without one it reads (not in this deck). See Themes.
• Back to library — leaves the board. This does not end the game: it stays in progress and its card says Continue.

Try this deal again and New deal on a game you have made moves in ask Abandon the current game? first — it counts as a loss. A game with no moves is simply discarded.

If you lock the PC or it goes to sleep mid-game, you come back to the pause menu and press Resume when you are ready.

Your game is always saved

Every move is saved as you make it. Close the window, quit, restart Windows — the game is exactly where you left it next time, clock included. Resume it from its card in the Game Gallery or from Continue last game in the tray menu.

When a game ends

When there are no moves left, a bar at the bottom offers No moves left — end game? with Undo (if you can) and End game.

The end-of-game window shows your score, time and moves, and how it compares with your best on this deal (First result on this deal., New best on this deal!, or your score against your best).

• After a win (You won …!): New deal, or Play this deal again.
• After a loss (Game over): Try again from the same deal, or New deal. A loss also offers Was this deal winnable? — see Solvers.
• Back to library either way.

The window can't be closed with Esc or by clicking outside it — pick one of its actions.

What counts

Before a finished game counts toward your records, CardTray re-plays its saved moves from the original deal and checks the result. That is what makes a personal best trustworthy. If that check fails, the end window says This game couldn't be verified, so it won't count toward records.

The score is one formula for every game: cards resolved, with adjustments for time and undos. It is calculated the same way on screen and in the check.

An assisted game — one resumed from a replay, or one where you asked the solver for help — still counts toward games played and won, but never toward personal bests, streaks, the Daily Challenge or achievements. A game resumed from a replay is titled (assisted), and its end window says Branched from a replay — counts for stats, not personal bests. See Stats & Records.

What usually goes wrong

"Paused — sharing is off". Bandwidth sharing stopped mid-game. Your game is saved; press Turn sharing on (or Retry), and play picks up when sharing is back. See How CardTray is funded.

"This game's rules have changed". The saved game was played under an earlier version of these rules, so it can't be continued exactly. Start this deal fresh deals the same cards again under the current rules.

"This game couldn't be restored". Its saved moves no longer play back cleanly. Start this deal fresh deals the same cards again.

A setting I changed did nothing. Auto-move applies from your next game. Card deck, Table and the sound controls apply immediately.

I can't undo. Undo is available from your first move; the opening deal itself can't be undone.