How to Play Aces and Kings Solitaire

Use a double deck to build four foundations up from Aces and four foundations down from Kings simultaneously. The tableau and reserve offer limited opportunities, making every decision count.

Setup

1. Four Ace foundations (build up in any suit)
2. Four King foundations (build down in any suit, K wraps to A)
3. A reserve with two piles of 13 cards each (top card only playable)
4. A tableau with four piles (one card each, no building allowed)
5. A stock and waste pile

How to play

• Click the stock to deal one card to the waste pile
• Play the top card from the waste or reserve to a foundation or empty tableau space
• Build Ace foundations upward (any suit) and King foundations downward (any suit)
• Empty tableau spaces are automatically refilled with the top stock card when you make a move; once the stock runs out, an empty tableau space can be filled with any card
• Only the top card of each reserve pile can be played
• Work through the stock once—no redeal

How to win

Objective: Build all cards to the foundations: Aces ascending to Kings and Kings descending to Aces (wrapping around), all ignoring suit.

You win when all 104 cards (two full decks) are on the eight foundations. You're stuck when the stock is empty and no more moves are possible.

Tips

• Preserve tableau spaces for crucial cards that don't fit the current foundation sequences
• Expose reserve cards by playing the top ones strategically
• Remember the King foundations wrap: after Ace comes King again

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Related games

More games from the Foundations family:

• Acey and Kingsley — A variant of Aces and Kings where foundation base cards (Aces and Kings) are dealt to you at the start instead of appearing as you draw them.
• Alexander the Great — A fan-layout game with four foundations split between Aces (red suits) and Kings (black suits), each building in opposite directions.
• Alternate — Alternate uses a single deck with four foundations that build in opposite directions: two ascending in alternating colors and two descending in alternating colors.
• Bisley — All 52 cards are laid out face up at once.
• Box Kite — A two-deck game with eight foundations divided into two groups—four climbing from Aces and four descending from Kings—offering multiple strategic paths to victory.