How to Play Alexander the Great Solitaire

A fan-layout game with four foundations split between Aces (red suits) and Kings (black suits), each building in opposite directions. Tableau cards can build up or down in suit, offering many play options.

Setup

1. Two red Ace foundations, each already dealt a starting Ace of a different red suit (build up)
2. Two black King foundations, each already dealt a starting King of a different black suit (build down, wrapping K to A)
3. Twelve fan piles with four cards each

How to play

• Two red Ace foundations build upward in suit (Ace through King)
• Two black King foundations build downward in suit (King through Ace, then wrap)
• Build tableau fan piles both up and down within the same suit
• Only the top card of each fan pile can be moved—there are no group moves in this game
• Empty fan piles accept only an Ace or a King
• Cards automatically move to the foundation when they can't be built on any other cards—you can change this behavior in Settings
• No stock—all 48 cards (plus the 4 foundation starters) are visible

How to win

Objective: Build all 52 cards to the four foundations: red Aces up and black Kings down.

You win when all 52 cards are on the four foundations. You're stuck when the fan piles run out of legal moves.

Tips

• Red and black foundations build opposite directions—track them separately
• Empty spaces for Aces and Kings are precious, so fill them carefully
• Plan single-card moves carefully to reach buried cards and free up fan spaces

Play Alexander the Great free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Alexander the Great alongside 300+ other games. It saves every move as you play, so you can close the window and pick the game up later, replay any deal, and take on a new Daily Challenge deal every day. Browse every game in the Game Gallery.

Related games

More games from the Foundations family:

• 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.
• Caprice — An unusual two-deck game where you build two sets of foundation piles simultaneously—four ascending (Ace to King) and four descending (King to Ace), all within their respective suits.
• Crescent — A two-deck game where one foundation row ascends (Ace to King) and the other descends from King and wraps around past Ace.