How to Play American Canister Solitaire

American Canister uses a single deck distributed across 8 tableau piles in a balanced pattern. Build 4 foundation piles while moving card sequences in alternating colors through the tableau.

Setup

1. A single deck (52 cards) is shuffled
2. Deal all remaining cards face-up across 8 tableau piles as evenly as possible (some piles have 7 cards, others have 6)
3. 4 empty foundation piles wait to receive Aces
4. No stock or waste pile exists

How to play

• Cards automatically move to the foundations when no other moves are available for them; you can change this behavior in Settings
• Build foundations up in suit from Aces to Kings
• In the tableau, build down in alternating colors (a red 5 goes on a black 6, or vice versa)
• Move one card or an entire sequence of alternating-color cards together when each card in the sequence is one rank lower than the card it covers
• Only the top card or top sequence can be moved from a tableau pile
• Empty tableau spaces can be filled with any card or valid sequence

How to win

Objective: Move all 52 cards to the 4 foundation piles, built up by suit from Aces to Kings.

You win when all 52 cards are moved to the foundations in proper suit sequence. You're stuck when no valid moves are possible and cards remain in the tableau.

Tips

• The lack of a stock means all moves depend on what's already visible, so plan ahead carefully
• Prioritize creating empty tableau spaces to increase your maneuvering room
• Focus on exposing buried cards rather than immediately moving everything to the foundations

Play American Canister free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes American Canister 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 Klondike family:

• Aunt Mary — A challenging solitaire where you build complete sequences on six tableau piles instead of the usual seven.
• Somerset — A Klondike variant that trades the stock and waste piles for a larger tableau.
• Thoughtful — A see-everything take on Klondike: every card starts dealt face up in the tableau, so there's nothing hidden to plan around.
• Titan — A challenging two-deck variant where eight tableau piles start with three face-up cards each.
• Triple Triangle — This three-deck variant challenges you to build foundations by moving cards from a large triangular tableau.