How to Play Barricade A Solitaire

A straightforward two-deck solitaire where you build foundations regardless of suit and arrange twelve tableau piles in descending order. The stock remains face-up and playable, letting you work with its top card directly without a waste pile.

Setup

1. Eight foundation piles are created, built up regardless of suit since two decks are in play
2. Twelve tableau piles receive 3 cards each, all face-up
3. The stock pile sits to the side with its top card always visible and playable

How to play

• Build the foundations up from Ace to King, ignoring suit (a card of any suit can go on any foundation, as long as its rank is next in line)
• In the tableau, stack cards in descending order regardless of suit (10 on J, 4 on 5, etc.)
• Only the top card of each tableau pile can move at a time
• Click the stock to play the top card directly—its top card is always accessible
• Empty tableau piles are automatically refilled with the top stock card
• Cards automatically move to the foundations once there are no more tableau moves available for them

How to win

Objective: Move all 104 cards to eight foundations in ascending order, regardless of suit.

You win when all 104 cards are built onto the eight foundation piles. You're stuck when no moves remain and the stock is exhausted.

Tips

• The stock is easier to work with than a waste pile—plan to use it strategically
• Focus on creating long descending sequences in the tableau to clear space
• Move to foundations early when possible to keep the tableau organized

Play Barricade A free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Barricade A 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 Forty Thieves family:

• Barricade B — A challenging two-deck variant of Barricade where you build the foundations in suit order instead of any-suit, and you can't play cards directly from the stock.
• Diplomat — A generous Congress variant where foundations build up by suit while tableau cards sequence down by rank in any suit, with four cards dealt to each tableau pile.
• Double Rail — A two-deck game with a compact five-pile tableau where sequences can mix suits and whole runs can be relocated together.
• Eight by Eight — A two-deck solitaire with eight columns and eight rows of tableau cards, where you work through a stock that redeals with fewer cards each pass.
• Forty-Nine — A two-deck cousin of Forty Thieves named for its seven-by-seven tableau grid.