How to Play Box Kite Solitaire

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. The goal: Move all 104 cards to the eight foundations to win.

Setup

1. Deal Aces (one for each suit) and Kings (one for each suit) as the foundation bases
2. Deal 8 cards face down to each of 12 tableau piles; only the top card of each is face up
3. That accounts for all 104 cards—there is no stock or draw pile in this game

How to play

• Four foundation piles build up by suit from Ace to King
• Four other foundation piles build down by suit from King; after reaching Ace, that sequence wraps back around to King
• On the tableau, build up or down in any suit (4♣ can go on 3♣ or 5♣), and ranks wrap between King and Ace there too
• Only the top card of each tableau pile can be moved
• Empty tableau piles cannot be refilled
• Eligible cards move to the foundations on their own once no other card could be played on them; you can change this behavior in Settings if you prefer

How to win

Objective: Move all 104 cards to the eight foundations to win.

You win when all 104 cards reach the eight foundations. With every card already dealt out and empty tableau piles staying empty, manage your sequences carefully.

Tips

• Plan which foundation piles you'll build toward based on the cards in your tableau
• Tableau building is flexible (up or down in any suit), so use it to expose buried cards
• Prioritize exposing cards early rather than building long sequences that block access to better cards

Play Box Kite free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Box Kite 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:

• 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.
• Deuces and Queens — Build cards upward and downward simultaneously on two sets of foundations in this challenging two-deck game.
• Double Aces and Kings — A demanding four-deck game with eight ascending and eight descending foundation piles.
• Fifteen — A two-deck game with eight foundations building both up and down, and 15 tableau piles where you can build by one rank higher or lower in the same suit.