How to Play Four Seasons Solitaire

A straightforward single-deck game with a clever twist: each deal picks a random starting rank for the foundations. Build up from that rank in each suit while managing a small five-card tableau.

Setup

1. Use one standard 52-card deck
2. Deal one card to the first foundation pile—its rank becomes the base rank shared by all four foundations
3. Deal one card face up to each of five tableau piles
4. Keep the remaining cards in the stock

How to play

• The other three foundations start empty; each one begins once you can place a card of the shared base rank there, then builds upward in its own suit, wrapping from King to Ace if needed. Cards automatically move to the foundations when they can no longer be built on in the tableau (adjustable in Settings)
• Click the stock to deal one card to the waste pile. Only the top waste card is playable
• In the tableau, build downward regardless of suit: place any card one rank lower on a higher card
• Only the top card of each tableau pile can be moved
• Fill empty tableau spaces with any available card
• The stock has no redeal—once exhausted, you can only play visible cards

How to win

Objective: Move all 52 cards to the four foundations, each building from the randomly chosen base rank upward

You win when all 52 cards reach their foundations. You're stuck when no legal moves remain.

Tips

• Watch which rank is chosen at the start, as it changes strategy considerably
• Create empty tableau spaces early to gain more flexibility
• Since you only get one pass through the stock, think carefully before playing or burying a waste card

Play Four Seasons free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Four Seasons 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:

• Acquaintance — A straightforward solitaire where you move cards from four reserve piles directly to four Ace foundations, working through the stock and redealing up to twice to uncover new plays.
• Auld Lang Syne — Move all cards to the foundations in ascending any-suit sequences, using four reserve piles where only the top card of each is playable.
• Bavarian — This two-deck tableau-building game lets you stack cards upward by rank in any suit, which is more forgiving than games that require matching suits or colors.