How to Play Gargantua Solitaire

A two-deck Klondike variant with 104 cards dealt into nine pyramid-style tableau piles, a stock that allows two passes, and foundations building by suit. The goal: Move all 104 cards to eight foundation piles, building each suit from Ace to King.

Setup

1. Nine tableau piles are dealt in a pyramid pattern: 1 face-up card to the first pile, 2 to the second (1 face-down, 1 face-up), and so on through 9 piles, for 45 cards total, with only the top card of each pile initially face-up
2. The remaining 59 cards form the stock
3. The stock holds undealt cards; click it to move cards one at a time to the waste pile
4. A waste pile collects cards from the stock; only the top card can be played
5. Eight foundation piles build up by suit from Ace to King

How to play

• Cards automatically move to the foundations by suit once they can no longer be used elsewhere; you can customize this in Settings
• In the tableau, build downward by one rank in alternating colors (red 6 on black 7, black 5 on red 6, etc.)
• Move sequences of cards together if they're in descending order with alternating colors
• Click the stock to deal cards one at a time to the waste pile; once the stock runs out it can be turned over and gone through a second time before it's used up for good
• Face-down cards automatically flip when they become the top card of their pile
• Only a King (or a run starting with a King) can be played into an empty tableau pile

How to win

Objective: Move all 104 cards to eight foundation piles, building each suit from Ace to King.

The game is won when all eight foundation piles are complete from Ace to King. You have two passes through the stock to complete the puzzle.

Tips

• Expose face-down cards by clearing tableau piles—the hidden cards might be exactly what you need
• Plan your early moves to set up long sequences, since nine piles and two decks give you a lot of cards to work with
• Use the two stock passes wisely; don't waste cards to the waste pile without a clear purpose

Play Gargantua free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Gargantua 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:

• Giant — A two-deck solitaire game combining tableau building with foundation building.
• Gold Mine — A Klondike variant where your seven tableau piles begin empty, forcing you to build them from scratch.
• Gold Rush — A Klondike variant where you get three passes through the stock, but each pass deals fewer cards.
• Harp — A two-deck Klondike variant with a nine-pile pyramid tableau where you build downward in opposite colors.
• Hypotenuse — A two-deck solitaire where you build tableau piles downward by alternating color and move all cards to foundations arranged by suit.