How to Play Kansas Solitaire

Start each game with a random base rank that sets the tone for your foundations. Build with any suit on the tableau while drawing from the stock and accessing a reserve pile for extra options.

Setup

1. One card dealt to the first foundation sets the base rank for the deal (Ace through King, chosen at random); every foundation must start with a card of that same rank
2. Three tableau piles receive one card each, all face up
3. One reserve pile holds 13 cards with only the top card face up
4. One stock pile holds the remaining cards

How to play

• Each foundation starts with a card of the base rank and builds up by rank in that same suit, wrapping around (if the base is King, it continues to Ace)
• On the tableau, stack cards in descending order by rank regardless of suit (8 on 9 on 10)
• Move entire sequences together when each card is one rank lower than the card below it
• Draw one card at a time from the stock to the waste; only the top waste card can be played, to the tableau or foundations
• Use the reserve pile as an extra source—play its top card to the tableau or foundations; when it empties, don't refill it
• When a tableau pile becomes empty, it refills automatically with the top card from the reserve
• Cards automatically move to the foundations once there are no other cards that could be built on them (you can change this behavior in Settings)

How to win

Objective: Move all cards to the four foundations.

Move all 52 cards to the foundations. The stock runs once with no redeal.

Tips

• Work to expose reserve cards early—they give you more options
• With only three tableau piles, empty spaces are precious; prioritize creating them
• Build sequences on the tableau strategically to avoid blocking buried cards

Play Kansas free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Kansas 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 Canfield family:

• Balcony — An unusual solitaire where the foundation base rank is randomized each game instead of always being Ace, and a reserve of seven cards sits to the side for strategic play.
• Blondes and Brunettes — A two-deck variant where a single dealt card determines the starting rank for all foundations, which then build up in opposite colors as you work through the waste and reserve piles.
• Demons and Thieves — A two-deck game with the tableau split in two: the left side builds down in opposite colors, the right side builds down in the same suit.