How to Play McClellan Solitaire

Build eight foundations using two decks while managing eight tableau piles where cards must be built in the same suit. Draw cards one at a time from the stock.

Setup

1. Place eight empty foundation piles to the side (two for each suit, since you're playing with two decks)
2. Deal four cards to each of eight tableau piles, face down, with only the top card of each pile turned face up
3. Keep the stock separate; draw cards one at a time when needed

How to play

• Move cards from the tableau or waste pile to build foundations up by suit (Ace through King).
• On the tableau, build sequences downward in the same suit (such as placing a 10 of hearts on a Jack of hearts).
• You can move groups of cards together if they form a valid sequence in the same suit.
• When you move a card, flip over the face-down card beneath it if one exists.
• Empty tableau piles can be filled with any available card or sequence.
• Stuck cards automatically move to the foundations when they can't be played elsewhere. You can adjust this behavior in Settings if preferred.
• When no tableau moves help, click the stock to draw one card to the waste pile.
• Play the top card from the waste pile to the tableau or foundations if possible.

How to win

Objective: Move all cards to the eight foundations, building from Ace to King in each suit.

You win when all cards are built to the eight foundation piles. The game ends in loss when the stock runs out and no more moves are available.

Tips

• Since you can only build in suit, expose buried cards by organizing the tableau into same-suit sequences.
• Prioritize moving cards to the foundations whenever possible to free up tableau space.
• Create empty piles strategically to maneuver sequences and access face-down cards.

Play McClellan free on Windows

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

• Outback — Outback deals two decks across eight tableau piles, where every pile builds in a single suit instead of alternating colors, and you can relocate any run of face-up cards as a group as long as the bottom card fits.
• Quadrangle — A challenging two-deck game from the Forty Thieves family.
• Robie — A two-deck game where the tableau begins empty and fills as you play, giving you maximum flexibility from the start since you can place any card from the stock or waste to open up space.
• Sixty Thieves — A large-scale Forty Thieves relative played with three decks.
• Thieves Rush — A two-deck variant of Forty Thieves with three trips through the stock.