How to Play Street and Alleys Solitaire

A fan-style game where all cards are dealt at the start with no stock pile. You build the tableau freely in any suit and have no hidden cards, making planning easier but requiring careful sequencing.

Setup

1. Eight tableau columns are arranged side by side; all 52 cards are dealt across them face up
2. The cards are split as evenly as the deck allows, so some columns end up with one more card than others
3. Four foundation piles sit between the columns, starting empty

How to play

• Only the top card of each tableau pile is playable
• Build foundations upward in suit from Ace to King; qualifying cards move to the foundations automatically once no other card could be built on them
• On the tableau, play cards downward in any suit
• Single cards only can move on the tableau (no sequences)
• Any card can fill an empty tableau space
• All cards are visible from the start, so you can plan your entire solution

How to win

Objective: Move all 52 cards to the four foundation piles.

You win by building all four foundation piles to King. You're stuck when you block yourself and can't move enough cards to progress.

Tips

• Scan the entire layout before making moves—you can see the whole puzzle
• Create empty spaces strategically for cards that block valuable sequences
• Work on exposing Aces and lower-rank cards to get foundations going

Play Street and Alleys free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Street and Alleys 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 Beleaguered Castle family:

• Beleaguered Castle — The four aces begin already on the foundations, and the rest of the deck sits face up across eight tableau piles.
• Fortress — A rare game where the tableau allows bi-directional building—each pile can grow either higher or lower in the same suit, offering strategic flexibility but also considerable challenge.
• Castle's End — A flexible game where the foundation base rank changes each deal, and tableau cards can build either up or down in the same suit, creating unique strategic puzzles.