How to Play Thumb and Pouch Solitaire

A friendlier Klondike relative: tableau cards can land on any card of a different suit, not just an opposite color. Deal through the stock and work cards up to the foundations.

Setup

1. One foundation pile for each suit starts empty, ready to receive Aces.
2. The stock contains the remaining cards to be dealt.
3. Seven tableau piles are dealt in pyramid fashion: one card to the first pile, two to the second, and so on, with only the top card of each pile face up.

How to play

• Click the stock to deal one card to the waste pile.
• Play cards from the waste to the foundations (Ace first, then building up by suit).
• Build tableau piles downward in any different suit (e.g., you can place a 10♠ or 10♣ on a J♥).
• Move sequences together if each card is one rank lower in a different suit.
• Flip a tableau card face up once the card covering it moves away.
• Fill empty tableau piles with any card or sequence.
• Cards move to the foundations automatically once no other card could be built on them.
• When the stock is empty, the game ends—there's no redeal.

How to win

Objective: Build each foundation from Ace to King in the same suit.

You win when all four foundations are complete. You're stuck when you run out of moves with cards still in the tableau.

Tips

• The relaxed suit rule means more tableau moves are legal—focus on exposing buried cards and building systematically toward the foundations.
• Create empty tableau piles early to give yourself space for maneuvering.
• Play cards to the foundations as soon as possible.

Play Thumb and Pouch free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Thumb and Pouch 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:

• Inquisitor — A two-deck solitaire where you build tableau piles downward by suit and work through a stock pile in three-card batches.
• Lady Palk — A two-deck Klondike-style game where you build foundations in suit while arranging tableau columns.
• Pas Seul — Pas Seul is a Klondike-style game with six tableau piles.