How to Play Triple Minerva Solitaire

A tactical game combining tableau building with a 15-card reserve and 2 total passes through the stock. The small reserve and limited redeals demand efficient play and sharp card spotting.

Setup

1. Twelve foundation piles (three for each suit) start empty
2. A reserve of 15 cards is placed face-up as a pile, with only the top card playable
3. Twelve tableau piles receive 4 cards each, with alternating cards face-down (odd positions hidden, even positions visible)
4. The stock provides one card at a time to the waste, with 2 total passes allowed

How to play

• Look for Aces to start your foundation piles
• Play the top card of the reserve to the tableau or foundations for a new option underneath
• On the tableau, place cards one rank lower in the opposite color (a red 6 on a black 7)
• Move complete runs of face-up cards together when properly ordered
• Play cards to the foundations in suit order, building up from Ace to King; matching cards move automatically when no other move is possible
• Click the stock to draw one card at a time; you get 2 passes through the stock (1 redeal total)
• Empty tableau piles can hold only a King or a run starting with a King

How to win

Objective: Move every card to the foundations, building up from Ace in each suit.

You win when all 156 cards are built into the foundations. You're stuck when the reserve is gone, the stock is exhausted, and no more moves are available.

Tips

• Expose reserve cards by playing them to foundations and tableau—this uncovers new options
• Balance reserve play with tableau building; don't rush to empty the reserve too quickly
• Use your redeals wisely—save them for when the stock reveals a particularly useful card

Play Triple Minerva free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Triple Minerva 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:

• Zerline — This two-deck game flips the usual card order: foundations start on Kings and climb through the ranks with Queens as the top card.
• Agnes Bernauer — Each game chooses a random base rank for all four foundations, which then build upward in suit from that rank, wrapping around.
• Batsford — This two-card-deck Klondike variant only gives you one trip through the stock, so every move counts, and a small reserve lets you tuck away kings that are blocking your tableau.
• Double Minerva — This two-deck game adds a 13-card reserve alongside a tableau dealt in an alternating face-down, face-up pattern.
• Haystack — A single-deck game with a small 8-card reserve pile and a unique diamond-shaped tableau.