How to Play Yakutat Bay Solitaire

A Yukon variant with the same seven-pile layout and the same freedom to move face-up cards as a group regardless of their order. Most piles start with a few cards face down, which you expose as you play.

Setup

1. Seven tableau piles are dealt in a custom pattern: the first pile has 1 face-up card, the second has 1 face-down then 5 face-up, the third has 2 face-down then 5 face-up, and so on
2. Four foundation piles start empty—an Ace placed there begins each one

How to play

• Build the foundations from Ace up to King in the same suit
• In the tableau, place a card one rank lower and opposite color on any card (a red 6 on a black 7)
• Move any group of face-up cards together, even if they're not in build order—only the card that lands on another pile must fit the building rule
• When you move a face-up card, any face-down card beneath it is revealed
• Empty tableau piles are automatically refilled with all playable face-up cards from the pile immediately to the right
• Cards that can no longer be built on in the tableau automatically move to the foundations—you can change this in the settings if you prefer
• The game has no stock, so all your cards start on the table—plan carefully

How to win

Objective: Move every card to the four foundation piles, building each from Ace to King in the same suit.

You win when all cards are in the foundations. You're stuck when no legal moves remain.

Tips

• Expose face-down cards early by strategically moving face-up sequences
• Remember that only Kings can start new piles—preserve Kings for empty tableau spaces
• Look for face-down cards that might be Aces or other high-value cards by planning your moves

Play Yakutat Bay free on Windows

CardTray is a free solitaire app for Windows that includes Yakutat Bay 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 Yukon family:

• Yukon One Suit — A relaxing variant that combines the Spades from four decks into one 52-card deck.
• Ace of Hearts — A single-foundation puzzle: all 52 cards must land on one pile starting with the Ace of Spades.
• Odessa — Odessa is a Russian solitaire variant with a tableau of seven piles containing a mix of face-down and face-up cards.
• Queenie — Queenie mixes alternating-color tableau building with the freedom to move cards out of strict order, and a stock that deals a card onto every pile at once.
• Russian Cell — Russian Cell combines FreeCell-style cells with a tableau containing hidden cards.