How to Play Yukon Solitaire

Every card is dealt to the tableau up front—there's no stock to fall back on. What sets this game apart is how freely you can pick up cards: a whole cluster of face-up cards can move together even when it isn't a tidy run.

Setup

1. Seven tableau piles are dealt in increasing size: one card, then six cards, then seven cards, and so on, up to eleven cards in the last pile
2. Each pile (other than the first) has five face-up cards on top, with the rest face down beneath them
3. Four foundation piles start empty—an Ace placed there begins each one
4. There is no stock—you work only with what is on the table

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 groups of face-up cards together, even if they are not in order—only the card landing on the tableau must follow the building rule
• When you move a face-up card, any face-down card beneath it is revealed
• Empty tableau piles accept only a King
• 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 you are limited to the cards visible and those you uncover

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 are stuck when no more moves are possible despite all cards being on the table.

Tips

• Expose face-down cards early—this is often more important than filling foundations immediately
• Use the flexibility of moving non-sequence groups to maneuver around obstacles
• Look for Aces and keep Kings in reserve for empty piles, since only a King can start a new pile

Play Yukon free on Windows

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

• Double Yukon — A two-deck variant where face-down cards reveal themselves as you work through the tableau.
• Milligan Yukon — This double-deck game blends two classic mechanics: a triangular deal like Yukon and flexible tableau moves that let you shift any stack of face-up cards at once, not just neat sequences.
• Old Carlton — Old Carlton is a two-deck adaptation of Klondike with eight tableau piles and eight foundation piles.