How to play Scorpion

Scorpion is a one-deck relative of Spider. All but three cards are dealt into seven columns, and the aim is to arrange each suit into a single run from King down to Ace. Like in Yukon, you may move any face-up card together with every card on top of it, even when those cards are not in order - but here you build in suit, so each card has exactly one card it can go on.

Scorpion looks chaotic at the start, with suits mixed everywhere and a few cards still face down. Untangling it is a puzzle of order: which pile to lift first, which King deserves an empty column, and when to deal the last three cards.

How to play on skill.games

When you open the game, the settings popup appears. Choose a level - Easy, Normal or Hard (classic) - check your record at that level and press PLAY. The cards fly out onto the table and the game begins.

• Moving cards: tap a face-up card and it goes onto the card it fits on, taking every card on top of it along. When an empty column is the only place it can go, a tap moves it there.
• Dragging: drag any face-up card - the cards on top of it come with it - and drop it where you want it. A move that isn't allowed is refused: the cards shake and slide back.
• The stock: the three cards in the corner. Tap them to deal them face up onto the first three columns. You can do this only once, at any time you choose.
• Undo: the UNDO button at the top takes back your last move, as many times as you like, all the way back to the deal.
• The score line at the top shows your moves, the time and your score.

When you complete a run from King to Ace in one suit, it leaves the table by itself and flies to the foundations. Once all four runs are done, the cards cascade off the table, and the results screen shows your moves, time, score and runs, with your statistics for that level: wins, losses, win rate and streaks.

The menu button in the top-left corner pauses the game, starts a new deal or turns the sound off. The "?" button opens this guide. The deal is saved after every move, so you can close the page and press CONTINUE next time - even your undo history comes back. A deal you abandon by starting a new one counts as a loss at its level.

Rules

The layout. Seven columns of seven cards are dealt. In the first four columns the bottom three cards lie face down and the top four face up; the other three columns are face up entirely. The last three cards wait in the stock.

Building. A card can be placed on the card one rank higher of the same suit: the 9 of spades on the 10 of spades, the Queen of hearts on the King of hearts. Nothing can be placed on an Ace.

Moving groups. You may pick up any face-up card, wherever it lies in its column, and every card on top of it comes along. Only the card you pick up has to fit; the cards riding on it can be in any order.

Empty columns. On Hard, the classic rule applies: only a King (with whatever lies on it) can be moved into an empty column. On Easy and Normal, any face-up card can fill an empty column, as in the Wasp variant of the game.

Turning cards over. When a face-down card is left uncovered at the bottom of a column, it turns face up automatically.

The stock. The three stock cards are dealt once, face up, onto the first three columns - one each - when you tap the stock. There is no other stock and no redeal.

Finished runs. A complete run of one suit from King down to Ace, at the bottom of a column, leaves the table by itself for a foundation.

Scoring. Every move scores 10 points and every finished run 10 more. Every 30 seconds of play costs 30 points, although your score never drops below zero. When you win, a time bonus of 600,000 divided by the seconds you took is added. Undoing a move takes its points back, and an undo counts as a move.

Winning. You win when all four suits have been completed and collected.

Strategy tips

• Free the face-down cards first. Twelve cards start face down in the first four columns. Moves that reach them should come early, because whatever is hidden there may be the card the rest of the table is waiting for.
• Each card has one home. Building in suit means a card can only go on one particular card. Before moving a pile, check where the cards inside it will need to go later.
• Look deep into the columns. A card in the middle of a pile can move too, lifting everything above it. Often the best move is not at the bottom of a column at all.
• Save empty columns for Kings. On Hard an empty column takes only a King. Moving a King that is buried in the middle of a pile into it can untangle a whole column at once.
• Choose when to deal the stock. The three stock cards land on the first three columns and can bury important cards there. Deal them when they help most - often once those columns are sorted, or when you are out of other moves.

Difficulty levels

• Easy: any card can fill an empty column, and every deal is one our computer player has already solved, so each Easy game can be won. If you get stuck, undo and look for the way out.
• Normal: a random deal, with any card allowed into an empty column. A relaxed version of the game in which most deals can be won with care.
• Hard (classic): a random deal with the classic rule that only a King can fill an empty column. Many deals cannot be won at all, and those that can need precise play.