How to play Yukon

Yukon is a close cousin of Klondike with one big difference: there is no stock. All 52 cards are dealt into seven columns at the start, and you can move any face-up card in a column - together with every card lying on top of it - as long as the card you move fits where it lands. The cards on top don't have to be in order. That single rule turns Yukon into a game of digging: you lift whole tangled piles across the table to reach the face-down cards and the Aces buried underneath.

Because nothing is hidden in a stock, Yukon is very much a game of planning. Most deals can be won, but only if you choose the order of your big moves well.

How to play on skill.games

When you open the game, the settings popup appears. Choose a level - Easy, Normal or Hard (Russian) - 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 to the best place it can: a foundation if that is safe, otherwise onto a column where it fits, taking every card on top of it along. Tap the same card twice quickly to send it straight to its foundation.
• 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.
• Undo: the UNDO button at the top takes back your last move. You can undo 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 every card on the table is face up, the game sends the remaining cards to the foundations for you, as far as they will go. The cards cascade off the table, and the results screen shows your moves, time and final score, 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. The cards are dealt into seven columns as in Klondike: one card in the first column, two in the second and so on up to seven, with only the last card of each column face up. Then the remaining 24 cards are dealt face up, four onto each of the columns two to seven. So the first column is a single card, and the others hold from six to eleven cards, the face-up ones overlapping so you can read them all.

Building on the columns. A card can be placed on a column's last card if it is one rank lower and the opposite colour: a red 9 on a black 10, a black 4 on a red 5. On Hard the rule is stricter: the card must be one rank lower and of the same suit, a 9 of hearts on the 10 of hearts.

Moving groups. This is what makes Yukon different. You may pick up any face-up card in a column, wherever it sits, and every card on top of it moves along. Only the card you pick up has to fit on its new place; the cards riding on it can be in any order.

Empty columns. Only a King can be moved into an empty column - again with any cards that lie on top of it.

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

The foundations. Each foundation is built up in one suit, starting with the Ace: A, 2, 3 and so on to the King. Cards go up one at a time. The top card of a foundation can be moved back down onto a column if you need it there.

Scoring. Each card you send to a foundation scores 10 points. 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 foundations hold their thirteen cards.

Strategy tips

• Work on the face-down cards. They are the only unknowns. Columns six and seven hide five and six cards each, so a move that uncovers one of them is usually worth more than anything else.
• Look under the piles. Since any face-up card can move, check what each one could land on, not only the last card of each column. A card deep in a pile may have a perfect home elsewhere, and moving it lifts everything above it out of the way.
• Plan for the Kings. An empty column only takes a King. Before you clear a column, know which King you will move into it - ideally one that has face-down cards underneath it.
• Don't rush cards to the foundations. Aces and Twos can always go up. A higher card might still be needed as a place to build on, so keep it on the table while cards of the other colour one rank lower are still around.
• Think a few moves ahead. Moving a big pile is powerful, but it also buries whatever card it lands on. Before a long move, check that the card underneath won't be needed soon.

Difficulty levels

• Easy: every deal is one our computer player has already solved, so each Easy game can be won. If you get stuck, the way out is there: undo and look for it. A good level for learning the game.
• Normal: a fully random deal with the standard Yukon rules - build down in alternating colours. Most deals can be won with careful play.
• Hard (Russian): the variant known as Russian Solitaire. The deal is the same, but columns are built down in the same suit instead of alternating colours, so each card has only one possible home. It is much harder: fewer deals come out, and every move needs thought.