Playable beta

A freer cousin of Spider

Play Scorpion Solitaire

Scorpion lets you move any face-up card together with every card below it. The freedom is deceptive: final sequences must be perfectly ordered by suit.

Players
1
Deck
Standard 52
Time
1230 min
Difficulty
Thoughtful
Rules
1.0.0

Shuffling the table…

Rules

How to play Scorpion Solitaire

Move flexible face-up packets to assemble four same-suit king-to-ace columns.

  1. Build down by rank in the same suit.

  2. Move any face-up card with all cards below it as one packet, even when that packet is not ordered.

  3. Only a king-led packet may enter an empty column.

  4. Deal the three reserve cards to the first three columns.

  5. A complete same-suit king-to-ace run leaves the table.

How to win

Assemble and remove all four suited king-to-ace sequences.

Physical deck

Set up the table

Use the steps below to play this rules version with ordinary cards and no screen.

  1. Deal seven cards into each of seven columns, leaving three cards for the reserve.
  2. In the first four columns, keep the bottom three cards face down. All remaining tableau cards are face up.
  3. Keep the final three cards face down until their single reserve deal.

Scorpion Solitaire opening deal

These counts summarize the opening table; follow the numbered steps above for exact placement and overlap.

Three-card reserve
1 pile3 cards · 0 face up
Seven tableau columns
7 piles49 cards · 37 face up

Strategy

Strategy for Scorpion Solitaire

01

Use packet freedom to expose hidden cards early.

02

Avoid burying a needed same-suit connector.

03

Reserve empty columns for kings.

Common mistakes

  • Assuming a moved packet must already be ordered.
  • Putting a non-king into an empty column.
  • Spending the reserve before checking all tableau moves.

Sources & variant

The chosen rules, documented

This playable beta uses rules version 1.0.0. The references below support this version; other tables may use different redeal, wrapping, movement, or scoring rules. A saved deal always keeps the rules it began with.

How the library is built