Scorpion Solitaire: build down in suit, move any face-up card with what is on top of it, and complete four runs from King to Ace.
What is Scorpion Solitaire?
Scorpion Solitaire is a one-deck solitaire game in which you sort seven columns into four complete runs, one per suit, from King down to Ace. Cards are built down in the same suit, and you may move any face-up card together with every card on top of it. A finished King-to-Ace run leaves the table by itself.
It borrows from two better-known games: the suit runs that clear themselves come from Spider, and the free group moves come from Yukon. Almost every card is face up from the start, so most of the work is spotting cards that block each other and untangling them in the right order.
How to play Scorpion Solitaire
The deal: 49 cards go into seven columns of seven. In the first three columns, the three cards at the top are face down and the four below them are face up. The other four columns are fully face up. That leaves 9 face-down cards. The last 3 cards stay in the stock.
Building: a card goes onto the card of the same suit that is one rank higher, so the 8 of hearts goes only on the 9 of hearts. You may pick up any face-up card, and everything lying on it comes along, in any order. Only the card you pick up has to fit.
Empty columns: only a King can go into an empty column, again with whatever sits on top of it. When the last face-up card leaves a face-down card, it turns up by itself.
The stock: tap it once, whenever you choose, to deal its 3 cards, one onto each of the first three columns. There is no second deal.
Winning: when a column ends in a complete run of one suit from King down to Ace, those 13 cards move to a foundation automatically. Make four such runs to win.
Scorpion Solitaire strategy
Every card has exactly one home. With building in suit, the 6 of clubs can only ever go on the 7 of clubs, plus an empty column if the card is a King. So for each card the question is simple: is its parent at the end of a column? Scan the table for those moves first.
Find the knots. The deals that are lost usually have a card lying on top of the card it needs to reach, or two cards that each block the other. If the 7 of spades sits on the 6 of spades, the 6 can never reach the 7 until the 7 moves to the 8 of spades. Spot these early and work out which card has to leave first.
Open the face-down cards. The 9 hidden cards are all in the first three columns. Moves that reach them deserve priority, because each one may be the card that unties a knot elsewhere.
Place the Kings. A King that was dealt first into its column, at the head of it, is already where it needs to be. A King further down, with other cards between it and the head of the column, needs an empty column. Since only Kings may fill one, an empty column with no King ready is wasted. Clear a column only when a King, and the cards it carries, can move into it.
Choose when to deal the stock. You need the 3 stock cards to finish, but they land on the ends of the first three columns. Deal when those column ends are cards you do not need to move soon, or when you are out of other moves.
Use undo to test. Moves in Scorpion often look harmless and lock a suit three moves later. Undo has no limit, so try a line, see what it frees, and go back if it closes more than it opens.
Scorpion rules in our version and other variants
Our Scorpion has one rule set and no menu options: seven columns of seven, three face-down cards in each of the first three columns, a 3-card stock, building down in suit, and only Kings in empty columns.
Other variants exist, for example one where any card may fill an empty column, which makes the game easier. For runs in suit with two decks, try Spider Solitaire on Hevagames; for free group moves in alternating colours, try Yukon Solitaire.
Where Scorpion Solitaire comes from
Scorpion is an old patience game described in classic card game books. Where its name comes from is not recorded. It sits between Spider and Yukon in the family of solitaire games: like Spider it removes whole suits as complete runs, and like Yukon it lets you move a card with everything on top of it.
Building only in suit gives each card a single place to go, so a deal is won or lost on the order of the moves.
Play Scorpion Solitaire on Hevagames
Our Scorpion runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers, with nothing to download. Drag a card and the cards on top of it come along, or tap a card and then where it should go. A double tap moves it to the column ending in the next higher card of its suit, or to an empty column. Tap the stock or press D to deal it. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move between piles and Enter picks up and places; Z or Backspace undoes and N deals a new game.
Undo has no limit and each undo counts as a move. The deal in progress, with the last 60 undo steps, is saved in your browser and is still there after a reload. The top bar shows moves, time and score.
Scoring: 100 points for each completed King-to-Ace run and 5 points for each face-down card turned over. A win adds a bonus of 1500 minus 2 per move and minus half a point per second, never below zero. The timer starts with your first move, and your best score is kept on your device.
How to play
- 149 cards are dealt into seven columns; the first three columns start with three face-down cards.
- 2A card goes on a card of the same suit one rank higher.
- 3You can move any face-up card together with every card on top of it. Only a King can go into an empty column.
- 4A complete run of one suit from King down to Ace leaves the table by itself. Make four to win.
- 5The last 3 cards wait in the stock; tap it once to deal them onto the first three columns.
Controls
Tips
- Uncover the face-down cards in the first three columns early.
- Keep the stock for when it can free a stuck column.
- Kings are the only cards that fill an empty column, so plan where each King will go.
