Intermediate difficulty
Harp
A nine-column two-deck Klondike with three redeals, but only one card at a time unless a King leads the group.
- Two-Deck Games
- Four-Suit Games
- Klondike Games
- Long Games
- Mobile-Friendly Games
- Tableau Builders
- Foundation-Building Games
| Decks | 2 decks |
|---|---|
| Suits | 4 |
| Typical length | 20 min |
| Difficulty | Intermediate |
| How much skill matters | High |
| How much the shuffle matters | Medium |
| Family | Klondike family |
There is no playable version of Harp on this site yet — this page covers its rules and strategy. The game suits a touchscreen well, so it is a good candidate once a build exists.
About Harp
Harp is a nine-column, two-deck Klondike with a distinctive pair of restrictions: cards move one at a time, except that a King-headed group may relocate into an empty pile as a unit.
That combination gives it a particular rhythm. Building long alternating runs is easy and then you cannot move them, so the game is about restraint and about setting up the one bulk move available to you. Three redeals soften it considerably — there is time to be patient, and patience is what it wants.
How to play
Two decks into nine piles of increasing length, top card face up and the rest hidden. Eight foundations build up in suit from Ace. Columns build down in sequence and alternating colour — but you may only move one card at a time, with a single exception: a group headed by a King may move into an empty pile as a unit. Three redeals are allowed, which is generous. Empty piles take a King or a King-headed sequence.
Strategy
The one-card-at-a-time rule is the real constraint and it makes long runs effectively permanent, so think before extending one. The exception is the lever: a King-headed group can relocate wholesale into an empty pile, which is the only bulk manoeuvre available and worth engineering deliberately. Three redeals mean patience genuinely pays — cycle the stock rather than forcing a bad tableau move. With nine piles hiding a lot of face-down cards, uncovering them is the early priority.
What works
- Three redeals give real room to be patient
- King-headed groups moving into empty piles is a satisfying bulk manoeuvre
- Nine columns and eight foundations give plenty of room
What to know
- One card at a time otherwise, so long runs become immovable
- Plenty of face-down cards across nine piles
- A long game at around twenty minutes
Frequently asked questions
- How many decks does Harp use?
- Harp is played with two standard decks shuffled together.
- Is Harp good for beginners?
- Harp is generally better suited to players who already know the basics of solitaire, as it involves more planning than a typical beginner game.
- Is Harp based more on luck or strategy?
- Harp rewards careful planning — skilled play meaningfully improves your odds of winning.
Others in this family
- Double Klondike
Klondike scaled up to two decks and nine tableau columns for a longer, more complex game.
- Easthaven
A Westcliff variant that deals a fresh row across every column when you stall, and admits only Kings to a space.
- Klondike
The best-known solitaire game: build tableau columns down in alternating colors and move cards up to four suit foundations.
- Klondike (Draw Three)
The stricter Klondike variant: the stock deals three cards at a time, and only the top card is playable.
- Thumb and Pouch
A more forgiving Klondike where cards build down onto any suit except their own, and any card can fill a space.
- Westcliff
Three rows of seven and one pass through the stock, but any card at all may take an empty column.
- Whitehead
A Klondike variant dealt entirely face-up, where tableau sequences build by same color instead of alternating color.