Intermediate difficulty
Quadrille
The Fives build down to Kings and the Sixes build up to Jacks, closing a ring around the four Queens.
Also published as Captive Queens, La Française, Royal Quadrille.
| Decks | One deck |
|---|---|
| Suits | 4 |
| Typical length | 10 min |
| Difficulty | Intermediate |
| How much skill matters | Low |
| How much the shuffle matters | High |
| Family | Standalone |
| Good for beginners | Yes |
There is no playable version of Quadrille 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 Quadrille
Quadrille — also published as Captive Queens — strips the Fives and Sixes out of the deck and makes them the foundations: the Fives descending in suit to the Kings, the Sixes ascending to the Jacks, so between them they consume the whole pack.
The Queens sit in the middle throughout, doing nothing at all. As the eight foundations grow they close in around them, which is where both of the game's names come from — a quadrille danced around four captive queens. It is almost entirely mechanical, with two redeals as the only decision, and it earns its place on charm rather than depth.
How to play
All four Fives and all four Sixes come out of the deck to form eight foundations, arranged in a ring with the Queens displayed in the middle. The Fives build downward in suit — five, four, three, two, Ace, King — and the Sixes build upward in suit to Jack. Between them the two halves of each suit account for every card. Turn the stock to a waste pile and play its top card to a foundation when it fits. Two redeals are allowed. The Queens are ornamental: they are enclosed by the growing foundations and never play.
Strategy
There is very little to decide — a card either fits a foundation or it does not, and the only lever you have is the two redeals. Spend the first pass taking everything available, and note which foundations are lagging, because the game is lost by one stalled suit rather than by a general shortage. Since the Fives descend and the Sixes ascend, each rank has exactly one home, so there is no placement judgement at all. Enjoy it for the shape rather than the challenge.
What works
- A genuinely charming layout and premise
- Two redeals give a stalled deal a real second chance
- Every card has exactly one destination — nothing to get wrong
What to know
- Almost no meaningful decisions to make
- The Queens are purely decorative and never play
- One lagging suit loses the game with everything else finished
Frequently asked questions
- How many decks does Quadrille use?
- Quadrille is played with a single standard deck.
- Is Quadrille good for beginners?
- Yes — Quadrille has straightforward rules and is a reasonable game to learn early on.
- Is Quadrille based more on luck or strategy?
- Quadrille is largely determined by how the cards fall — there's limited room for strategy to change the outcome.