Expert difficulty
Russian Solitaire
A stricter Yukon variant where tableau sequences must build by suit instead of alternating color.
- One-Deck Games
- Four-Suit Games
- Expert Solitaire
- Yukon-Style Games
- Long Games
- Mobile-Friendly Games
- Strategy Games
- Card Puzzle Games
- Tableau Builders
- Foundation-Building Games
| Decks | One deck |
|---|---|
| Suits | 4 |
| Typical length | 20 min |
| Difficulty | Expert |
| How much skill matters | High |
| How much the shuffle matters | Low |
| Family | Yukon family |
There is no playable version of Russian Solitaire 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 Russian Solitaire
Russian Solitaire is Yukon with the building rule tightened from alternating colours to strict suit, and it is a substantially harder game for it. Same staircase deal, same absence of any stock, same permission to lift a face-up card along with everything stacked on it — but now only one suit in four will take each card.
The result is a game where the generous move rule is not a luxury but a necessity: you spend most of it shifting large untidy blocks around to expose a single card. With nothing held back in a stock, everything depends on reading the deal correctly at the start.
How to play
The deal is Yukon's: seven piles in a staircase, then four extra face-up cards onto each of the six right-hand piles, and no stock at all. The movement rule is Yukon's too — any face-up card can be lifted with everything piled on top of it, however disordered. What changes is the building: down strictly in suit, not in alternating colours. Foundations climb each suit from Ace, and an emptied column takes only a King or a run headed by one.
Strategy
Suit-strict building with no stock is a severe combination — every card you will ever get is already on the table, and only one suit in four will accept any given card. That makes the group-move rule essential rather than merely useful: you will be relocating large ragged blocks constantly just to expose one card. Plan the whole excavation before you start, because with no stock there is nothing to bail you out, and a position that closes is closed for good. Getting the low cards of each suit free early is what decides most games.
What works
- Suit-strict building makes every move consequential
- The Yukon group-move rule allows unblocking manoeuvres nothing else permits
- No stock means no waiting on luck
What to know
- Considerably harder than Yukon; many deals are not winnable
- A closed position is permanent — there is no stock to draw on
- Empty columns accept only Kings
Frequently asked questions
- How many decks does Russian Solitaire use?
- Russian Solitaire is played with a single standard deck.
- Is Russian Solitaire good for beginners?
- Russian Solitaire is generally better suited to players who already know the basics of solitaire, as it involves more planning than a typical beginner game.
- Is Russian Solitaire based more on luck or strategy?
- Russian Solitaire rewards careful planning — skilled play meaningfully improves your odds of winning.