Hard difficulty
Streets and Alleys
Beleaguered Castle without the head start — the four Aces are buried in the tableau and you have to dig them out.
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| Decks | One deck |
|---|---|
| Suits | 4 |
| Typical length | 12 min |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| How much skill matters | High |
| How much the shuffle matters | Low |
| Family | Standalone |
There is no playable version of Streets and Alleys 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 Streets and Alleys
Streets and Alleys is Beleaguered Castle with the courtesy removed. Same eight piles, same suit-agnostic building, same absence of any stock or reserve — but the four Aces are buried in the tableau rather than sitting ready as foundations, so you begin with nothing started and 52 cards in the way.
That single change does a lot of work. In Beleaguered Castle you are managing four growing foundations from move one; here you may spend a third of the game just getting the first Ace free, and every move you make to reach it is a move that clutters the piles you will need later.
How to play
Eight piles, all face up — seven cards in each of the upper four and six in each of the lower four, using the whole deck. Unlike Beleaguered Castle, the Aces are not handed to you: they are somewhere in the tableau and getting them out is the first task. Piles build down with suit ignored, one card at a time, and the foundations build up in suit to King. An emptied pile accepts any card. No stock, no redeal.
Strategy
Everything hinges on the Aces, and where they sit is visible from the start — so read the layout and plan the excavation before touching anything. Empty piles take any card and are the only working space you get, so making one early is usually worth more than any foundation progress. Because building ignores suit, long descending runs form easily and then become immovable one card at a time; keep runs short enough to dismantle. This is the harder sibling of Beleaguered Castle and the reference rates it Difficult for exactly the Ace reason.
What works
- Everything face up — a complete puzzle with no hidden information
- Empty piles accept any card, so working space is genuinely useful
- Digging out the Aces gives the opening a clear objective
What to know
- Rated Difficult — noticeably harder than Beleaguered Castle
- One card at a time with no stock or redeal
- Suit-agnostic runs form easily and then cannot be dismantled quickly
Frequently asked questions
- How many decks does Streets and Alleys use?
- Streets and Alleys is played with a single standard deck.
- Is Streets and Alleys good for beginners?
- Streets and Alleys is generally better suited to players who already know the basics of solitaire, as it involves more planning than a typical beginner game.
- Is Streets and Alleys based more on luck or strategy?
- Streets and Alleys rewards careful planning — skilled play meaningfully improves your odds of winning.