Free Games How to play Yukon Solitaire
Yukon deals every one of the 52 cards at the start, spread across seven columns — there is no stock pile waiting in reserve. Column one holds a single face-up card; each column after that holds a run of face-down cards topped with five face-up ones, so column seven starts eleven cards deep. Above the columns sit four empty foundations, one for each suit.
Click a face-up card to pick it up. Every card sitting on top of it comes along too, whatever those cards happen to be — they do not need to be in any order. Then click the column where you want to drop the group: it needs a card one rank higher and the opposite colour, or an empty column if you are carrying a King. Clear a column down to a face-down card and it turns face up by itself. To send a card up to a foundation, pick it up and then click the foundation you want it on, building each pile from Ace to King. Picking a card up and clicking it a second time puts it back down, so nothing is ever committed by accident. Fill all four foundations and you have won.
The one rule that makes Yukon different
In classic Klondike Solitaire, you can only pick up a tidy run of cards in strict descending, alternating-colour order. Yukon drops that restriction: pick up any face-up card and everything sitting on top of it travels with it, no matter what those cards are. A red Nine with a stray black King and a red Four sitting on top of it can still move as one group, as long as the red Nine itself has somewhere legal to land. That single change is why Yukon deals open up so many more moves than Klondike, and it is the whole point of the game.
How to move a card here — no dragging
Moving cards on this site is gentle on the hands: there is no dragging at all. Click a card to pick it up — it lifts with a clear highlight. Click where you want it to go and the whole group moves there together. Change your mind? Click the same card again to put it back down, or press Escape.
Some Yukon deals cannot be won, and that is not on you
Unlike this site’s Klondike Solitaire, Yukon has no stock pile to fall back on, so every deal has to work itself out using only the seven columns. That means some shuffles genuinely have no path to a finish. If a deal turns out that way, it says nothing about how you played it — press Undo to try a different order of moves, or the obvious “New game” button for a completely fresh deal. Neither one is a defeat; they are just how this particular game is played.
A real Hint button, an Undo that never runs out
Stuck? Press the large Hint button. It finds a genuine move, highlights exactly what to click, and explains it in plain language — for example, “move the Ten of Clubs onto the Jack of Hearts — that frees the card underneath.” Press Hint again and it makes the move for you. There is no limit on how many times you can ask. The Undo button steps back through every move, one at a time, for as long as you like.
Play with a keyboard, or make everything bigger
You do not need a mouse. Tab or the arrow keys move between the cards and piles, Enter or Space picks up and drops, Escape puts a card back, H asks for a hint and U undoes a move. Every card and pile announces itself, and every move is read aloud. Use the A− and A+ buttons and the High contrast button — in the round control at the corner of the screen — to resize the cards or sharpen them to crisp black and red on white, the same as anywhere else on this site.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you play Yukon Solitaire?
- All 52 cards are dealt into seven columns at the very start. Click a face-up card to pick it up, along with every card sitting on top of it, then click a column where the bottom card of that group can land: one rank higher and the opposite colour, or an empty column if you are carrying a King. To send a card up to a foundation, pick it up and then click the foundation you want it on, building each pile from Ace to King. Fill all four foundations and you win.
- What makes Yukon different from ordinary Solitaire?
- One rule, and it changes everything. In classic Klondike Solitaire you can only pick up a tidy run of cards in order. In Yukon, a card brings along every card sitting on top of it, no matter what those cards are or what order they are in. That single change opens up far more moves than Klondike allows, and it is the whole point of the game.
- Is there a stock pile, or extra cards dealt later?
- No. Every one of the 52 cards is dealt face up or face down at the start, split across the seven columns. There is no stock and no waste pile to turn through — the whole game is on the board from the first click.
- Do I have to drag the cards?
- No, and that is on purpose. Dragging can be hard on the hands and wrists. Here you simply click a card to pick it up, then click where you want it to go. If you change your mind, click the same card again to put it back down, or press Escape.
- Is there a timer, a score, or a way to lose?
- No. There is never a clock and never a score to beat. Some Yukon deals genuinely cannot be finished — that is a fact about the shuffle, never about how you played it. When that happens, Undo can take you back to try a different order of moves, and a fresh deal is always one click away on the “New game” button.
- What if I get stuck?
- Press the big amber Hint button. It finds a real move, highlights exactly what to click, and explains it in plain words. Press it again and it makes the move for you. There is no limit on hints, and the Undo button steps back through every move you have made, as many times as you like.
- Can I play without a mouse, or make the cards bigger?
- Yes to both. Tab or the arrow keys move between cards and piles, Enter or Space picks up and drops, Escape puts a card back, H asks for a hint and U undoes a move. The A− and A+ buttons and the High contrast button, in the round control at the corner of the screen, work here the same as everywhere else on the site.
- Is it really free, with no download?
- Yes — it plays right in your web browser with nothing to install, no sign-up and no email. There are no pop-ups and nothing that sits over the cards. To keep the site free I may show a few small, clearly-marked ads off to the side.
- Can every deal be won?
- Yes. Every deal here has been played through to a win before it reaches you, so there is always a way. A wrong order can still leave a board stuck, and Undo steps back as far as you like.
Looking for more? Try our classic Klondike Solitaire, the looser Golf Solitaire, or browse all of our free games.
