Yukon Solitaire - Free Online Card Game

Yukon Solitaire is the wild cousin of Klondike. It shares the same basic goal — build four foundation piles from Ace to King by suit — but throws out two of Klondike’s most fundamental constraints. There is no stock pile; every card in the deck is dealt to the tableau at the start. And when you move a face-up card, every card stacked on top of it comes along for the ride, regardless of whether those cards form an ordered sequence. These two rule changes transform the feel of the game entirely, producing a solitaire variant that is simultaneously more open and more punishing than its famous relative.

History of Yukon Solitaire

Yukon Solitaire does not have a clearly documented origin, but its name and mechanics suggest a link to the Canadian Yukon Territory, the same gold-rush region that lent its name to the Klondike variant. Prospectors and settlers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries invented countless card game variations to pass time in remote camps, and Yukon likely evolved as a more aggressive spin on the Klondike game they already knew.

The game was first formally documented in patience anthologies during the mid-20th century and gained wider recognition in the 1990s and 2000s as digital card game collections sought to offer players alternatives to the ubiquitous Klondike. Yukon found a loyal audience among players who had mastered Klondike and were looking for a solitaire game that demanded deeper planning.

Several variants of Yukon have developed over time. Russian Solitaire is the most notable, applying Yukon’s rules but requiring same-suit (not alternating-color) building on the tableau, making it considerably harder. Australian Patience is another relative that combines elements of Yukon and Klondike.

How to Play Yukon Solitaire

Yukon uses a single standard 52-card deck. The playing area consists of seven tableau columns and four foundation piles. There is no stock pile and no waste pile.

Setup

Begin by dealing seven tableau columns exactly as in Klondike: column one gets one card, column two gets two cards, and so on up to seven cards in column seven. Only the top card of each column is face up; the rest are face down. Then deal the remaining 24 cards face up across columns two through seven, placing four additional face-up cards on each of those six columns. When the deal is complete, all 52 cards are on the tableau. Column one has a single face-up card, while column seven has 11 cards (six face-down and five face-up).

Objective

Move all 52 cards to the four foundation piles, one per suit, building each from Ace up to King. The game is won when every card has been placed on its corresponding foundation.

Moving Cards

Here is where Yukon diverges from Klondike. You may pick up any face-up card on the tableau, and every card on top of it moves with it as a group. The cards in that group do not need to be in descending order or alternating colors. The only rule is that the card you are placing must go onto a tableau card that is one rank higher and the opposite color. For example, you can move a red 9 (along with any cards stacked on top of it, in any order) onto a black 10.

When a face-down card is exposed, flip it face up. An empty column can only be filled with a King or a group starting with a King. Cards are moved to the foundation one at a time from the top of a tableau column.

Strategy Tips for Yukon Solitaire

Yukon rewards careful planning more than almost any other solitaire game. Without a stock pile to draw from, every card is already in play, and every move has consequences. These strategies will help you navigate the open tableau:

• Flip face-down cards as your top priority. The single most important objective in Yukon is uncovering hidden cards. Every face-down card is a mystery that limits your planning. Make moves that expose face-down cards even if they seem suboptimal in other ways.
• Empty a column early. An empty column is extraordinarily valuable because it gives you a space to park Kings and rearrange card groups. Focus on clearing the shortest columns first, since they require removing fewer cards.
• Be careful about burying useful cards. Because you can move unordered groups of cards, it is easy to accidentally stack a needed Ace or Two deep under a pile of unrelated cards. Before making a group move, check whether any of the cards being moved will block critical plays.
• Build foundations steadily. Unlike Klondike, where you can redraw from the stock if you run out of moves, Yukon gives you no second chances. Move cards to the foundation as soon as they are safe to move, but do not rush cards that might be needed on the tableau as building blocks.
• Think about the entire column, not just the top card. When you move a card in Yukon, everything above it goes too. A seemingly good move for the top card might drag along five unrelated cards that clutter the destination column.
• Use Kings to control empty columns. Kings are the only cards that can fill an empty column. Having a King available when a column opens up lets you maintain that valuable empty space for as long as you need it.
• Play longer columns first. Longer columns hide more face-down cards and offer more opportunities for productive moves. Working the longer columns early gives you the most information and the most options.

Yukon Solitaire Win Rates and Difficulty

The theoretical solvability of Yukon Solitaire is estimated at around 80% or higher, comparable to Klondike. However, practical win rates tell a different story. Most players win somewhere between 10% and 25% of their games, because the open tableau creates a false sense of freedom. Moves that look productive in the short term often lead to dead ends several turns later. Experienced players who slow down and plan ahead can push their win rates significantly higher.

What makes Yukon especially interesting from a difficulty perspective is that the game gives you all the information you need from the start. There is no randomness after the initial deal. Every loss is theoretically avoidable with better play, which makes Yukon one of the most satisfying solitaire games to master over time.

Yukon vs Klondike: Key Differences

Players coming from Klondike will find Yukon familiar in layout but dramatically different in play. The two key rule changes are:

• No stock pile. In Klondike, the stock provides a safety net and a source of new plays. In Yukon, everything you have is already on the table. There is no drawing when you get stuck.
• Unordered group moves. Klondike requires you to move only properly sequenced groups of cards (descending rank, alternating colors). Yukon lets you move any face-up card along with everything on top of it, creating powerful but dangerous move options.

These changes shift the game from a reactive experience where you respond to drawn cards to a proactive puzzle where every piece is visible. If you enjoy the strategic depth of Klondike but want a solitaire game that demands even more careful planning, Yukon is the natural next step.