Algerian Patience Solitaire Game Review

Algerian Patience Solitaire Game Background

Algerian Patience Solitaire is a solitaire game played with two sets of playing cards (or about 8 suites). Your task is to rearrange these two decks in order, with the foundation piles on the left being arranged from ace to king and the other from king to ace. Cards in the tableau can be placed on top of cards of the same set that is one value higher or lower. Repeat the process for as long as you can until you’ve sorted all the cards on the foundation pile.

This game was developed by RavalMatic.

How to Play Algerian Patience Solitaire

To select, left click with your mouse or tap on the touchscreen with your fingers. On the welcome screen, select the play button on the bottom right corner to begin.

Select a card, then drag and drop them to any valid location on the foundation piles or tableau.

Basic Gameplay Advice

Starting Layout

The game uses two sets of a standard deck. You begin with eight empty foundation piles. Four of these to the left are arranged from ace to king (marked with an A) while the remaining four on the right are arranged from king to ace (marked with a K). Below the foundation piles are the eight columns of the tableau; four of the columns have a pair of cards each and the remainder only one.

The remaining cards are in reserve, either found in the deal pile on the bottom right corner or on the six stacks that are nine cards deep.

Basic Rules

Your goal is to arrange all the cards on the foundation deck according to suite and in the correct order shown. Move the cards around to bring them to the foundation piles. You can only select and move the topmost card in any of the piles on the tableau.

You can temporarily move cards onto blank spots in the tableau or on top of another free card of the same suit, provided that it is either one value higher or lower than it. You can create chains of cards of the same suit that alternate between values (e.g. A, 2, 3, 2, 4, 5, 4, 3) this way.

If you run out of cards to move on both the reserves or the column, select the deal pile to add new cards to the reserve piles. You can deal up to four times. Note that the last deal goes to the tableau columns instead of the reserve pile.

The game ends when all the cards are on the foundation piles. If you get stuck, select the X button on the top right corner to restart the game.

Advanced Playing Tips & Strategy

As the name implies, this is a game of patience. Be prepared to replay the game again and again before you win. On top of that, to maximize your chances of winning, you’ll need to hunker down and think each of your moves through before you make them

There is no undo button, so one mistake can cost you the entire game. Look closely at all the cards you currently have and analyze your options carefully before deciding on your moves.

As much as possible, see if you can leave at least one or two columns free of cards to maximize the number of moves you can make. Indeed, at the start of the game, making at least one free column should be the first thing you should attempt. Ideally, you should have at least two; this is the minimum number of empty columns you need to reverse a column of identical cards.

Educational Aspects

This game hones a player’s logical thinking and forward planning skills.

Player Age Recommendations

This game is suited for older school-aged children and above. We recommend this game for solitaire fans and players who want an easygoing yet mentally stimulating card game to pass the time.