Yukon Solitaire is a 52-card game with seven tableau columns, four suit foundations, and no stock pile. Build the foundations from Ace to King to win. Its defining rule is that you may move a face-up card together with every card below it, even when that group is out of order. Only the selected card must fit the destination.
If you know Klondike, that freedom changes how you read the table. A messy group can still be useful. You can play Yukon Solitaire while following this guide, which describes the Cards4.net rules and highlights its more permissive empty-column rule.
Yukon rules at a glance
| Feature | Rule on Cards4.net |
|---|---|
| Deck | 52 cards, no jokers |
| Tableau | Seven columns; all cards dealt at the start |
| Initial visibility | 31 face-up cards and 21 face-down cards |
| Stock and waste | Neither is used |
| Build on a column | One rank lower, opposite color |
| Move a group | Select a face-up card and carry every card below it |
| Empty column | Any face-up card or movable group |
| Foundations | Four piles, each built A to K in one suit |
Here, below means farther down the screen, toward the exposed end of a column. The card you select leads the group onto its new destination. You cannot leave behind some of the cards hanging below it.
Set up the seven columns
The column lengths are 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 cards. Their face-down portions contain 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 cards respectively. That leaves one face-up card in the first column and five in each of the other six.
There are no cards waiting to be drawn. When you move away the entire face-up portion of a column, its next hidden card turns over. Revealing those 21 hidden cards gives you access to ranks that may be needed elsewhere, but revealing everything does not itself complete the game.
The four foundations are separate from the tableau. Each starts with an Ace and continues with 2, 3, and so on through King in the same suit. Only a single exposed end card can move to a foundation; a visible card buried inside a group is not yet available for that move.
How unordered group moves work
On a nonempty column, the selected card must be one rank lower than the destination's exposed card and of the opposite color. Red suits are hearts and diamonds; black suits are clubs and spades. The cards traveling with the selected card do not need to form a descending or alternating sequence.
Suppose a column contains the face-up group 7♥, Q♣, 3♦, with 3♦ at its exposed end. You may select 7♥ and move all three cards onto an exposed 8♣. The 7♥ fits the 8♣, so Q♣ and 3♦ travel with it despite being out of order. The same group cannot go onto 8♦ because the leading 7♥ is also red.
You may instead select Q♣ and carry Q♣ with 3♦ onto an exposed K♥. You cannot extract Q♣ alone while 3♦ remains below it. This distinction explains many moves that look almost legal when you first switch from Klondike.
Empty columns and foundations
On Cards4.net, any face-up card or movable group may fill an empty Yukon column. You do not need a King. A common version, documented in BVS Yukon rules, reserves empty columns for Kings or King-led groups.
That difference makes an empty column useful immediately. You can park an awkward group there to uncover another card, then move it again when a better destination opens. Before filling the space, consider how you will free it afterward; an empty column is temporary working room, not just a place to store a King.
Cards4.net does not allow ordinary moves back from a foundation to the tableau. Before sending a card upward, check whether a lower opposite-color card still needs it as a landing place. Undo can reverse an earlier decision, but it is not a rule allowing free movement out of foundations.
Yukon Solitaire strategy
Choose a column whose next hidden card you want to expose. The first face-up card below it leads the group you need to move. Look for an exposed card of the opposite color and one rank higher to receive that group, or use an empty column. If the receiving card is buried, first work out how to free it.
Do not spend moves making every group look tidy. An unordered group is already movable if its leading card fits somewhere. What matters is whether the move opens a hidden card, frees a needed rank, or creates a useful empty column.
Keep track of what travels with a group. Moving a 7 onto an 8 may bring a King at the exposed end, which then blocks access to both cards until you find somewhere for the King. A legal move can therefore reduce your options. Inspect the whole group before moving its leading card.
Balance foundation progress with tableau access. An Ace has no lower card to support, but larger ranks may still be useful as destinations. For example, keep an exposed 8♣ on the tableau if you need it to receive a group led by 7♥. Once that group has another route, you can reconsider sending the 8♣ to its foundation.
Yukon compared with Klondike and Forty Thieves
| Game | Rules that shape your moves |
|---|---|
| Yukon on Cards4.net | No stock. Build down in opposite colors. Move unordered face-up groups. Empty columns accept any card or movable group. |
| Klondike | Uses a stock. Build down in opposite colors. Move ordered, alternating runs. Empty columns require Kings or King-led runs. |
| Forty Thieves | One pass through the stock. Build down in the same suit. Move one card at a time. Empty columns accept any single available card. |
The Klondike beginner guide explains ordered runs. The Forty Thieves guide shows why the ability to move only one card makes spare columns so valuable. Yukon gives you much more freedom to carry cards, but also more ways to carry a blocker into the wrong place.
FAQ
Can you move an out-of-order group in Yukon?
Yes. Select any face-up card and carry all cards below it. Only the selected card must fit the destination; the rest need not be in sequence.
Does Yukon have a stock pile?
No. All 52 cards are dealt into seven columns at the start, so new options come from rearranging columns and uncovering hidden cards.
Must an empty Yukon column start with a King?
Not on Cards4.net, where any face-up card or movable group can fill it. Other versions commonly require a King or a group led by a King.
Is a Yukon game won when every card is face up?
No. You still need to move all 52 cards to the four suit foundations. Full visibility helps planning but is not the winning condition.
Practice moving with a purpose
In Yukon, the useful question is where a group can go and what moving it will expose. Start with one column, find a destination for its face-up group, and follow that chain until you can turn over the next card. For uncovering cards through single-card plays, try the TriPeaks guide.