Alaska Solitaire Objective
To win Alaska Solitaire, you have to arrange the tableau cards into four foundation piles that ascend in order (ace to king) and are separated by suit.
Alaska is a variation of Yukon Solitaire, but it is more difficult. While Alaska allows you to arrange tableau cards in ascending and descending order, you must also order them by suit, which is more restrictive than Yukon where you arrange them in alternating colors.
Alaska Solitaire Quick Play Rules
- Build sequences in either ascending or descending order by the same suit.
- Ranks don’t wrap, meaning that you can’t place an ace on a king or a king on an ace.
- All cards below a moved card move with it as a group.
- Only a king or group that starts with a king can be moved into an empty column.
- Build same-suit foundation piles starting with an ace and ending with a king.
Alaska Solitaire Setup
The gameplay area for Alaska Solitaire looks similar to how you set up classic Solitaire, but this more difficult Solitaire variation has no stockpile or waste pile. Plus, the tableau contains more face-up cards layered on top of hidden cards:
- Tableau: The tableau is the main gameplay area. You must arrange cards in the tableau by suit, but they can be in descending or ascending order. Using a standard 52-card deck, the layout features seven columns. The first column has one face-up card, and each subsequent column adds one additional facedown card, culminating in six facedown cards in the seventh column. Five face-up cards are placed on top of the last facedown card in each column.
- Foundation piles: To the left of the tableau, you’ll have space set aside for four vertical foundation piles—one for each suit. These piles are built by transferring cards from the tableau, beginning with an ace and stacking them in ascending order up to the king.
How to Play Alaska Solitaire
The goal of Alaska Solitaire is to move all the cards from the tableau into four foundation piles, separated by suit and ascending in order, using these rules:
- Arrange cards by suit and in descending or ascending order. You can sequence cards in the tableau in either direction by rank order—ascending (ace to king) or descending (king to ace)—and you have to arrange cards by suit. For example, you can build a sequence, such as 8♠-7♠-6♠-5♠-4♠ or 8♦-9♦-10♦-J♦. You cannot build a sequence with mixed suits even if the ranks are in order, such as 10♠-9♣-8♠-7♠-6♦ or 6♦-7♣-8♦-9♥.
- You can move any face-up card no matter where it’s located in a tableau column, but the cards below it will move with it. In most Solitaire card games, only cards at the bottom of a column or properly sequenced cards can be moved. In Alaska Solitaire, however, a face-up card can be moved even if it’s buried in a column. The caveat is that the cards that follow after it move along with it. You just have to follow the sequencing rule of descending or ascending in order by the same suit. For example, if you want to move a group that begins J♦-8♣-6♥-10♣-Q♥, you can move it on top of a Q♦ for a sequence of Q♦-J♦-8♣-6♥-10♣-Q♥.
- Kings cannot be paired with aces in any direction. Although you can build rank in ascending or descending order, aces cannot be placed on a king, and a king cannot be placed on top of an ace. Most cards have two options for placement. For example a 10♣ can be placed on either a 9♣ or a J♣, but a king cannot be paired with an ace, only a queen.
- Only a king or a group of cards that begins with a king can fill an empty column. Although kings can’t be placed on top of aces, they are the only card that can fill an empty column. Either a single king, a king sequenced properly with other cards, a king with unsequenced cards following it can be placed into an empty column.
- Turn over hidden facedown cards after you uncover them. You need to uncover hidden cards to get them into play. So if you remove enough cards in a column to reveal a facedown card, you can make it a playable card by turning it face up.
- Build foundation piles ascending in order by suit. You start each foundation pile with an ace, then you continue building them in ascending order, ending with a king, and separated by suit.
- Use the undo button to fix mistakes. Even though this has more flexibility than Yukon, Alaska is still a difficult variation. Especially as you begin to learn the game and test strategies, you might make mistakes. So the undo button is useful to reverse the moves you made and get you into a position where you can move forward in the game.
Alaska Solitaire Strategy
No matter how difficult the variation, Solitaire strategies can help you play smarter and win more often, especially when playing difficult versions like Alaska. To increase your chance of winning try these strategies:
- Plan for a cascade of moves. You don’t have a stockpile or waste pile to help you out when you get blocked from moving, so don’t just plan to make a move. Instead, select a move that offers you the most beneficial cascade of moves. Look for chain reactions that will uncover hidden cards, free up columns, and create more future moves.
- Mix orders as a last resort. Mixing sequence orders may offer flexibility, but if you switch back and forth between ascending and descending order, you take up more space in tableau columns than if you just worked in one direction. Plus, too many cards in ascending order could impact your ability to place the cards into their foundation pile.
- Move groups of cards to get to hidden cards. Because you can move any card within a column, you can move an entire group of face-up cards to reveal a hidden card. Hidden cards are valuable to get into play to offer you more options. So while unsequenced cards may follow as a unit when you move a card deep from a column, you can still open more options for play.
- Keep columns in play unless you have a king. Because only kings can be placed into empty columns, you don’t want to clear a column unless a king can be placed in it. Clearing a column without a moveable king reduces your tableau area, reducing your ability to arrange cards.
- Move cards to their foundation piles continuously. Because you build sequences in the tableau by suit, you don’t have to rely on keeping tableau cards in play to continue sequence building. Instead, clear out columns or clear up sequences by moving cards to their foundation piles as soon as they are available.
Alaska Solitaire offers a challenge, and if you feel like you have it mastered, try playing Yukon Solitaire or the more difficult variation, Russian Solitaire. No matter what kind of challenge or variation you’re looking for, you can find a range of Solitaire games in a wide array of difficulty levels to play for free on Solitaire Bliss!
