The seven active stacks in the tableau progress from one card to seven cards, with only the top card of each pile facing up and the others facing down. The aim of solitaire is to create four foundation piles, one for each card suit – with each foundation pile ascending from ace to king.

There are three elements to the starting layout of a game of solitaire – the ‘tableau’ of seven active stacks, four foundational piles (which begin empty), and the ‘stock’ pile, consisting of the rest of the deck. Some popular variants of the solitaire format include: For example, spider solitaire requires two full decks of cards and is played with 8 foundation piles. Some require more cards than conventional variants. Some variants – for example, pyramid or scorpion solitaire – involve radically different layouts and rules to win. Solitaire is an umbrella term for many different solo-player card games and there is a range of variants of the game. However, other sources suggest the card game originated in the 18th-century, in the Baltic region of Europe and possibly arose as a form of fortune-telling. With the earliest reference of the game appearing in 1746, the original solitaire is believed to have been created by a French aristocrat during his time captured in the Bastille. The end goal is to stack all the cards in the deck onto the foundation piles – when you have no cards left on the tableau or the reserve pile, the game is won.

In the traditional version of the game, the short-term objective is to play and expose as many cards as possible to open up the game. Solitaire is an umbrella term for many single-player card games that involve concentration, skill, and a set layout of cards. Solitaire – also known as Patience, Klondike, or Cabale – is a famous solo card game in which a player tries to clear a table of cards by stacking them based on numerical order, color, and, ultimately, suit.

Simple solitaire rules