Crescent Solitaire

Crescent Solitaire is a single-player card game that you play in your browser, and this page lets you play it for free. The board uses two standard 52-card decks, 104 cards in all, laid out as 16 piles in two curved rows around a row of 8 foundations. Your goal is to move every card onto the foundations, building each suit up from its Ace and down from its King.

Only the top card of a pile can move, and only one card at a time. The tool tracks your moves and time, offers a hint, lets you shuffle up to three times, and saves your game in your browser. You do not need an account to start playing. Every deal has a number, so a crescent solitaire game can be replayed or shared.

How to play crescent solitaire online

1. Find the 8 foundations in the middle row. Each suit has an Ace foundation (up triangle) next to its King foundation (down triangle).
2. Look at the top card of each pile. It is the only card that can move.
3. Move a card by dragging it to a pile or foundation. You can also click or tap the card, then click or tap the destination.
4. If a card has no foundation move, clicking it selects it with a blue outline and shows its legal targets in green. Click the selected card again to deselect it.
5. Click or tap a top card that fits a foundation to send it there automatically.
6. Press Hint when you are unsure. A gold outline shows the first step of a line that ends with a card on a foundation.
7. When no move helps, press Shuffle (n). The number shows how many shuffles you have left.
8. Press Undo to take back any move or shuffle.

Use the Wrap select in the toolbar to choose “Kings and Aces wrap” or “No wrap”. Changing it starts a new game. Keyboard players can click or Tab to the board, use the arrow keys to move the cursor, and press Enter or Space to act. Press N for a new game, U or Ctrl/Cmd+Z to undo, H for a hint, S to shuffle, and F for fullscreen. Each deal has a Deal # that you can share by adding ?seed=123 to the address.

What are the crescent solitaire rules?

The game starts with one Ace and one King of each suit on the 8 foundations. The other 96 cards are dealt face up into 16 piles of 6. You may move only the top card of a pile, one card at a time, to a foundation of its suit that it continues, or onto another pile’s top card if that card is the same suit and exactly one rank higher or lower. Nothing can be moved onto an empty pile, and empty piles are not refilled.

How do the foundations work in crescent solitaire?

Each suit has two foundations, and each holds 13 cards. The Ace foundation builds up from A to K, and the King foundation builds down from K to A. Foundations do not wrap, so a King foundation never continues past the Ace. Foundation cards never go back onto piles: the only move out of a foundation is a transfer to the other foundation of the same suit, described below.

How does the wrap setting change crescent solitaire moves?

By default, King and Ace count as neighbours on piles, so a King can go on an Ace and an Ace on a King, as long as the suit matches. Setting Wrap to “No wrap” removes those links. Wrap applies only to pile-to-pile moves, never to foundations. In the worked example of deal 7, the King of clubs can go onto the Ace of clubs with wrap on, but not with wrap off.

How do foundation transfers work in crescent solitaire?

A transfer moves a top card from one foundation of a suit to the other foundation of that same suit. This is allowed when their top ranks are next to each other, with the Ace foundation’s top rank one lower than the King foundation’s. In deal 7, the 6♠ moves from the Ace foundation onto the King foundation’s 7♠. The Ace foundation then shows 5♠ and the King foundation shows 6♠, so another transfer is still possible. The starting Ace or King of a foundation never moves.

What does the shuffle do in crescent solitaire?

A shuffle moves the bottom card of every pile with two or more cards to the top. Piles with zero or one card stay the same. You get three shuffles per game. In deal 7, the first shuffle moves the 2♥ from the bottom of pile 1 to the top, so the pile changes from 2♥ Q♥ 10♣ 3♦ 8♦ 5♣ to Q♥ 10♣ 3♦ 8♦ 5♣ 2♥.

When is a crescent solitaire game won or stuck?

You win when all 104 cards are on the foundations. The game searches all possible pile moves and transfers. If no card can ever reach a foundation, the game counts the position as stuck. With a shuffle left, the status line says “No moves left — shuffle or undo.” With no shuffles left, an overlay appears with the buttons Undo last move, New game, and Close. The game does not promise that every deal can be won.

Crescent solitaire strategy and tips

Cards on foundations never return to the piles, so a foundation move cannot be taken back except with Undo. Before sending a card up, check whether a pile is waiting on it as a same-suit neighbour. Emptying a pile is also permanent, since nothing can be placed on an empty pile. Before you clear a pile, check what each card beneath it could still do.

Shuffles are your safety net. Since undo gives back a shuffle, you can try one, check the result, and undo it if it does not help. Use Hint to find a line that reaches a foundation, then play it yourself so you learn the pattern. Choose your Wrap setting before you start, because changing it starts a new game.

Frequently asked questions

Is crescent solitaire free, and do I need to sign up?

Yes, crescent solitaire is free to play on this page. You do not need to sign up or create an account to start a game.

Can I play crescent solitaire on a phone?

Yes. Touch works like the mouse: drag a card to its target, or tap a card and then tap the destination. The board scales to fit a 320 px wide screen.

Is my crescent solitaire game saved?

Yes. The game in progress is saved in your browser after every move, including the cards, moves, shuffles used, undo history, and elapsed time. It is restored when you reload the page. Nothing is sent anywhere, so clearing your browser’s stored data will remove the saved game.

Can I share a crescent solitaire deal with someone else?

Yes. Each deal has a Deal # shown in the stats and kept in the address bar. Opening the page with ?seed=123 gives the same deal.

Does crescent solitaire keep score?

No. The game shows your move count and time, and it keeps your best win time separately for Wrap and No wrap. Undoing a move lowers the move count, and the timer pauses when the tab is hidden.

Can every crescent solitaire deal be won?

No. The game does not guarantee that a deal can be won. If the search finds no path to a foundation, the status line tells you that no moves are left.

What does “No moves left” mean?

It means no card can reach a foundation through pile moves or transfers. Shuffle if you have shuffles left, or use Undo to go back. If you have no shuffles left, the overlay lets you undo, start a new game, or close the message.

More games

• FreeCell: every card is visible and four free cells help you plan.
• Spider Solitaire: another two-deck game, building King-to-Ace runs in one suit.
• Klondike Solitaire: the classic one-deck solitaire with a stock and seven columns.
• TriPeaks Solitaire: a quick game where you clear three peaks of cards.
• Golf Solitaire: clear seven columns one rank up or down.
• Pyramid Solitaire: remove pairs of cards that add up to 13.