Play Yukon Solitaire Online for Free
Yukon Solitaire is Klondike with the safety net removed. There is no stock pile: all 52 cards are on the table from the first move, 31 of them face up. The defining rule is that you may pick up any face-up card and move it together with every card stacked on top of it, whether or not that stack is in any order. Only the card you grab has to fit.
How to Play Yukon Solitaire
- All 52 cards are dealt into seven columns: column 1 gets a single face-up card, and columns 2 through 7 get one to six face-down cards under five face-up cards. That is 31 cards face up and 21 face down.
- Build the tableau down in alternating colors - a red 9 goes on a black 10, never on a red 10.
- The Yukon rule: pick up any face-up card and every card above it comes along, sequenced or not. Only the card you grab has to land legally, on a card one rank higher of the opposite color.
- When the face-up cards above a face-down card are moved away, that card flips face up automatically.
- Send Aces to the four foundations and build each one up by suit to the King, one card at a time.
- Only a King - or a group whose bottom card is a King - may fill an empty column.
- Win by moving all 52 cards to the four foundations.
Yukon Solitaire Rules
Objective
Build all four foundations from Ace to King, one suit each.
Setup
Seven columns of 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 cards. Column 1 is one face-up card; each of columns 2 to 7 holds one to six face-down cards under five face-up cards - 31 face up, 21 face down. No stock, no waste.
Tableau
Build down in alternating colors. Any face-up card may move with everything stacked on top of it, sequenced or not; only the bottom card of the group has to fit the destination.
Foundations
Ace to King by suit, one card at a time, exactly like Klondike.
Scoring
Most players simply play to win; this version tracks moves and time.
Strategy
Yukon has no stock, which changes everything: all 52 cards are on the table from the first second, so the game is planning rather than discovery. Start by reading the columns - they hold 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 cards, with 21 of them face down - and identify which face-down cards are cheapest to reach. The movement rule is unusually generous: any face-up card moves together with everything stacked on top of it, in order or not, so you can lift a whole unordered pile onto a King and sort it out underneath later. Use that to free buried cards rather than waiting for perfect sequences. Build down in alternating colours, send Aces to the foundations early, and remember that an empty column takes a King and nothing else.
Common Mistakes
Players coming from Klondike look for a stock that is not there, and then treat the face-down cards as if a lucky draw will save them - nothing will. The second mistake is forgetting the empty-column rule: only a King may fill a space here, so clearing a column without a King ready can leave it useless for a long time. The third is moving cards onto the foundations too eagerly; a Two on the foundation is often a Two you needed as somewhere for a red Three to sit. Yukon is harder than Klondike for exactly this reason - there is no second chance from the stock.
Winning
All 52 cards moved to the four foundations.
Tips & Strategy
- Free face-down cards first - a move that flips one is worth more than a move that merely looks tidy.
- Use legal-but-messy group moves deliberately: dragging a ragged stack can expose several face-down cards at once.
- Check every column before touching the foundations - a buried Ace is often more useful as a landing pad.
- Only Kings fill empty columns, so empty a column only when you have a King ready to drop into it.
- The right-hand columns hold the deepest face-down stacks; strip those early while you still have room to manoeuvre.
- Because any face-up card carries the pile above it, lift an unordered stack onto a King rather than waiting for a clean sequence.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Yukon different from Klondike?
No stock pile, 31 cards visible instead of 7, and you can move any face-up card with everything on top of it rather than only tidy sequences. Empty columns still take Kings only.
Can I move a stack that is out of order?
Yes. As long as the bottom card of the group lands on a card one rank higher of the opposite color, whatever rides on top can be in any arrangement.
What can go in an empty column?
A King, or a group whose bottom card is a King. Unlike Spider, random cards cannot park in an empty column.
Is there a stock pile?
No. All 52 cards are on the tableau from the first move - 31 face up and 21 face down - which makes Yukon a game of pure arrangement rather than luck of the draw.
What makes Yukon different from Klondike?
There is no stock: all 52 cards are dealt at the start, with 21 of them face down. Yukon also lets any group of face-up cards in a column move together, whether or not they form an ordered run, which makes for far more ambitious moves.
Can any card move into an empty column in Yukon?
No. As in Klondike, only a King - or a group led by a King - may occupy an empty column. This is the main constraint in a game that is otherwise very free.
Is Yukon harder than Klondike?
Yes. Without a stock to fall back on, the opening deal decides a lot, and there is no stock to fall back on, so casual players lose most hands. Careful planning wins far more than that, but the game punishes impatience much harder than Klondike does.
Is Yukon Solitaire free to play here?
Yes. This is a free Yukon Solitaire card game with no download, no sign-up and no pop-up between you and the board - open the page and the first deal is already on the table, with Undo and New Deal if you want to try another one.
Is yukon solitaire always winnable?
Not every deal. Some shuffles bury a card where no legal sequence of moves can reach it, and with no stock there is nothing to fall back on. What makes Yukon fairer than it looks is that you can see every position from the start, and any face-up card carries everything above it - so the deals that are winnable are usually winnable by planning rather than by luck.
Is yukon solitaire hard?
Harder than Klondike Draw 1 and easier than Scorpion. There is no stock to bail you out and an empty column only accepts a King, which makes early moves matter more; but the ability to move an unordered pile onto any face-up card gives you far more room to manoeuvre than Klondike does. If you enjoy games where the whole picture is visible from the start, Yukon is the most interesting variant on this site.
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