Rules
Addiction Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use one standard 52-card deck.
- Remove the four aces; they become the four gaps on the board.
- Deal the remaining 48 cards face up into four rows of thirteen spaces.
- A first-column gap can be filled by any 2.
- A later gap can be filled only by the next higher card of the same suit as the card on its left.
- Gaps after kings are dead because no card comes after a king.
- Gaps after other gaps are also dead until the left gap is filled.
- You get three shuffles that preserve already-correct left-side sequences.
- Win by arranging all four suits from 2 through king, with a gap at the end of each row.
How to play
How to play Addiction Solitaire
Addiction Solitaire is a one-deck gap game. The aces are removed before play, leaving four empty spaces in a face-up grid. Those spaces are the only places cards can move. Each move slides one card into one gap, and the rule for that gap depends entirely on what is immediately to its left.
If a gap is at the start of a row, it can accept any 2. Once a row has a 2, the next gap in that row wants the 3 of the same suit. A gap after the 3 of clubs wants the 4 of clubs. A gap after the queen of hearts wants the king of hearts. The row is complete when it reads 2 through king in one suit, with the remaining gap sitting harmlessly at the end.
That simple rule creates the whole puzzle. You are not building foundations, drawing from a stock, or moving long tableau packets. You are steering four empty spaces so they keep landing beside useful cards instead of dying after kings.
Background
What is Addiction Solitaire?
Addiction Solitaire belongs to the family often called Gaps, Spaces, Montana, or Montana Patience. These games remove the aces and use the holes they leave as movable work spaces. The goal is usually to sort the remaining cards into suit sequences, but the exact redeal and shuffle rules change from one source or software version to another.
The name "Addiction" fits the digital version especially well. A position can look almost solved, then one gap lands after a king and the board freezes. One more reshuffle might save it, or it might simply scatter the missing connector. The game is quick to understand, but it has a stubborn rhythm that invites another deal.
Layout
The Addiction layout on this page
- The board has four horizontal rows and thirteen spaces per row.
- All non-ace cards are face up from the beginning.
- There is no stock pile, waste pile, foundation area, reserve, or hidden card.
- The status bar tracks ordered cards, gaps, shuffles, and moves.
- The shuffle button keeps correct left-side runs and redeals only the unlocked area.
Sequence
The row you are trying to build
A finished row has one suit in exact order. The ace is not part of the row because the ace was removed to create a gap. The row starts at 2 and ends at king. The last space is empty.
2345678910JQKgap
The suit assigned to a row is not fixed at the start. If the first card in a row becomes the 2 of spades, that row is now trying to become spades from 2 to king. A different row may become hearts, clubs, or diamonds depending on which 2 reaches its first gap.
Moves
Legal and illegal moves
To test a move, read the gap, not the card you want to move. A gap at the far left asks for a 2. A gap somewhere else asks for the next card after the card on its left, in the same suit. If the gap is after the 9 of diamonds, only the 10 of diamonds fits.
Legal2 of hearts into the first space of any row
Legal7 of clubs into a gap after the 6 of clubs
Illegal7 of clubs after the 6 of spades
IllegalQueen after king
Dead gapAny gap immediately after a king
Dead gapAny gap immediately after another gap
A gap after a king is dead. A gap after another gap is also unusable, because there is no card on the left to define what should come next. When several gaps are dead, the deal may still be alive if another gap can start or extend a useful suit run.
Shuffles
How the three shuffles work
This page gives each deal three shuffles. A shuffle does not restart the whole game. It first checks each row from the left and locks any correct sequence that begins with a 2 and continues upward by suit. Those locked cards stay exactly where they are.
Every other card is gathered with the remaining gaps and redealt randomly into the unlocked spaces. That means a shuffle can rescue a board with dead gaps, but it also can move useful loose cards away from where you wanted them. Spend shuffles carefully.
Scoring
How progress is counted here
The main progress number is ordered cards out of 48. A card counts as ordered only when it belongs to the correct left-side run of its row. A random 8 of spades sitting after a 7 of spades somewhere in the middle looks promising, but it does not count until the row is connected from its 2.
Moves count card slides and shuffles. Undo restores the previous board without adding a move. Restart returns the same shuffled deal to its opening layout, while New game gives you a fresh deal.
Strategy
Addiction Solitaire strategy that changes the board
Your first priority is usually to get 2s into first-column gaps. A row cannot become a permanent ordered run until it starts with a 2. If a 2 move also creates a gap beside a useful low card, it may start a chain: 2, then 3, then 4, and suddenly one row has real structure.
Protect gaps from kings. A king at the right edge is harmless, but a gap immediately after a king cannot accept anything. Sometimes you have to move a king because it is the only legal card, but do not casually create king gaps while a more productive extension is available.
Extend connected runs before polishing loose fragments. A sequence in the middle of a row may look tidy, but the shuffle only preserves a sequence connected from the left. A correct 2-3-4 at the start of a row is stronger than a pretty 8-9-10 somewhere else.
Use shuffles when the gaps stop working, not just because the board looks messy. A messy board with one live low-card gap may still improve. A clean-looking board with four dead gaps needs help immediately.
Mistakes
Common Addiction Solitaire mistakes
- Moving a card into a gap just because it is legal, without improving a left-side run.
- Spending a shuffle while several useful gap moves are still available.
- Creating a gap after a king when another live gap could extend a suit.
- Forgetting that suits must match after the first card of a row.
- Trying to preserve middle sequences that a shuffle will not actually lock.
- Ignoring first-column gaps, which are the only way to start permanent rows.
Winnability
Is Addiction Solitaire winnable?
Addiction Solitaire is not always winnable from a random shuffle. It gives full information, but the move rule is narrow. If gaps settle after kings and the missing 2s or connectors cannot reach the right places, the deal can run out of life.
This page avoids quoting a fixed win rate because a useful number should come from this exact version: three preserving shuffles, one-card gap moves, no ace returns, and random deals. Different apps use different shuffle or redeal rules, so their statistics would not automatically apply here.
Difficulty
How difficult is Addiction Solitaire?
Addiction sits in an interesting place. It is more transparent than Klondike because every card is visible. It is less forgiving than FreeCell because you cannot store cards freely or move sequences. The only movement comes through four gaps, and those gaps can become useless very quickly.
The game rewards planning, but it also has a strong shuffle factor. Good play means recognizing which rows are worth protecting, when a live gap is precious, and when a reshuffle is the correct way to stop a dead board from staying dead.
Variants
Addiction, Gaps, Spaces, and Montana variants
The names around this family overlap. Gaps and Spaces often describe the same aces-removed mechanism. Montana is an older patience name with closely related rules. Digital Addiction versions commonly add a limited shuffle or redeal button because it gives the game a cleaner short-session rhythm.
Variants may change how many redeals are allowed, whether correct sequences are preserved, whether gaps are placed after each preserved sequence, or whether the cards are redealt without random shuffling. This page states its version plainly: three random preserving shuffles, no hidden cards, no stock, and one-card moves into gaps.
Nearby games
How Addiction compares with FreeCell, Yukon, and Spider
Addiction and FreeCell are both open-information games, but they use space differently. FreeCell gives you four storage cells and empty tableau columns. Addiction gives you four gaps that demand exact cards. FreeCell often asks, "Where can I park this card?" Addiction asks, "What card does this gap want next?"
Yukon and Spider are tableau sequence games with large packet movement. Addiction is much more restrained. It has the same satisfaction of seeing suits fall into order, but the route is tighter: one card, one gap, one exact next rank.