Rules
Calculation Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use one standard 52-card deck.
- Start four foundations with an ace, a 2, a 3, and a 4.
- The ace foundation builds by ones: A, 2, 3, and so on to king.
- The other foundations build by twos, threes, and fours, wrapping after king.
- Suits do not matter. Only rank matters.
- The current stock card is always shown face up while the stock has cards.
- Select the current card to build it to a matching foundation or place it on a waste pile.
- After the current card moves, the next stock card appears automatically.
- Only the top card of each waste pile is playable.
- Waste cards cannot move between waste piles.
- There is one stock pass and no redeal.
- Win by completing all four foundations through king.
How to play
How to play Calculation Solitaire
Calculation Solitaire looks like a foundation game, but it does not behave like Klondike or FreeCell. You are not sorting suits upward from ace to king. You are feeding four rank patterns: one counts by ones, one by twos, one by threes, and one by fours.
The deal begins with four starter cards already on the foundations: A, 2, 3, and 4. The next stock card is shown as the current card. If its rank is the next rank needed by one of the foundations, you can build it there. If it does not fit, or if you choose to save it, place it on one of the four waste piles. The next stock card appears automatically after that move. Later, the top card of a waste pile can move to a foundation when its rank is needed.
The pressure comes from the waste piles. They are not tableau columns you can rearrange. Every card placed on a pile covers the cards below it, so a careless placement can bury the exact rank a foundation will ask for next.
Sequences
The four Calculation Solitaire foundation sequences
The easiest way to learn Calculation is to keep the four sequences visible until they feel natural. Each foundation uses all 13 ranks and ends on a king, but the middle of the order changes dramatically.
A foundationBy 1'sA, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K
2 foundationBy 2's2, 4, 6, 8, 10, Q, A, 3, 5, 7, 9, J, K
3 foundationBy 3's3, 6, 9, Q, 2, 5, 8, J, A, 4, 7, 10, K
4 foundationBy 4's4, 8, Q, 3, 7, J, 2, 6, 10, A, 5, 9, K
The wrap is the part that surprises new players. The by-twos foundation reaches Q and then needs A. The by-threes foundation reaches Q and then needs 2. The by-fours foundation reaches Q and then needs 3. Once you start seeing those turns in the road, waste placement becomes much less random.
Layout
The Calculation Solitaire layout
This page uses four foundation piles, one stock, one current-card slot, and four waste piles. The foundations are the only piles that can be completed. The waste piles are temporary storage, but they are strict temporary storage: only the top card can leave.
The current card is already face up, so you do not need to press a draw button. Select the current card, then choose a foundation or waste pile. You can also select a waste-pile top card and send it to a matching foundation. That small pause is important because it makes the storage decision deliberate instead of letting the stock bury cards automatically.
Legal moves
What moves are legal?
A card can build to a foundation only when its rank equals that foundation's next required rank. If the by-fours foundation shows 4, it needs 8. Any 8 can go there because suits are ignored. A 7 cannot go there, even if it is the same suit as the top card.
The current card may be placed on any of the four waste piles. A waste-pile top can move to a foundation, but it cannot move to another waste pile. Cards below the top of a waste pile are locked until every card above them has been built away.
Strategy
Calculation Solitaire strategy that protects future moves
Good Calculation play starts with one habit: read the next ranks before placing a card. If the foundations need 2, 4, 6, and 8, then those four ranks are urgent. You usually want them visible, not buried under unrelated cards.
Treat each waste pile like a queue with a fragile top. One useful approach is to group cards by how soon they might be needed. A pile holding near-term ranks should stay shallow. A pile holding late-sequence cards can tolerate more cover because those cards are not expected immediately.
Watch the four sequences as clocks moving at different speeds. The ace foundation is predictable, but the by-twos, by-threes, and by-fours foundations jump through ranks in a way that can make a card look useless right before it becomes essential. A queen, for example, is not only a late card for the ace foundation; it is an early milestone for the by-twos, by-threes, and by-fours foundations.
Empty waste piles are valuable. They let you start a new stack when a card does not belong with the exposed tops you already have. Spending an empty pile on a harmless card can cost you later when a dangerous rank needs to stay available.
Mistakes
Common Calculation Solitaire mistakes
- Burying a rank that one of the foundations already needs.
- Forgetting that suits are irrelevant and rejecting a legal card because the suit looks wrong.
- Stacking all awkward high cards together without checking whether queens and jacks are needed early.
- Using every empty waste pile too soon.
- Looking only at the ace foundation and ignoring the wrap points on the other three foundations.
- Assuming a waste card can be moved sideways later; it cannot in this version.
Examples
Legal and illegal move examples
If the ace foundation starts on A, a 2 is legal there. If the 2 foundation starts on 2, a 4 is legal there. If the 3 foundation shows 9, it needs Q next. If the 4 foundation shows Q, it needs 3 next because the sequence wraps around after king-style counting.
An illegal move is trying to build a 5 on the ace foundation when it still needs 2, or moving the top card of one waste pile onto another waste pile. Placing the current stock card on a waste pile is legal; moving old waste cards around to tidy them up is not.
Winnability
Is Calculation Solitaire winnable?
Calculation Solitaire is not always winnable. A deal can become blocked when important ranks are trapped under cards that cannot yet build. The one-pass stock gives you no second tour through the deck, so a waste-pile mistake can stay painful for the rest of the game.
That said, Calculation is not pure luck. The player has meaningful control over all four waste piles. Strong play keeps short-term ranks exposed, separates incompatible cards, and notices when a rank that looks late in one sequence is early in another. We do not publish a win percentage here because the honest number should come from this exact implementation after enough deals are measured.
Variants
Calculation Solitaire variants and house rules
The classic idea is stable: four foundations advance by calculated intervals while the player manages waste piles. The small details can vary. Some rule sets deal cards directly from the stock and ask the player to place each one immediately. Some allow different numbers of waste piles. Some digital versions automate obvious foundation plays.
This site keeps the rules visible but removes the extra draw click: the current stock card is face up, you select the card you want to move, choose a destination, and then the next stock card appears automatically after the current card moves. There are no redeals, no waste-to-waste moves, and no suit restrictions. If a future relaxed mode adds more waste piles or automated moves, it should be labeled separately because it changes the strategy.
Comparison
How Calculation compares with other solitaire games
Calculation is closer to a storage puzzle than a tableau builder. Klondike and Canfield ask you to uncover hidden cards and build suits. FreeCell asks you to manage temporary spaces. Calculation asks a different question: can you keep the right ranks accessible until four unusual foundation clocks ask for them?
If you like the compact pressure of Accordion Solitaire, Calculation has a similar puzzle-first feel. If you like Canfield, the changing foundation rhythm will feel familiar, but Calculation is stricter about storage because waste cards cannot be rearranged once buried.