Rules
Harp Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use two standard 52-card decks, for 104 cards total.
- Deal nine tableau columns, from one card in the first column to nine cards in the ninth.
- Only the top card of each tableau column starts face up.
- Eight foundations build upward by suit from ace to king.
- Tableau columns build downward by alternating color.
- A legal face-up tableau sequence can move together.
- Empty tableau columns accept only kings or king-led sequences.
- Draw the stock one card at a time to the waste.
- The stock has four passes total: the original pass plus three waste redeals.
- After the fourth pass, leftover waste cards are not recycled again.
- Win by moving all 104 cards to the foundations.
How to play
How to play Harp Solitaire
Harp Solitaire feels familiar if you know Klondike, but the scale changes your habits. There are two decks in play, nine tableau columns instead of seven, and eight suit foundations waiting above the board. Your job is to uncover hidden tableau cards, pack cards downward by alternating color, and send each suit upward from ace through king twice.
Start by looking for moves that reveal hidden cards. A red 9 can take a black 8, a black queen can take a red jack, and a face-up packed sequence can move as one unit when its first card fits the destination. Empty columns are reserved for kings or legal sequences led by kings, so opening a column is useful only if you can spend it well.
The stock gives Harp its rhythm. Draw one card at a time to the waste, where only the top card is playable. When the stock empties, turn the waste over for the next pass. You get four passes total, which is more forgiving than Gargantua but still finite.
Background
What is Harp Solitaire?
Harp is a two-deck Klondike-family patience game. It keeps Klondike's core language: hidden tableau cards, alternating-color builds, ace-to-king foundations, a stock, and a waste pile. The difference is that everything is larger. Two decks create 104 cards, two copies of each suit foundation, and a longer game that asks you to manage duplicate ranks.
Harp is especially close to Gargantua. On this site, the board layout and tableau rules match, but Harp uses four stock passes while Gargantua uses two. That one rule changes the feel. Harp gives you more time to use the waste, but the extra passes can tempt you into postponing useful moves until the tableau becomes crowded.
Setup
Harp setup and layout
- Column 1: 1 card, top card face up
- Column 2: 2 cards, top card face up
- Column 3: 3 cards, top card face up
- Column 4: 4 cards, top card face up
- Column 5: 5 cards, top card face up
- Column 6: 6 cards, top card face up
- Column 7: 7 cards, top card face up
- Column 8: 8 cards, top card face up
- Column 9: 9 cards, top card face up
- Stock: the remaining 59 cards, face down
- Waste: starts empty and receives one stock card at a time
- Foundations: eight empty suit foundations, two per suit
Foundations
How the eight foundations work
Foundations build upward by suit. An ace starts a foundation, the matching 2 follows, then 3, and so on through king. Because there are two decks, each suit has two foundation slots. Either hearts ace can start either hearts foundation.
Duplicate foundations give you room, but they also create timing questions. If one spade foundation reaches the 9 while the other has not started, spade cards near the bottom of the tableau may still be blocked. Opening both copies of a suit often gives future waste cards more ways home.
Tableau
Tableau building and hidden cards
Tableau cards build down by alternating color, not by suit. A red 6 can land on either black 7. A black 6 can land on either red 7. A sequence can move together only when every card in that visible sequence already follows the same descending alternating-color rule.
Hidden cards drive progress. The ninth column starts with eight hidden cards under its top card, and those buried cards can include aces, kings, or low ranks needed by a stalled foundation. A move that reveals a card is usually stronger than a move that only tidies visible stacks.
Moves
Legal and illegal Harp moves
A card must be available before it can move. In the tableau, available means face up and not covered by another card. In the waste, only the top card is available. Foundations accept one card at a time, while the tableau can accept a full visible packed sequence.
LegalRed 7 onto black 8 in the tableau
LegalA packed K-Q-J alternating-color sequence into an empty column
LegalA waste ace to either empty foundation of the same suit
LegalA face-up 5 of clubs to a club foundation already topped by the 4
IllegalBlack 7 onto black 8
IllegalA queen, by itself, into an empty tableau column
IllegalA sequence with a same-color break inside it
IllegalMoving a face-down card before it has been uncovered
The empty-column rule is strict. A single non-king cannot move into an empty column, even when that move would expose a useful hidden card. You need a king, or a legal face-up sequence whose first card is a king.
Stock
The four-pass stock rule
This Harp page uses draw-one stock with four passes total. Pass 1 is the original stock. When the stock empties, the waste turns over for pass 2. The same can happen for pass 3 and pass 4. Once pass 4 is exhausted, there is no fifth pass.
More passes do not make the waste harmless. Each draw still covers the previous waste card, and a card that is easy to use now may return at a worse moment later. Treat early passes as scouting and setup, then slow down as the pass counter approaches four.
Empty columns
Why king spaces matter
An empty column is the best organizing tool in Harp. It can move a king away from a deep column, carry a long king-led sequence, or create a landing place that reveals several hidden cards over the next few moves.
The trap is filling a space just because you can. A king that reveals nothing, carries no useful sequence, and blocks a future transfer can make the board stiffer. Before using a space, ask what hidden card or blocked sequence the move is meant to release.
Foundation order
The rank path from ace to king
Every foundation follows the same suit path. An empty foundation needs an ace. A foundation topped by the 6 of diamonds needs the 7 of diamonds next. It cannot take a 7 of hearts, and it cannot skip to the 8.
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Physical deck copies do not matter after the shuffle. The 5 of clubs from one deck can build on a club foundation that began with the ace from the other deck. Suit and rank are what decide legality.
Strategy
Harp Solitaire strategy for the four-pass version
Reveal first, decorate later. Harp gives you more stock time than Gargantua, so it is easy to make tidy visible stacks and assume the waste will solve the rest. The hidden tableau is still the heart of the game. Deep-column reveals usually beat moves that only make the surface look orderly.
Keep foundation progress balanced. Aces and twos are usually safe because they open lanes. Middle cards deserve a pause. If moving a black 8 to a foundation removes the only landing place for a red 7 that could uncover a hidden card, wait until the foundation move creates more value than it removes.
Use the stock passes differently. Pass 1 and pass 2 are good for learning the order and taking obvious foundation starters. Pass 3 should turn that knowledge into concrete tableau releases. Pass 4 is the deadline, so draw only after checking whether the current waste card can move now.
Save empty columns for kings with a job. The best king move exposes a buried card, carries a useful descending sequence, or creates a bridge between two tableau areas. A random king in a free column can consume space without giving the board any new choices.
Mistakes
Common Harp Solitaire mistakes
- Using the early stock passes as permission to delay every playable waste card.
- Filling an empty column with a king that does not reveal or unlock anything.
- Moving middle cards to foundations before checking their tableau value.
- Advancing one duplicate foundation far ahead while the matching foundation stays closed.
- Selecting a broken sequence and expecting it to move as a packet.
- Playing too quickly on pass 4, when a covered waste card may never return.
Difficulty
Why Harp feels different from Klondike
Klondike has one deck, seven columns, and four foundations. Harp doubles the deck and foundations, then expands the tableau to nine columns. The result is not simply a longer Klondike game. Duplicate ranks can help, but they can also clog the tableau because the board needs room for two versions of the same suit climb.
Four stock passes make Harp gentler than many limited-redeal two-deck games. The puzzle is still substantial because 104 cards must reach foundations, and hidden cards can keep the exact low rank or king you need out of reach for a long time.
Winnability
Is Harp Solitaire winnable?
Harp is not guaranteed from a random shuffle. A deal can bury low foundation cards under long columns, hide several kings until the good spaces are gone, or arrange the waste so that the final pass gives you no useful card at the right time.
Skill still matters. Four passes reward memory, patience, and careful timing. This page does not quote a win-rate percentage because a meaningful number would need to be measured against this exact implementation, including four stock passes, king-only spaces, and movable packed sequences.
This version
What this Harp page includes
- Included: two decks and eight ace-to-king suit foundations.
- Included: nine tableau columns dealt one through nine cards.
- Included: top-card-only opening reveal, with automatic flips after uncovering.
- Included: alternating-color tableau builds and packed sequence movement.
- Included: king-only empty columns.
- Included: draw-one stock with four passes total.
- Included: undo, restart, hints, and the shared win or stuck dialog.
- Not included: draw-three stock, unlimited redeals, scoring, timed challenges, or guaranteed-winnable deals.
Variants
Harp variants, Gargantua, and Big Harp
Harp sits in the same neighborhood as Gargantua and Double Klondike. The important rule on this page is the stock: Harp receives four passes total. Gargantua on this site uses the same two-deck, nine-column layout with two stock passes, making it tighter and less forgiving.
Do not confuse Harp with Big Harp. Big Harp is another name for Pyramide, a separate two-deck patience game that uses ten cascades and a different setup. The names sound close, but the layouts are not interchangeable.
House rules can change the empty-column rule or the stock count. Allowing any card into an empty column makes Harp much looser. Unlimited redeals turn the stock into a sorting aid rather than a clock. This implementation keeps the Klondike-style king spaces and the four-pass stock so the game has both room and pressure.
Nearby games
How Harp compares with Klondike, Gargantua, and Batsford
Klondike is the parent shape: one deck, seven columns, four foundations. Harp expands that into two decks, nine columns, and eight foundations while keeping the familiar alternating-color tableau rule.
Gargantua is the closest match, but the stock is harsher there: two passes instead of four. Batsford is another two-deck Klondike-family game, yet it adds a tenth column, a one-king reserve, and no redeal. Harp is the friendlier large-tableau option when you want two-deck Klondike decisions without the strictest stock limit.