Rules
Limited Solitaire rules at a glance
- Use two standard 52-card decks, for 104 cards total.
- Deal 36 cards face up into twelve tableau columns of three cards each.
- The remaining 68 cards form the stock.
- Draw one card at a time from the stock to the waste.
- This version has one stock pass and no redeal.
- Eight foundations build upward by suit from ace to king.
- Tableau columns build downward by suit.
- Only one card may move at a time.
- Empty tableau columns accept any available single card.
- Win by moving all 104 cards to the foundations.
How to play
How to play Limited Solitaire
Limited Solitaire is a two-deck foundation builder from the Napoleon at St Helena family. Your job is to build eight foundations from ace to king by suit. Because two decks are in play, every suit has two foundation piles: two clubs, two diamonds, two hearts, and two spades.
On each turn, use an available card. That means the top card of any tableau column or the top card of the waste. Move it to a foundation if it is the next card needed in that suit, or move it to a tableau column if it builds down by suit. A 9 of hearts can go on a 10 of hearts. It cannot go on a 10 of diamonds, and it cannot jump onto a jack.
Background
What is Limited Solitaire?
Limited is a close relative of Forty Thieves. It keeps the same strict movement style: single cards only, same-suit tableau building, ace-up foundations, and a stock that does not come back for another pass. The main difference is the opening layout. Limited starts with twelve columns of three cards instead of ten columns of four.
That difference changes the texture of the game. You begin with more columns and a little less depth in each column, so the early board can feel more open. The stock is larger, though, and the single-card rule still means a neat same-suit stack is not portable. The game rewards patient unpacking rather than dramatic sequence moves.
Setup
The layout on this page
The tableau has twelve columns. Each column starts with three face-up cards, so the opening board shows 36 cards. The remaining 68 cards stay in the stock and turn one at a time to the waste.
Above the tableau are eight foundations. Empty foundations need aces. Once a foundation has an ace, it accepts the 2 of the same suit, then the 3, and so on through king.
Stock
How the stock and waste work
This version draws one card at a time. The newest waste card is the only waste card you can play. If you draw again, the old waste card is covered and cannot be reached unless the cards above it later move away.
There is no redeal. Drawing is therefore a decision, not just a way to reveal more cards. If the waste card can start a foundation, fill a useful empty column, or build down by suit, consider using it before you cover it.
Moves
Legal and illegal Limited Solitaire moves
Tableau building is same-suit and descending. If a column ends with the queen of clubs, the only card that can build onto it is the jack of clubs. The jack of spades has the wrong suit. The 10 of clubs has the right suit but skips a rank.
Only a single available card moves. Even if a column contains 10-9-8 of diamonds on top, you cannot move those three cards as a group. You must move the top card first, then the next top card if it has a legal destination.
FoundationAce of clubs starts either club foundation
Foundation5 of hearts onto 4 of hearts
Tableau9 of spades onto 10 of spades
Empty columnAny single available card
Illegal9 of hearts onto 10 of diamonds
IllegalMoving a same-suit sequence together
Foundations
How the eight foundations work
Foundations are permanent progress. Each foundation starts with an ace and builds upward in the same suit: ace, 2, 3, 4, and onward to king. Since two decks are used, each suit must be completed twice.
A2345678910JQK
Low foundation cards are usually safe to send home, especially aces, 2s, and 3s. Middle cards deserve a second look. A 9 of spades might be the foundation's next card, but it may also be the only tableau landing place for the 8 of spades.
Spaces
Empty columns are the heart of the game
Empty columns accept any available single card. That flexibility is what separates Limited from Corona-style play, where empty spaces are filled automatically from the stock. Here, an open column stays open until you choose what belongs there.
Treat a space as a tool, not a parking lot. It can hold a waste card before it gets buried, peel a blocker off a column, or create a stepping stone for a same-suit build. Filling it with a random king can be correct, but only if that king helps the next move.
Visibility
Why a face-up layout still has tension
All tableau cards are visible, so Limited is not about guessing what lies under a face-down card. The tension comes from access. A card can be visible and still unavailable if it is buried under two top cards that have nowhere to go.
The hidden part of the deal is the stock order. You know the remaining cards are there, but not whether a needed ace will appear before the column space you planned to save for it, or whether a useful connector will be covered before you can use it.
Strategy
Limited Solitaire strategy that keeps options open
Start by locating aces and low cards. Foundations are the only way to win, and early aces give later stock cards a place to go. Because there are two copies of every card, watch both foundation tracks of a suit. If one club foundation races ahead while the other is still waiting for an ace, the late ace may become awkward to free.
Use the twelve-column layout to create access. A shallow column can empty quickly, and that new space can do more work than a tidy stack. Before you build a card onto the tableau, ask whether the move exposes a low card, releases an ace, or preserves a space for the stock.
Be careful with attractive same-suit builds. A 10-9-8 run looks clean, but it still moves one card at a time. If the top card has no legal destination later, the cards beneath it may be locked even though the sequence is technically correct.
Draw with a purpose. The stock is larger than the opening tableau, and it has no redeal. When a waste card can be used, do not automatically cover it. The best move is often a quiet one: place a waste card into a space, move one blocker, then return to the foundation plan.
Mistakes
Common Limited Solitaire mistakes
- Drawing past a playable waste card because the stock still looks full.
- Forgetting that tableau builds by suit, not by alternating color.
- Assuming a same-suit run can move as a packet.
- Filling the first empty column without checking what it unlocks.
- Sending a useful tableau connector to a foundation too early.
- Ignoring the second copy of a suit foundation until the late game.
Winnability
Is Limited Solitaire winnable?
Limited Solitaire is not always winnable from a random shuffle. The extra columns make the opening tableau more flexible than Forty Thieves in some deals, but the one-pass stock and single-card movement can still trap key cards.
This page does not invent a win-rate number. A fair percentage would need to be measured against this exact implementation, including the 12-by-3 layout, one-pass stock, undo, hints, and manual empty-column fills.
Variants
Limited variants and nearby house rules
Limited belongs to the Napoleon at St Helena or Forty Thieves family, where small rule changes matter a lot. A version that allows sequence moves becomes much looser. A version that adds a redeal changes the stock from a one-way clock into a second-chance resource.
Corona is the closest named cousin: it uses a similar twelve-column shape, but the stock automatically fills empty tableau spaces. This page does not include that restriction. Empty columns stay available for player choice, which makes space management more deliberate.
This page also leaves out scoring, timers, guaranteed-winnable shuffles, automatic foundation play, and sequence movement. Those options can be fun, but each one changes the strategy enough that it should be described as a separate mode rather than hidden inside the rules.
Difficulty
Why Limited feels open but still strict
Limited can look friendlier than Forty Thieves because twelve columns create more top cards and more chances to open a space. That does not make it loose. The tableau still builds by suit, and each pile still releases only its top card.
The best deals feel like careful engineering: start foundations, empty a column, rescue a waste card, then use that card to uncover a buried low rank. The worst deals feel cramped even with twelve columns, because the exact suit connector you need is either buried or covered in the waste.
Nearby games
How Limited compares with Forty Thieves, Josephine, Indian, and Diplomat
Forty Thieves is the closest built page: ten columns of four instead of twelve columns of three, with the same same-suit and one-card discipline. Josephine relaxes the family by letting same-suit descending sequences move together, which makes packed runs far more useful.
Indian changes the tableau rule by allowing different-suit builds and hiding the first row, so it trades strict suit matching for reveal pressure. Diplomat keeps the two-deck foundation goal but uses rank-only row building, making it a better next stop if Limited's same-suit columns feel too severe.