Double Rail Solitaire
How to play Double Rail
Double Rail is a two-deck solitaire game of the Forty Thieves family in which only five cards are dealt, one to each of five piles, and the piles are built down regardless of suit with runs moving together.
Five piles of one card built down regardless of suit, where runs move together, with one pass through the stock.
The goal of Double Rail
Move all 104 cards onto the eight foundations, two for each suit, each built up from the Ace to the King.
How to set up Double Rail
Two standard decks are shuffled together, 104 cards in all. Five cards are dealt face up, one to each of five piles, and the other 99 form the stock.
Double Rail rules
Piles build down one rank at a time regardless of suit. Any card in a pile moves together with every card above it, as long as they run down one rank at a time, whatever their suits. An empty pile takes any card or run.
Turn the stock onto the waste one card at a time, once through with no redeal. Only the top waste card is in play.
A card on a foundation never comes back into play.
Click a card to send it to its foundation, else onto the first pile it builds on, else into an empty pile; a card clicked in a pile takes the cards above it along. Drag a card or a run to choose yourself. With Autoplay off in Settings, only a drag moves a card.
How to win at Double Rail
You win when all 104 cards are home. With the stock and waste empty and every pile in order, Auto complete, on by default in Settings, plays the rest for you. The game is stuck when no card can move and the rest of the stock brings up nothing that can.
Double Rail strategy tips
Five piles are all the room there is for the 99 cards that come off the stock, so most of the game is played on the waste. Any card one rank lower fits on a pile, so lay waste cards on the piles whenever they fit, and the cards under them come back into play.
A run moves as one whatever its suits, so a long pile is never stuck. To reach a card inside a pile, move the cards above it onto another pile or into an empty one.
A King fits only on an empty pile or its foundation. Keep a pile empty when you can, so a King turned from the stock does not bury the waste under it.
Double Rail questions and answers
How do you play Double Rail solitaire?
Shuffle two decks together, deal five cards face up, one to each pile, and keep the other 99 cards as the stock. Build the piles down regardless of suit, move runs as one, and go through the stock once, one card at a time. You win when all 104 cards are home.
What is the difference between Double Rail and Forty Thieves?
Double Rail deals five cards, one to each of five piles, so 99 cards go to the stock rather than 64. Its piles build down regardless of suit and a run moves as one whatever its suits, where Forty Thieves builds in suit and moves one card at a time. Both go through the stock once.
Can you move more than one card at a time in Double Rail?
Yes. Any card in a pile moves together with all the cards above it, as long as they run down one rank at a time. The suits do not matter, and an empty pile takes a run as readily as a single card.
Can every Double Rail deal be won?
The solver cannot tell. Searching up to a million positions per deal, it proved none of the 101 Double Rail deals it tried winnable, so there is no list of winnable deals and no Winnable switch. Every deal is an ordinary shuffle. The Hint button still searches for a winning line, and suggests the move it ranks best when it finds none.
Is there a daily Double Rail game?
Yes. Double Rail has a daily board, the same deal for everyone that day. Log in to play it.