Four Seasons Solitaire
How to play Four Seasons
Four Seasons is a one-deck Canfield solitaire with no reserve, five tableau piles built down regardless of suit one card at a time, and a single pass through the stock.
No reserve, five piles built down in any suit one card at a time, and one pass through the stock.
The goal of Four Seasons
Move every card onto the four foundations, building each one up by suit from the rank the deal turns up, past the King to the Ace.
How to set up Four Seasons
The first card starts its suit's foundation, and its rank is the one all four foundations start from. One card is dealt face up to each of the five tableau piles, and the other 46 cards form the stock. There is no reserve.
Four Seasons rules
Tableau piles build down one rank at a time regardless of suit, and a King may go on an Ace. Only the top card of a pile can move, one card at a time.
Any card that can move may fill an empty pile: the top card of another pile or the top card of the waste. An empty pile may also stay empty.
Turn the stock one card at a time onto the waste. Only the top waste card is in play. There is no redeal, so you go through the stock once.
The foundations build up by suit from the starting rank to the King, then on through the Ace to the rank below it. A card on a foundation never comes back into play.
Click a card to play it: to its foundation if it fits, otherwise onto the first pile it builds on, and only then into an empty pile. Drag a card to choose where it goes yourself. With Autoplay off in Settings, only a drag moves a card.
How to win at Four Seasons
You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. Once the stock and the waste are empty and every pile is in order, Auto complete, on by default in Settings, moves the remaining cards up for you. The game is stuck when no card can move and turning the stock brings up nothing that can.
Four Seasons strategy tips
The stock is turned only once. A waste card you pass over is covered by the next one and comes back into play only when every card above it has been played.
An empty pile is the one place any card can wait. Keep one free when you can, so that a card you will need later does not have to be buried on the waste.
A card in a pile can go home only once every card above it has moved off. Before you build on a card, check that its foundation will not need it before the cards you cover it with.
Four Seasons questions and answers
How do you play Four Seasons solitaire?
Deal one card to start the foundations and one to each of five tableau piles, and keep the rest as the stock. Build the piles down regardless of suit, one card at a time, and turn the stock one card at a time, just once. The foundations build up by suit from the first foundation card's rank, and you win when all 52 cards are on them.
What are the other names for Four Seasons?
Four Seasons is also known as Corner Card, Vanishing Cross and Cross Currents. All of them are the same game: five piles built down regardless of suit, no reserve and one pass through the stock.
Why are the five piles in a row rather than a cross?
Four Seasons is usually laid out as a cross of five piles with the foundations in its corners. Here the piles stand in a row, four under the foundations and the first to their left, as in the other Canfield games, so the cards are the same size as in Canfield. Where a pile stands makes no difference to the play.
What is the difference between Four Seasons and Canfield?
Canfield deals a thirteen-card reserve and four piles built down in alternating colours, turns the stock three cards at a time and lets you go through it as often as you like. Four Seasons has no reserve and five piles built down regardless of suit, moves one card at a time and turns the stock one card at a time, just once. In both, the first foundation card sets the rank every suit starts from.
How many times can you go through the stock in Four Seasons?
Once. The stock is turned one card at a time, and there is no redeal when it runs out.
Can every Four Seasons deal be won?
No. Tested on 100 shuffled Four Seasons deals, the game's solver proved 32 winnable in the search a hint gets and found none lost; it could not settle the other 68. A proved deal took a median of six shuffles and more than a second to find, too long to keep you waiting for one, so every deal is an ordinary shuffle and there is no Winnable switch. The Hint button still asks the solver for a winning line before it suggests a move.
Is there a daily Four Seasons game?
Yes. Four Seasons has a daily board, the same deal for everyone that day. You need to be logged in to play it.