King Albert Solitaire
How to play King Albert
King Albert is a one-deck solitaire game dealt face up into nine columns of nine cards down to one, with a reserve of seven cards to play from and columns built down in alternating colours.
Nine columns built down in alternating colours, with a reserve of seven cards to play from.
The goal of King Albert
Move every card onto the four foundations, building each one up by suit from Ace to King.
How to set up King Albert
Forty-five cards are dealt face up into nine columns, from nine cards in the first down to one card in the last. The other seven form the reserve, every card of it face up and ready to play. The four foundations start empty, and there is no stock.
King Albert rules
Columns build down one rank at a time in alternating colours, and any card can move into an empty column. The top card of a column can move onto its foundation, onto a column where it builds, or into an empty column.
Any card in the reserve can be played at any time, onto its foundation, onto a column where it builds, or into an empty column. Nothing can ever be put into the reserve, so a space it leaves stays empty. A card on a foundation never comes back into play.
A run already built in order moves as one move if it is no longer than one card doubled for each empty column: two cards with one empty column, four with two. When it moves into an empty column, that column does not count. The reserve never adds to the limit.
Click a card to play it: to its foundation if it fits, otherwise onto a column, and only then into an empty column. Drag a card or a run to choose where it goes yourself. With Autoplay off in Settings, only a drag moves a card.
How to win at King Albert
You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. Once every column is in descending order, Auto complete, on by default in Settings, moves the remaining cards up for you. The game is stuck when no card has a legal move left.
King Albert strategy tips
The reserve never refills, so each card in it can be used only once. Play a reserve card when it helps you uncover something, not just because it fits.
There are no free cells, so an empty column is the only spare room, and each one doubles the run you can move. The last columns start with only a card or two, which makes them the quickest to empty.
Before your first move, find the Aces and Twos in the long columns and plan how to reach them.
King Albert questions and answers
How do you play King Albert solitaire?
Build nine columns down in alternating colours and move every card up to the foundations by suit, from Ace to King. Seven cards start in a reserve, and each of them can be played onto a column or a foundation whenever it fits. Any card can fill an empty column.
What is the reserve in King Albert?
It holds the seven cards left over after the nine columns are dealt. Every reserve card is face up and can be played at any time, but nothing can be put back into the reserve, so it only ever gets smaller.
Can every King Albert deal be won?
Many cannot. Of 100 shuffled King Albert deals, the search the solver runs while dealing proved 34 winnable and 26 lost, and the longer search behind the Hint button proved 55 winnable and 28 lost, leaving 17 unsettled. So more than half can be won and more than a quarter cannot. Winnable in the menu beside New deal skips the rest: each board is reshuffled until a win is proved, which took up to nine shuffles in testing.
Is there a daily King Albert game?
Yes. King Albert has a daily board, the same deal for everyone that day, dealt the way a Winnable board is. You need to be logged in to play it.