Midshipman Solitaire
How to play Midshipman
Midshipman is a two-deck solitaire game of the Forty Thieves family in which nine piles of four, two face down under two face up, are built down in any suit but a card's own, one card at a time.
Nine piles of four with two cards face down in each, built down in any suit but a card's own.
The goal of Midshipman
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 Midshipman
Two standard decks are shuffled together, 104 cards in all. Thirty-six are dealt into nine piles of four, two face down under two face up, and the other 68 form the stock.
Midshipman rules
Piles build down one rank at a time in any suit but the card's own: a Seven of hearts goes on an Eight of clubs, diamonds or spades, never on an Eight of hearts. Only one card moves at a time, the top card of a pile or of the waste. A face-down card turns face up once it is on top of its pile, and an empty pile takes any card.
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. Drag it to choose yourself. With Autoplay off in Settings, only a drag moves a card.
How to win at Midshipman
You win when all 104 cards are home. With the stock and waste empty, no card face down 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.
Midshipman strategy tips
Midshipman hides eighteen cards at the start, two under each of its nine piles. The first hidden card of a pile turns over only when both face-up cards above it have gone, so clear first the piles whose top cards have somewhere to go.
Six places for every card make it easy to start long piles. Keep them short instead: with nine piles there is little room, and a pile of mixed suits has to be taken apart one card at a time before its cards can go home.
A King on a pile blocks the cards under it until a pile is emptied, since nothing else takes a King but its foundation. Empty a pile early, and use it for the King that covers the most.
Midshipman's stock holds 68 cards, six fewer than Indian's, and goes through once. Each card you play from the waste brings the one under it back into play, so a string of waste plays can reach a card turned long before.
Every card has a twin. When both copies of a card could go on the same pile, place the one whose own pile has hidden cards under it, and leave the other where it is.
Colour plays no part: a Seven of hearts goes on an Eight of diamonds as readily as on a black Eight. Only an Eight of hearts refuses it.
Midshipman questions and answers
How do you play Midshipman solitaire?
Shuffle two decks together and deal nine piles of four, two cards face down under two face up, keeping the other 68 cards as the stock. Build the piles down in any suit but a card's own, one card at a time, and go through the stock once, one card at a time. You win when all 104 cards are home.
Is Midshipman easier than Indian?
By the solver's count, yes: it proved 60% of the Midshipman deals it tried winnable and 47% of the Indian deals, though Midshipman deals one pile fewer and hides eight more cards face down.
How many cards start face down in Midshipman?
Eighteen: the bottom two cards of each of the nine piles. Moving a pile's two face-up cards away turns its first hidden card, and moving that one turns the last, so three single-card moves bring the bottom of a pile into view.
How many cards can go on a card in Midshipman?
Six: both copies of the next lower card in each of the other three suits. An Eight of spades takes either copy of the Seven of clubs, diamonds or hearts, six of the eight Sevens in the pack.
Can every Midshipman deal be won?
Not necessarily. Searching up to a million positions per deal, the game's solver proved 60% of the Midshipman deals it tried winnable, so at least that share can be won. That is the highest share among the games of the family that deal cards face down. With Winnable on, in the menu beside New deal, each board comes from a list of 500 proved deals. Hint asks the same solver for a winning line before it suggests a move.
Is there a daily Midshipman game?
Yes. Midshipman has a daily board, the same deal for everyone that day, dealt the way a Winnable board is. Log in to play it.