Miss Milligan Solitaire
How to play Miss Milligan
Miss Milligan is a two-deck solitaire game of the Forty Thieves family in which eight single cards are built down in alternating colours, only a King or a run a King leads may be moved into an empty pile, and once the stock is spent a card or run may be set aside in a reserve.
Eight piles of one card built down in alternating colours, where only a King or a run a King leads may be moved into an empty pile and, once the stock is spent, a card or run may be set aside in a reserve.
The goal of Miss Milligan
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 Miss Milligan
Two standard decks are shuffled together, 104 cards in all. Eight cards are dealt face up, one to each of eight piles, and the other 96 form the stock.
Miss Milligan rules
Piles build down in alternating colours, one rank at a time. A card moves together with every card above it if they run down in alternating colours, however many there are. Only a King or a run that a King leads may be moved into an empty pile.
There is no waste. Click the stock to deal one card face up onto every pile, the first pile first, empty piles included. Its 96 cards make twelve deals, and the stock is never dealt again.
A card on a foundation never comes back into play.
Once the stock is empty, you may set one card or run aside in the reserve, the slot left of the piles under the stock. The reserve takes cards only while it is empty, and nothing is ever built on it.
The reserve's cards play out the way a pile's do: its top card to a foundation, its top card or a run from any of its cards onto a pile where it builds, or a King, or a run a King leads, into an empty pile. Once the reserve is empty again, you may set aside another card or run, as often as you like.
Click a card to send it to its foundation, else onto the first pile it builds on, else into an empty pile, else into the reserve once the stock is spent and the reserve is empty; a card clicked in a pile takes the cards above it along. Drag a card or a run to choose yourself, the reserve included. With Autoplay off in Settings, only a drag moves a card.
How to win at Miss Milligan
You win when all 104 cards are home. With the stock empty and every pile in order, the reserve included, Auto complete, on by default in Settings, plays the rest for you. Once the stock is spent, the game is stuck when no line of moves sends another card home.
Miss Milligan strategy tips
Only a King or a run a King leads may be moved into an empty pile. While the stock lasts, the next deal also puts a card into it, and that card covers nothing, so a pile emptied just before you deal is not wasted.
Each deal lays a card on every pile and can cover the card you meant to move next. With eight piles and 96 cards in the stock, piles grow deep quickly, so make every move you want before you deal.
A run in alternating colours moves as one, so a long run in order is easy to shift. What buries a pile is the cards each deal drops out of order, so move them off while they are few.
The reserve opens only once the stock is spent. Set aside the card or run that sits on a card you need, then play the reserve out again so it is free for the next one.
Miss Milligan questions and answers
How do you play Miss Milligan solitaire?
Shuffle two decks together, deal eight cards face up, one to each pile, and keep the other 96 cards as the stock. Build the piles down in alternating colours, move runs as one, and move only a King or a run a King leads into an empty pile. Each click on the stock deals a card onto every pile, and once it is spent a card or run may be set aside in the reserve. You win when all 104 cards are home.
What is waiving in Miss Milligan?
Waiving is setting a card or run aside once the stock is spent. It goes into the reserve, left of the piles, which takes cards only while it is empty. Its cards play back out onto the piles or the foundations, and once the reserve is empty another card or run may be waived, as often as you like.
What is the difference between Miss Milligan and Forty Thieves?
Miss Milligan deals eight cards, one to each pile, and has no waste: each click on the stock deals a card onto every pile. Its piles build down in alternating colours, runs move as one, only a King or a run a King leads may be moved into an empty pile, and once the stock is spent a card or run may be set aside in a reserve. Like Forty Thieves, it uses two decks and never goes through the stock again.
Can an empty pile take any card in Miss Milligan?
No. Only a King, or a run that a King leads, may be moved into an empty pile. While the stock lasts, though, each deal puts a card onto an empty pile as onto any other.
Can every Miss Milligan deal be won?
Not necessarily. Searching up to a million positions per deal, the game's solver proved 50% of the Miss Milligan deals it tried winnable, so at least that share can be won. 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 Miss Milligan game?
Yes. Miss Milligan has a daily board, the same deal for everyone that day, dealt the way a Winnable board is. Log in to play it.