How to Play Double Solitaire

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: July 28, 2022

Setting Up

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Double Solitaire

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Simultaneous Solitaire

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Video

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Q&A

ARTICLE

VIDEO

Solitaire is one of the most popular card games of all-time. The majority of people play solitaire by themselves, but you don't have to play alone. You can play double solitaire with 1 other person in a turn-based play style. Simultaneous solitaire is a type of double solitaire that lets you play with as many people as you like.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Setting Up

1
Buy 2 decks of cards. Double solitaire revolves around the 2 players building 4 piles of all the cards. This means 2 piles of all the hearts cards, 2 piles of all the clubs cards, 2 piles of all the spades cards, and 2 piles of all the diamond cards.
- You can buy decks of cards at your local supermarket, online, or in your local games store.
- Make sure each player has their own deck.
2
Open the decks and remove the joker cards. Each deck of cards comes with 2 joker cards, 1 black and white and the other 1 in color. Joker cards are included in the deck because they are required for some card games.
- If you lose a card, you can use 1 of the jokers as a replacement card. Write the number and suit of the card you lost on the joker.
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3
Shuffle both decks before starting the game. Most decks are sold with the cards in order. If you and your friend play without shuffling the decks, the game will be pretty straightforward. You don't have to be a master of cards to shuffle the decks. Spread the cards out on a table face down and mix them up. Once you've mixed them well, reorganize the cards into a pile.^{[1]
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- Shuffle each deck separately. You don't want 1 person having 2 duplicates of the same card.
4
Set up the tableau with each deck. With the deck facing down, pull 1 card from the top and lay it down facing up. Moving from left to right, place 6 cards facing down. Next, place a card facing up on the second pile, and 5 cards facing down on the following 5 rows. Place a card facing up on the third pile, and 4 cards facing down on the next 4 rows.^{[2]
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- Continue placing the cards down in the same manner. For example, place a card facing up on the fourth pile and 3 cards facing down on the next 3 rows.
- At the end, pile 7 should have 1 card facing up and 6 cards facing down.
- Set up 2 separate tableaus for you and your friend.
5
Place the leftover cards to the side in a stock pile. The stock pile is located above the tableau. You must now draw the rest of the cards from this stock pile and complete the piles.^{[3]
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- Each player should have a separate stock pile.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Double Solitaire

1
Flip a coin or use the stock pile to decide who plays first. If you have a coin with you, pick a side and flip the coin. Whoever chose the correct side of the coin plays first. If you want to use the stock pile, you and your friend need to take the top card from the stock pile. Whoever has the higher card plays first.^{[4]
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- If you and your friend use the top card from the stock piles, place the card back to the bottom of the deck.
2
Use the stock pile to make a move. If you're playing first, remove the top card from your stock pile. Look at your tableau and decide what you want to do. To play a card, you must play a red card under a black card or vice versa.^{[5]
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- For example, if 1 of the piles has a 7 of hearts on it and you pull a 6 of spades from your stock pile, you can place your 6 of spades below the 7 of hearts.
- You must place the cards sequentially. A 6 must be placed after a 7, a 3 after a 4, a jack after a queen.
- If you can't play a card from the stock pile, you can return it to the bottom of your stock pile.
- You cannot place a red suited card under a red suited card or vice versa.
3
Make a move using the cards already on the tableau. You can also use the piles on the tableau to move. For example, if pile 6 has a 5 of clubs facing up and pile 3 has a 6 of diamonds facing up, move the 5 of clubs below the 6 of diamonds. After you've done that, flip the last card in pile 6 face up.^{[6]
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- In fact, most of the game will be played using the piles on the tableau.
4
Change turns when you or your friend cannot make a move. When it's your turn, you can make as many moves as you'd like in a row. You lose your turn when you can no longer make a play with the top card on your stock pile or any of the cards on the tableau.^{[7]
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- When your friend can't make a move, it's your turn to go again.
5
Move any aces to their own area. Unlike the other cards, aces don't need to be placed below the other cards in the tableau. If you have an ace, move it off to the side. When the 2 of a suit appears, you can place it on the ace of the same suit once you have found the ace.^{[8]
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6
Keep playing until a player completes 4 piles of cards. The winner is the first person to have completed the 4 foundation piles. Some solitaire games cannot be finished, and if this happens to you and your friend, the winner is the person who has played the most cards.^{[9]
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- A completed pile is when you have a pile of 13 cards from ace to king all in the same suit.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Simultaneous Solitaire

1
Get a separate deck for each player. Simultaneous solitaire is a type of double solitaire that allows for as many players as possible. Make sure that each deck is different and distinguishable from the others to avoid confusion.^{[10]
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- Remove the 2 jokers from each deck.
2
Shuffle each deck before play begins. It's important to make sure that every player properly shuffles their deck. If not, 1 player could have a massive advantage over the others. To shuffle, you can spread all the cards from a deck out on a table faced down. Mix them up with your hands and assemble them back into a pile when you're finished.^{[11]
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- Don't mix more than 1 deck at a time in a single area. If you're spreading the cards out, it's very easy for them to get mixed together.
3
Start the game with a whistle or clap. Simultaneous solitaire is played by everyone at once and revolves around speed. To ensure that the game is as fair as possible, use a whistle or a clap to announce the start of play. Players must place lower numbered black cards beneath higher numbered red cards and vice versa.^{[12]
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Make a move using the cards in your stock pile. With your stock pile facing down, flip the top card on the deck. Look at the card and look at the tableau and assess your options. You must place the cards in alternating colors in descending numerical order. You can only place cards in descending numerical order on top of each other. You cannot place a black 8 above a red 7. However, if you have a red 7 in your stock pile and a black 8 on the tableau, you can place the red 7 below the black 8.^{[13]
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- For example, a jack of diamonds or hearts can only be placed below a queen of spades or clubs.
- You can send cards that you can't place from the stock pile to the discard pile.
5
Use the cards on the tableau to make a move. You can take cards from the piles in the tableau and place them beneath other piles. If pile 1 has a 10 of clubs and pile 5 has a jack of hearts, place the 10 of clubs below the jack of hearts in pile 5. Flip the last card in pile 1 upwards after you've moved the 10.^{[14]
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- As the game goes on, you'll be using the tableau more and more.
- You will also need to move the cards on the tableau so you can access the face down cards in the piles.
6
Place all aces off to 1 side when you find them. It's customary in solitaire to place all the aces in their own section of the playing area. To finish a pile, you need to place all of the 12 cards of each suit on top of their ace.^{[15]
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- For example, you have an ace of spades off to the side and you find the 2 of spades. Place the 2 on top of the ace. Do the same when you find the 3 of spades and so on.
7
End the game when the first person has 4 completed foundation piles. The winner is the first person to complete all 4 piles. If nobody is able to finish the game, the winner is the person with the most piles completed.^{[16]
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- A completed pile consists of 13 cards from ace to king in the same suit.
- You can keep playing after the winner finishes to find out who comes second, third, fourth, and so on.

Community Q&A

Question

Do you take turns or do you just keep playing until one player wins?

Slothpop

Community Answer

You don't take turns; you just play at the same time until a player wins. Try to beat the other player to play your card.
Question

What happens if you use all your cards from your deck?

Minimist

Community Answer

The used cards get turned over (do not shuffle). If picking one card at a time, you will have gone through all of the cards already, but if picking three at a time, you will need to go through the deck three times, before having gone through all of the cards. Just turn the deck over, after you run out of cards. If you use them all: for this, you need to see if the stacks an be simplified or moved into the ace piles, until reaching the winning layout. If you can't do any of that, you've lost.
Question

How does one person play double solitary with 2 decks of cards shuffled together?

Minimist

Community Answer

Shuffle the two decks together. It doesn't matter if they are different colors. Line up 9 stacks, instead of the normal 7. Play as normal, but with 8 ace bases, instead of the normal four. That's it.