Yukon Solitaire: every card on the table, nowhere to hide

Yukon Solitaire is the patience game for people who like to see what they are up against. There is no stock pile to draw from and no waste pile to shuffle through. Almost the whole pack is spread out in front of you from the very first second, and every win or loss comes down to the order in which you move things.

If you already enjoy Klondike, Yukon will feel familiar and then surprise you. The big difference is one generous rule: you may pick up any face-up card together with everything sitting on top of it, even if that pile is a complete jumble. That single rule turns Yukon into a game of digging, planning and patience rather than luck of the draw.

You can play it here on solitaire-free.nz for nothing at all. No download, no install, no sign-up, no email address, no ads and no pop-ups. Open the page, the cards are dealt, and away you go.

The rules of Yukon Solitaire, explained simply

One standard 52-card pack. Four foundations to fill. Seven columns of cards, called the tableau.

How the cards are dealt

Add those up and you get all 52 cards: 21 face down and 31 face up. Nothing is held back in a stock pile, which is why Yukon feels so open compared with most patience games.

The goal

Build the four foundations from Ace up to King, one foundation for each suit: Ace, 2, 3, 4 and so on to the King. When all 52 cards have gone up, you have won.

How you move cards

• Build down in alternating colours. A red 8 goes onto a black 9, a black 5 goes onto a red 6.
• Carry the whole stack. This is the Yukon rule. Pick up any face-up card and every card above it comes with it, in whatever order they happen to be. Only the card you grab has to fit the card it lands on.
• Turn over what you uncover. When a face-down card becomes the bottom card of a column, it flips face up straight away.
• Empty columns take a King. Only a King may start a new column, with or without a heap of cards riding on top of it.
• Foundations go up in suit order. Send the Aces up when it suits you, then build each suit in order.
• No stock, no re-deal. When there are no useful moves left, the game is over, so use Undo and think before you commit.

That is the entire rule set. Most people have it after one game.

How to play Yukon Solitaire on this site

Everything here is built for comfortable, unhurried play, and every feature is switched on for everyone. There is nothing to unlock and nothing to buy.

• Large, clear cards and readable text. Kind on tired eyes, and easy to tell a club from a spade at a glance.
• Zoom control. Make the board bigger if you would like the pips and numbers larger still.
• Drag and drop, or simply tap. Drag a card with the mouse, or tap the card and tap where you want it to go. Tapping works well on a tablet or phone.
• Hint. Stuck? Ask for a nudge. Use it as a teacher, not a crutch.
• Unlimited Undo. Step back as far as you like. Yukon rewards experimenting, and Undo makes experimenting free.
• Restart. Replay the same deal from the beginning and try a different line.
• Auto Play. Once the game is effectively solved, let it tidy the last cards onto the foundations for you.
• Wins, time and moves. Your current game is tracked, so you can see whether that second attempt really was tidier.
• Your table, your way. Turn the sound off, go fullscreen, change the table colour.
• No timers pushing you. No gambling, no in-app purchases, no interruptions. The game exists for enjoyment, full stop.

It runs in any modern browser on desktop, tablet and phone, so the same game is waiting on the laptop at home and on your phone at the ferry terminal.

Strategy that actually works

Before your first move, read the board

Thirty-one cards are already face up. Spend twenty seconds looking. Where are the Kings? Where are the Aces? Which column is hiding the most face-down cards? In Yukon the opening you choose matters more than in almost any other patience game, because there is no stock to bail you out later.

Dig into the deep columns first

The face-down cards are all on the right-hand side, with six buried under column 7. Those are the cards that decide the game. Moves that turn over a new card are almost always better than moves that only tidy a sequence you can already see.

Do not rush the foundations

This is the classic Yukon trap. A card sent to a foundation is out of play and can no longer be used as a landing spot. Low cards left in the tableau, the 3s, 4s and 5s, are useful parking spaces. Send cards up when you need the room or when the suit is safely under control.

Use the carry rule on purpose

Because you can lift a card with any old mess on top of it, you can shift six or seven cards at once just to expose one card underneath. Look for a card that fits somewhere, then check what is sitting above it, the free ride is the whole point of the game.

Plan the empty column before you make it

An empty column is powerful, but only a King can move into it. Before you clear a column, decide which King is going there and what that King will unlock.

Watch for locked pairs

If both black 9s are buried under the two red 10s you need, you are in trouble. Spotting these tangles early lets you work around them, or Restart with a cleaner plan.

Common mistakes

• Playing every Ace and 2 up immediately, then having nothing to build on.
• Moving a card because it fits, rather than because it helps.
• Ignoring column 7 until the end, when it is too late to dig.
• Emptying a column with no King available.
• Racing. There is no clock forcing you here, think first, move second.

Facts, figures and a word about honesty

Yukon's exact origins are not documented with any certainty. It is generally described as an early twentieth-century relative of Klondike, and the name is usually read as a nod to Canada's Yukon, made famous by the Klondike gold rush of 1897-1899. Anyone who tells you the precise year and inventor is guessing.

Win rates need the same caution. Different solitaire publishers quote wildly different numbers for Yukon: Solitaire Bliss lists Yukon at roughly 1 in 8 games won, while other sites claim far higher figures for what a perfect solver could achieve. There is no widely accepted, peer-reviewed solvability study for Yukon of the kind that exists for Klondike, so treat every percentage you see as a rough guide rather than a fact. What we can say from arithmetic alone is that you start each deal seeing 31 of the 52 cards, far more information than Klondike gives you.

On New Zealand players, we would rather be straight with you: there is no official data on how many Kiwis play Yukon Solitaire specifically, and we are not going to invent any. What is measured is the wider picture. The New Zealand Plays report from IGEA and Bond University, released on 1 September 2023, found that 79% of New Zealanders play video games, that the average player here is 35 years old, and that New Zealand women over 45 are more likely to play than men of the same age. That last finding matches what quiet, thoughtful card games like Yukon are all about, which is exactly why the cards on this site are large and the interface stays out of your way.

Frequently asked questions

Is Yukon Solitaire harder than Klondike?

It is different rather than simply harder. You get far more information and a very generous moving rule, but no stock pile and no second chances, so mistakes stick. Most people find their first few games tough and then improve quickly.

Can every Yukon deal be won?

No. Some deals are unwinnable no matter how well you play, usually because key cards block each other. If you have used Hint and Undo and the board is truly dead, hit Restart or deal a fresh game.

Do I need to sign up or download anything?

No. No download, no install, no account, no email address. The game is completely free, with no ads, no pop-ups and no paywalls. See our privacy page if you would like the details.

Can I play on my phone or tablet?

Yes. It runs in any modern browser on desktop, tablet and phone. Tap a card and then tap its destination, or drag and drop, whichever you prefer.

The cards are still a bit small for me. What can I do?

Use the zoom control to enlarge the board, and try fullscreen mode. You can also change the table colour if a different background is easier on your eyes.

Does using Hint or Undo count as cheating?

Not here. There is no ranking to protect and nothing to win but your own satisfaction. Undo is the best learning tool in solitaire: take a move back, try the other line, and see which one opens the board.

What should I play next?

If you like Yukon's open board, try FreeCell, where every card is visible from the start. For a longer, more strategic game, Spider Solitaire with two suits is a good step up. For something gentler, there is Pyramid or classic Solitaire Draw 3. The full list is on our games page, and our blog has more tips and rule explainers.