Play King Albert Solitaire Online for Free (No Signup Required)

King Albert squeezes a nine-pile triangular tableau against a seven-card reserve, and it plays as tough as its nickname, Idiot's Delight, suggests: a 10% win rate.

King Albert Solitaire is one of several patience games nicknamed "Idiot's Delight," and the name is well earned: a nine-pile triangular tableau squeezed together with just seven cards held in reserve leaves you very little room to work with. It takes its name from a king of Belgium.

The game is difficult, with a 10% win rate, and with a single deck in play, how carefully you manage that reserve pile matters more than any lucky break.

King Albert has spawned a whole family of variants. Raglan Solitaire gives you a head start by pre-dealing the Aces to the foundations, while Queen Victoria Solitaire keeps the same layout but lets you move whole sequences instead of one card at a time. Muse, Somerset, Morehead, Fan Albert, Seymour, and Prince Albert all riff on the same triangular idea.

If the triangular squeeze wears you down, Solitaire offers a more forgiving Ace-to-King climb instead.

If you run into anything odd or have an idea that would make the game better, please contact me.

Enjoy the game!

How to play King Albert Solitaire

Layout:

4 foundation piles: Build up from Ace to King in the same suit.

9 tableau piles: Alternate color construction, one card at a time. Any available card may be used to fill any open space. To begin the game, one card is dealt face-up to the first pile, two cards to the second pile, and so on.

Reserve: The seven cards left over after the tableau is dealt form a single reserve pile, all face-up. Only the top card is playable, to the foundations or the tableau.

Foundation:

There are four foundation piles.

Any ace in the foundation may be transferred to any vacant pile.

A card can be added to a foundation pile only if it's one rank higher and the same suit as the pile's current top card, so the only card that fits on a 5 of clubs is a 6 of clubs.

The top card of each foundation can be moved back into play if another pile will accept it.

Reserve:

The seven cards left over after the tableau deal form a single reserve pile, all dealt face-up.

No cards may be moved into the reserve. Only the top card of the reserve can be played, to the tableau or the foundation.

Tableau:

There are nine tableau piles, with one card in the first pile, two cards in the second, three cards in the third, and so on. Every card is dealt face-up.

A card can be added to a tableau pile only if it's one rank lower and the opposite color of the pile's current top card, so the only cards that fit on a 4 of spades are the 3 of hearts and 3 of diamonds.

Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card are free to be played onto the foundation or any other tableau pile.

Any card can fill an empty slot in the tableau.

Only one card may be moved at a time; sequences are not permitted.