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Four fan piles build by rank, not suit, so any King can follow any King, but empty one and it's gone for good. Thomas Warfield's medium climb wins about 20% of the time.

Willow Solitaire is a Klondike variant that adds four fan piles built by rank instead of suit. Any card can land on a fan pile as long as it matches the rank on top, so a King can follow a King no matter the suit, and once a fan pile empties it stays empty for the rest of the deal. Thomas Warfield invented it. The game is medium difficulty, with a 20% chance of winning, and it's played with a single deck, so your result mostly comes down to skill.

Willow's closest relatives are Batsford Solitaire and Batsford Again Solitaire, both Klondike variants built around the same equal-rank auxiliary pile.

Since Willow builds on the same foundation rules, Solitaire the classic is worth returning to.

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

Have fun!

How to play Willow Solitaire

Layout:

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

7 tableau piles: Build down by alternating color. A run of cards in sequence can move together, also by alternating color. Any card, or a valid run of cards, can fill an empty tableau pile. To begin the game, one card is dealt face-up to the first pile, two cards to the second pile, and so on.

4 fan piles: Build by matching rank, regardless of suit — any card can follow a card of the same rank. Only single cards move here, never runs, and once a fan pile is empty it stays empty. Each pile starts with 6 cards, all dealt face-up.

Foundation:

There are four foundation piles.

Any Ace may be moved to an empty foundation pile to start it.

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 4 of hearts is a 5 of hearts.

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

Fan:

Four fan piles, each dealt six cards face-up.

A card can be added to a fan pile only if it matches the rank of the pile's top card, regardless of suit, so any Jack of any suit fits on a Jack.

Cards on a fan pile that are not covered by another card can be played onto the foundation, any tableau pile, or any non-empty fan pile.

Empty fan piles are not refilled.

Only one card can move at a time between fans; runs are not allowed.

Tableau:

There are seven tableau piles, with one card in the first, two in the second, three 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 the 7 of hearts are the 6 of spades and 6 of clubs.

Cards on the tableau that are not covered by another card can be played onto the foundation, any other tableau pile, or any non-empty fan pile.

Any card can fill an empty slot in the tableau.

A run of alternating red and black cards can move together from one tableau pile to another.