Acquaintance

Game Objective: The primary goal in Acquaintance Solitaire is to build up four foundation piles from Ace to King, regardless of suit, by transferring cards from the reserve piles and stock.

Setup & Layout:

• Deck: Use a standard 52-card deck. All four Aces are removed and placed as the starting cards for the foundation piles.
• Foundation Piles: Four piles, each beginning with an Ace. These piles are built up in rank from Ace to King, with suit not considered.
• Reserve Piles: Four piles below the foundations. At the start, deal one card face-up to each reserve pile.
• Stock: The remaining cards form the stock pile, placed face-down. Cards from the stock are dealt to the reserve piles during play.
• Face-Up/Face-Down: All cards in the reserve are dealt face-up. The stock remains face-down until cards are dealt to the reserve.

Acquaintance Solitaire Rules:

• Building Foundations: Foundations are built up by rank from Ace to King, regardless of suit. For example, any Two can be placed on any Ace, any Three on any Two, and so on.
• Moving Cards: Only the top card of each reserve pile is available for play. Cards can only be moved from the reserve to the foundations. You cannot move cards between reserve piles, nor can you move cards from the foundation back to the reserve.
• Stock and Reserve Interaction: Cards are dealt from the stock to each reserve pile, one card per pile, face-up. Only the top card of each reserve is playable.
• Sequence Movement: Only single cards may be moved at a time. Sequences or groups of cards cannot be moved.
• Empty Reserve Spaces: If a reserve pile becomes empty, it remains empty until the next deal from the stock. Empty reserve spots cannot be filled manually.

Gameplay:

• Typical Turn Sequence:
• Examine the top card of each reserve pile. If any can be played to the foundations (i.e., the next rank in sequence), move it.
• Continue moving eligible cards from the reserve to the foundations until no more moves are possible.
• When no further moves are possible, deal one card from the stock to each reserve pile, face-up.
• Introducing New Cards: Cards are introduced into play by dealing from the stock to the reserve piles. This is done one card per pile, face-up, whenever the player cannot make further moves.
• No More Legal Moves: If all cards have been dealt from the stock and no moves to the foundation are possible, the game ends.

Winning & Losing Conditions:

• Winning: The game is won when all four foundation piles are built up from Ace to King, using all cards in the deck.
• Losing/Unwinnable State: The game is lost if, after all cards have been dealt and all permitted redeals have been used, not all cards have been moved to the foundation piles.

Special Rules & Edge Cases:

• Redeals: After all cards in the stock have been dealt, you may collect all cards from the reserve piles (left to right, column by column), stack them, and redeal them as new reserve piles. This can be done twice per game.
• Empty Reserve Piles: Empty reserve piles are not filled except by the next deal from the stock or during a redeal. You cannot manually fill empty reserve spots.
• No Foundation Removal: Once a card is placed on a foundation pile, it cannot be moved back to the reserve or elsewhere.
• Sequence Restrictions: Only single cards may be moved; you cannot move sequences or groups of cards from the reserve to the foundation.
• Suit Irrelevant: Building on foundations is strictly by rank; suit does not matter.

Key Terms Defined:

• Foundation: The area where cards are built up from Ace to King.
• Reserve: The four piles below the foundations, each holding one face-up card at a time.
• Stock: The pile of undealt cards, used to replenish the reserve piles.
• Redeal: The process of collecting all reserve cards and redealing them as new reserve piles; permitted twice per game.