Brigade

Game Objective:

The objective of Brigade Solitaire is to move all cards from the tableau and reserve to the four foundation piles, building each foundation up in suit from Ace to King.

Setup & Layout:

• Deck Used: Standard 52-card deck.
• Foundations: Remove all four Aces from the deck and place them in a row; these are the starting cards for the four foundation piles.
• Tableau: Deal 7 piles, each with 5 cards, all face up. These piles form the tableau (sometimes called the "Flower Garden").
• Reserve: Place the remaining 13 cards face up in a single reserve pile (sometimes called the "Bouquet"). Every card in the reserve is available for play at all times.
• Card Orientation: All tableau and reserve cards are dealt face up; no cards are face down in Brigade Solitaire.

Key Play Areas:

• Foundations: 4 piles, build up by suit from Ace to King.
• Tableau: 7 piles of 5 cards each, build down regardless of suit.
• Reserve: 13 face-up cards, all available for play.

Brigade Solitaire Rules:

• Building on Foundations: Build up in ascending order by suit, starting from Ace up to King (e.g., Ace♠, 2♠, 3♠, …, King♠).
• Building on Tableau: Build down in descending order, regardless of suit (e.g., 9♣ on 10♠, 8♦ on 9♣).
• Moving Cards:
• Only the top card of each tableau pile or any card from the reserve may be moved.
• A single card may be moved at a time. However, for each empty tableau pile, you may move one additional card as a sequence (e.g., with two empty tableau piles, you may move up to three cards together, provided they are in descending order).
• Filling Spaces: Any card (from tableau or reserve) may fill an empty tableau pile.
• Reserve Play: Any card from the reserve can be played to either the tableau or directly to the foundations.
• Grace Move: Once per game, you may move a single top card from the tableau onto a reserve card that is one rank higher (e.g., move a 7 onto an 8 in the reserve). This is optional and may not be included in all versions.

Gameplay:

• On your turn, you may:
• Move any available card from the tableau or reserve to a foundation pile, following the suit and ascending sequence rule.
• Move the top card of a tableau pile or any reserve card to another tableau pile, provided it continues a descending sequence (regardless of suit).
• Move a sequence of cards from one tableau pile to another if you have enough empty tableau piles to allow the move (i.e., you can move one card for each empty pile plus one).
• Fill any empty tableau pile with any available card.
• Use the grace move once per game if needed.
• Continue making moves until no further legal moves are available or all cards are moved to the foundations.

Winning & Losing Conditions:

• Win: The game is won when all cards are successfully moved to the foundations, with each foundation built up in suit from Ace to King.
• Lose/Unwinnable State: The game is lost or becomes unwinnable if no further legal moves can be made and not all cards have been placed on the foundations.

Special Rules & Edge Cases:

• Empty Tableau Piles: Any card, from either the reserve or tableau, may be used to fill an empty tableau pile.
• Grace Move: Once per game, you may move a single top card from the tableau onto a reserve card that is one rank higher. Some versions allow this grace move to a card one rank lower as well, but the standard rule is one rank higher.
• Multiple Card Moves: You may move sequences of cards between tableau piles, but only if there are enough empty tableau piles to facilitate the move (one additional card per empty pile).
• Reserve Access: All reserve cards are always available for play; there is no restriction on which reserve card may be played.
• No Stock or Redeal: There is no stock pile or redeal in Brigade Solitaire; all cards are in play from the start.

Note: Brigade Solitaire is a variant of Flower Garden Solitaire, with the main differences being the number of tableau and reserve cards, and the inclusion of the grace move.