Napoleon's Square

Game Objective:

The primary goal of Napoleon's Square Solitaire is to move all cards from the tableau and stock to the eight foundation piles, building each foundation up in suit from Ace to King.

Setup & Layout:

• Deck: Uses two standard 52-card decks (104 cards in total).
• Tableau: Deal 12 piles, each with 4 cards, arranged to form the outline of a square. All tableau cards are dealt face up.
• Foundations: 8 empty spaces are reserved at the center of the tableau square for the foundation piles. These start empty and are filled as Aces become available.
• Stock: The remaining 56 cards are placed face down as the stock pile.
• Waste: As cards are drawn from the stock, they are placed face up on the waste pile. Only the top card of the waste is accessible for play.

Key Play Areas Defined:

• Tableau: 12 face-up piles around the square’s perimeter.
• Foundations: 8 central piles, built up by suit from Ace to King.
• Stock: Face-down draw pile.
• Waste: Face-up discard pile for stock cards not immediately played.

Napoleon's Square Solitaire Rules:

• Foundations: Build up by suit from Ace to King (e.g., 2♠ on Ace♠, 3♠ on 2♠, etc.).
• Tableau: Build down by suit (e.g., 10♥ on J♥, 9♥ on 10♥, etc.).
• Movement:
• Only the top card of each tableau pile or the waste pile is available for play.
• You may move a single card or a properly sequenced group of cards (in descending order and matching suit) from one tableau pile to another.
• Spaces: Any empty tableau pile may be filled with any available card or legal sequence from the tableau, waste, or stock.
• Stock & Waste: Draw one card at a time from the stock to the waste. There is no redeal; only one pass through the stock is allowed.

Gameplay:

• Turn Sequence:
• Move any available Aces to the foundations as soon as they appear.
• Build foundations up in suit, and tableau piles down in suit, using available cards from tableau or waste.
• Move cards or legal sequences between tableau piles to uncover and access new cards.
• Fill any empty tableau piles with any available card or legal sequence.
• When no further moves are possible with current tableau and waste cards, draw a card from the stock to the waste pile.
• Continue drawing from the stock and making legal moves until the stock is exhausted or no further moves are possible.
• No Redeal: Once the stock is depleted, no further cards may be drawn.

Winning & Losing Conditions:

• Win: All eight foundation piles are built up in suit from Ace to King.
• Lose: The game is lost if no further legal moves are possible and not all cards have been moved to the foundations. There is no redeal, so a blocked game state is unwinnable.

Special Rules & Edge Cases:

• Filling Spaces: Any empty tableau pile can be filled with any available card or a legal descending-in-suit sequence from the tableau, waste, or stock.
• Moving Groups: Groups of cards in strict descending order and matching suit may be moved together between tableau piles.
• Stock Exhaustion: Once the stock is empty, play continues only with cards in the tableau and waste.
• No Redeal: There is only one pass through the stock; no reshuffling or redealing is allowed.
• Foundation Start: Foundations begin empty and are started only as Aces become available during play.

Summary of Unique Features:

• Uses two decks and a 12-pile tableau square.
• Strict in-suit building both up (foundations) and down (tableau).
• Allows moving sequences in-suit within the tableau.
• Only one pass through the stock; no redeal.