How to Play Trusty Twelve Solitaire

Game Objective

The objective of Trusty Twelve Solitaire is to empty the stock pile by playing all cards from the stock onto the tableau piles. Success requires strategically building sequences on the tableau to create empty spaces that can be filled with cards from the stock, allowing continuous play until the stock is depleted.

Setup & Layout

Trusty Twelve Solitaire uses one standard 52-card deck. The game is set up as follows:

Initial Deal: Deal one card face-up to each of twelve tableau piles, arranged in a row. This uses twelve cards from the deck. Place the remaining forty cards face-down in a single pile to form the stock.

Play Areas:

• Tableau Piles: Twelve piles where cards are built during gameplay. Each tableau begins with one face-up card and can accumulate additional cards as sequences are built.
• Stock Pile: The face-down pile containing the remaining cards. Cards are drawn from the top of the stock to fill empty tableau spaces.

All cards in the tableau are dealt and remain face-up throughout the game.

Trusty Twelve Solitaire Rules

Building Sequences: Tableau piles are built downward by rank, regardless of suit. This means a card may be placed on top of another card only if it is exactly one rank lower. For example, a 9 may be placed on a 10 of any suit, and an 8 may then be placed on that 9.

Card Rank Order: The rank order from highest to lowest is: King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. An Ace is the lowest rank and cannot have any card placed on top of it. A King cannot be placed on an Ace.

Movable Cards: Only the top card of each tableau pile is available for play. A single card may be moved at a time; sequences of multiple cards cannot be moved as a unit.

Card Movement: A card from the top of any tableau pile may be moved onto another tableau pile if it is one rank lower than the top card of the destination pile. Suit does not matter in this determination.

Gameplay

Turn Sequence: During gameplay, a player examines the top card of each tableau pile to identify legal moves. A legal move occurs when a card can be placed on another tableau pile following the building rules (one rank lower, regardless of suit).

Playing Cards: When a legal move is identified, the player moves the card from one tableau pile to another. Only one card may be moved per action.

Filling Empty Spaces: When a tableau pile becomes empty (all cards have been moved away), the empty space is immediately filled with the top card from the stock pile. This action is mandatory and automatic—the player must fill the empty space before considering other moves.

Stock Depletion: Cards are drawn from the stock only to fill empty tableau spaces. There is no redeal; once the stock is exhausted, no additional cards enter play.

Inability to Move: If no legal moves exist on the tableau and the stock is not empty, the game reaches a stalled state. The player cannot proceed, and the game is lost.

Winning & Losing Conditions

Winning: A player wins when the stock pile is completely empty and all cards have been successfully played onto the tableau piles. This occurs when the last card from the stock fills an empty tableau space and no cards remain in the stock.

Losing: A player loses if the stock pile still contains cards but no legal moves can be made on the tableau piles. This creates an unwinnable position where no empty spaces can be created to draw additional cards from the stock.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

Empty Tableau Spaces: Empty tableau spaces must be filled immediately from the top of the stock. A player cannot leave a space empty to strategically fill it later; the refill is mandatory and occurs before the player considers other moves.

No Redeal: Trusty Twelve Solitaire does not allow a redeal of the stock pile. Once all cards from the stock have been drawn, the game cannot continue.

King Placement Restriction: A King cannot be placed on an Ace. Since an Ace is the lowest rank, no card can be placed on top of it, making Ace piles terminal positions in the tableau.

Suit Independence: Suit has no bearing on card placement. A card may be placed on another card of any suit, provided the rank requirement is met.

Single Card Movement: Only individual cards may be moved; sequences of multiple cards stacked on the tableau cannot be moved together as a unit.