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Alternation is a solitaire card game which is played using two decks of playing cards.
Forty-nine cards are set up into seven columns of seven cards each. In each column, the top card, the third and fifth cards from the top and the bottom card are face up. The second, fourth, and sixth cards from the top are face down. This results in an alternating OXOXOXO pattern.
The object of the game is to release the Aces as they become available, creating foundations, and to then build up each suit from the Ace.
The top cards of each column are available for play, to be built up by suit on the foundations, or on each other down by alternating colors. A sequence or part of a sequence can be moved as a unit.
When no more cards can be moved, the stock (the remaining cards) is dealt one card at a time. A card that cannot be built on the tableau or on the foundations is placed on the waste pile, the top card of which is available for play.
The game is won when all cards are built onto the foundations. If this is not achieved, the game ends after the entire stock has run out. There is no redeal.
There are many keys you can use to make your game playing more efficient:
- Space
- Auto-finish—In foundation games, this moves all the cards it can up to the foundations
- z
- Undo
- x
- Redo
- n
- New Game
- g
- Replay the same game
- f
- Flip a card from the stock
There is also a card-finder keyboard feature you can use to help you locate cards:
- a
- Highlight the aces
- 1 though 9
- Highlight the cards with the rank pressed
- 0 or t
- Highlight the tens
- d, c, h, s
- Highlight the cards with the suit
- r, b
- Highlight the red or black cards
You may combine the rank keys with the suit or color keys. For example, if you hold down the "5" key and
the "d" key then only the 5 of diamonds will be highlighted. "a" and "r" will highlight the red aces.
There are ways to use the mouse to make your game playing more efficient:
- Left Click
- Move the card to the most logical place (might not be the best move, however)
- Left Click in Empty Area
- Auto-finish—In foundation games, this moves all the cards it can up to the foundations
- Right Click
- Undo
You can use super moves to make your game playing more efficient.
Clicking or dragging a card that isn't immediately accessible will attempt to move all the cards
above it in its stack until the move is valid. The effect will be the same as clicking each card. If you
cancel the drag or undo the move, all the cards will go back to where they were.
Dragging a card or cards to the middle of a stack will attempt to move all the cards above the
destination out of the way. The effect is the same as clicking each card. To see where the cards will
move, hold the dragged card(s) at the destination for a second. If you decide to move the dragged
card(s) somewhere else, just drag them there and the other cards will go back to where they
were. Undoing the move will also move the cards back.
If you drag a card or cards to the middle of a stack and the cards that move away would be valid to
move back on top of the dragged card(s), then they'll slide out of the way and let you just slip the
card(s) in.