is a solitaire card game with a very low probability to
win.
According to legend, it is originally a casino
game, named after the casino owner who invented it. In England, it is known as Demon.
Richard A. Canfield, noted gambler, owned a casino in Saratoga Springs, New York during the
1890s. Gamblers at his casino would play the game by "buying" a deck of cards for $50. The gambler would
then play the game and earn $5 for every card he managed to place into the foundations. Although players
make a loss (about an average of five to six cards), the game proved to be popular, and Canfield became
rich. The disadvantage of this new game was to hire a croupier for every gambler playing the game.
Canfield himself called the game Klondike, but the name Canfield stuck and became synonymous with
solitaire itself. Sometimes, Canfield and Klondike are even interchangeable to refer to each other's
games.
To play the game, one must first deal thirteen cards faced down and then turned up. These cards would
be the reserve, the top cards of which is available for play. Then a card is placed on first of the four
foundations to the left of the reserve. This card is the first card of its foundation and all other
cards of the same rank must also start the other three foundations.
Below the foundations are four piles, each starting with a card each. This will be the tableau and
the top cards of each pile are available for play. Cards on the tableau are built down by alternating
colors, while the foundations are built up by suit, wrapping from King to Ace if necessary. Any gaps on
the tableau are filled from the reserve; in case the reserve is used up, cards from the waste pile are
used. Cards on the reserve can also be distributed to the foundations or to the tableau. Cards on the
tableau are also moved one unit, provided that that the entire column has to be moved.
When no more plays are possible on the tableau and no more cards can be placed to the foundations,
especially from the reserve, one can deal cards from the stock (the undealt cards) three at a time into
the waste pile and use these cards to build to the foundations or to the tableau. One can use the stock
as long as there are moves.
The game is won when all cards are placed in the foundations. But as Canfield knew very well, winning
this game is unlikely, as one can manage to place an average of five to six cards.
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.