diff --git a/doc/card-games.texi b/doc/card-games.texi index bc73c9e..7e448ae 100644 --- a/doc/card-games.texi +++ b/doc/card-games.texi @@ -352,9 +352,241 @@ usual game otherwise. Other games do not yet consult it. Set it with @node Solitaire Games @chapter Solitaire Games -@c TODO(pass 3): Klondike, FreeCell, Spider, Yukon, Canfield, Forty -@c Thieves, Scorpion, Golf, TriPeaks, Pyramid, Gaps/Montana, Hell's -@c Half-Acre, Russian Bank (patience) -- object, rules, strategy, keys. +@cindex solitaire +@cindex patience +The one-player games. Most are @dfn{tableau builders} that share the +same controls; the pile games (Golf, TriPeaks, Pyramid) and the gaps +games (Gaps, Hell's Half-Acre) play a little differently and say so in +their own sections. + +@cindex solitaire, controls +The shared keys for the tableau builders are: + +@table @kbd +@item @key{LEFT} @key{RIGHT} +Move the cursor between piles. +@item @key{RET} @r{(or} @key{SPC}@r{)} +Pick up the card, or the movable run, under the cursor; press again on a +destination to drop it. On the stock, deal cards to the waste (or, when +the stock is empty, recycle the waste where the game allows). +@item f +Send the card under the cursor to a foundation. +@item a +Auto-play the cards that plainly belong on the foundations. +@item u +Undo the last move. +@item n @r{/} g @r{/} ? @r{/} q +New deal, redraw, describe the keys, and return to the menu. +@end table + +@noindent +With @code{cg-keys} set to @code{classic} the vi keys @kbd{h} @kbd{j} +@kbd{k} @kbd{l} move as well (@pxref{Keys}). + +@menu +* Klondike:: The classic. +* FreeCell:: A game of pure skill. +* Spider:: Two decks; clear eight suited runs. +* Yukon:: Klondike, but move any group. +* Canfield:: A reserve and a wrapping base rank. +* Forty Thieves:: Two decks, no redeal, and hard. +* Scorpion:: Free four buried runs. +* Russian Bank Solitaire:: Houses and a feeding reserve. +* Golf:: One rank up or down. +* TriPeaks:: Golf with wrapping chains. +* Pyramid:: Remove pairs that sum to thirteen. +* Gaps:: Order the rows through the gaps. +* Hell's Half-Acre:: Gaps, built the other way. +@end menu + +@node Klondike +@section Klondike + +@findex cg-klondike +@cindex Klondike +The classic. Build the four foundations up in suit, Ace to King. Seven +columns hold a descending, alternating-colour tableau; move a card or an +ordered run onto the next-higher card of the other colour, and fill an +empty column with a King (or a King-headed run). Turn cards from the +stock to the waste --- one at a time by default --- and recycle the +waste when the stock runs out. + +@vindex cg-sol-klondike-draw +Set @code{cg-sol-klondike-draw} to @code{3} for the harder +turn-three variant. + +@cindex strategy, Klondike +@strong{Strategy.} Uncover face-down cards before anything else, and +keep a column open for a King. Do not rush low cards to the foundations +if you may still need them to receive tableau cards. + +@node FreeCell +@section FreeCell + +@findex cg-freecell +@cindex FreeCell +Every card is dealt face up into eight columns, and four @dfn{free cells} +each hold a single card. Build the tableau down in alternating colour +and the foundations up in suit. How large a run you can shift at once +depends on how many cells and empty columns are free. Almost every deal +can be won --- this is a game of skill, not luck. + +@strong{Strategy.} Plan several moves ahead, free the aces early, and +resist filling all four cells; an empty column is worth more than a full +cell. + +@node Spider +@section Spider + +@findex cg-spider +@cindex Spider +Two decks, ten columns, no separate foundations. Build down regardless +of suit, but only a same-suit run moves as a block. Complete a +King-to-Ace run in one suit and it is lifted off the table; clear all +eight to win. Press @key{RET} on the stock to deal one card to every +column --- but only when no column is empty. + +@strong{Strategy.} Build in suit whenever you have the choice, and empty +a column as soon as you can: it is the key to untangling the rest. + +@node Yukon +@section Yukon + +@findex cg-yukon +@cindex Yukon +Klondike's layout, dealt mostly face up, with one liberating difference: +you may move @emph{any} face-up card, together with everything piled on +top of it, onto a card one higher of the other colour --- the group need +not be in order. There is no stock. + +@strong{Strategy.} Expose the face-down cards; the freedom to lift +buried groups wins many deals that Klondike would lose. + +@node Canfield +@section Canfield + +@findex cg-canfield +@cindex Canfield +A thirteen-card @dfn{reserve}, four tableau columns, and a stock dealt +three at a time. The first card sets the base rank for the foundations, +which build up in suit and wrap from King round to Ace. The tableau +builds down in alternating colour, and an empty column refills from the +reserve. + +@strong{Strategy.} Clear the reserve --- it is the bottleneck --- and +keep the wrapping base rank in mind when you choose what to bank. + +@node Forty Thieves +@section Forty Thieves + +@findex cg-forty-thieves +@cindex Forty Thieves +Two decks, ten columns, eight foundations. The tableau builds down +@emph{in suit} and moves one card at a time; the foundations build up in +suit; the stock deals to the waste with no redeal. A hard, skilful game. + +@strong{Strategy.} Be patient, keep the waste short, and avoid burying +the low cards you will need. + +@node Scorpion +@section Scorpion + +@findex cg-scorpion +@cindex Scorpion +Seven columns, built down in suit. As in Yukon you may move any card +with everything on top of it, ordered or not. Free four King-to-Ace runs +to win. A small stock deals onto the first columns when you are stuck. + +@strong{Strategy.} Dig the buried low cards out early, and think about +which King you can afford to complete first. + +@node Russian Bank Solitaire +@section Russian Bank + +@findex cg-russian-bank +@cindex Russian Bank, solitaire +The one-player patience: eight @dfn{houses} built down in alternating +colour, four foundations built up in suit from the Ace, and a +thirteen-card reserve that feeds an empty house. (For the competitive +two-player game, @pxref{Russian Bank}.) + +@strong{Strategy.} Play to the foundations first and empty the reserve; +the houses are just working space. + +@node Golf +@section Golf + +@findex cg-golf +@cindex Golf +A layout of thirty-five cards over a single waste pile. Play any exposed +card onto the waste when it is one rank above @emph{or} below the waste's +top card; the sequence does @emph{not} wrap, so nothing follows a King. +Turn a fresh card from the stock when you are stuck. Clear the whole +layout to win. + +@cindex controls, pile games +Use the arrow keys or the mouse to choose a card, @key{RET} to play it +(or, on the stock, to deal), @kbd{u} to undo, and @kbd{n} for a new deal. + +@strong{Strategy.} Look for long up-and-down chains before you spend a +card from the stock. + +@node TriPeaks +@section TriPeaks + +@findex cg-tripeaks +@cindex TriPeaks +Golf played over three overlapping peaks, with one change: the sequence +@emph{wraps}, so an Ace follows a King and a King follows an Ace. That +lets you run long chains across the peaks. Clear all three to win. The +keys are the same as Golf. + +@strong{Strategy.} Plan the chain that uncovers the most cards, and hold +the stock in reserve for when the board truly stalls. + +@node Pyramid +@section Pyramid + +@findex cg-pyramid +@cindex Pyramid +A twenty-eight-card pyramid. Remove pairs of exposed cards whose ranks +sum to thirteen --- Ace counts 1, Jack 11, Queen 12, and a King is 13, so +a King leaves on its own. Mark one card and then its partner to remove +them, and deal from the stock for more matches. Clear the pyramid to +win. + +@strong{Strategy.} Free the cards that block two others at once, and do +not strand a card whose only partner is already gone. + +@node Gaps +@section Gaps + +@findex cg-montana +@findex cg-gaps +@cindex Gaps +@cindex Montana +Also called Montana. The pack is dealt into four rows with gaps between +the cards. Each row is built as one suit, with a Two at the head, rising +Two, Three, @dots{}, up to the King. Move a card into a gap when it +continues the row --- the card one higher, in the same suit, than the +card to the gap's left. Fillable gaps are ringed and marked with a green +@samp{+}. + +When no move remains, @kbd{r} reshuffles the misplaced cards for another +try; you get a limited number of these redeals. @kbd{v} toggles the +full-window layout. Order every row to win. + +@strong{Strategy.} Open the gaps that let a Two, then a Three, begin +each row, and spend redeals only when you are truly stuck. + +@node Hell's Half-Acre +@section Hell's Half-Acre + +@findex cg-hells-half-acre +@cindex Hell's Half-Acre +The same game as Gaps, built the other way: a King anchors the head of +each row and the rows descend King, Queen, @dots{}, down to the Two. The +controls are identical. @node Trick-Taking Games @chapter Trick-Taking Games