Quick Rules
Crescent Solitaire is a one-player card game played with two decks, 104 cards in all. Eight foundations sit in the middle of the table, and the other 96 cards lie around them in sixteen piles of six. Your goal is to move every card onto the foundations.
- Ace piles. Four foundations start with an Ace. Build each one up in the same suit: 2, 3, 4 and so on to the King.
- King piles. Four foundations start with a King. Build each one down in the same suit: Queen, Jack, 10 and so on to the Ace.
- The sixteen piles. Only the top card of each pile shows, and only that card can move. One card moves at a time.
- Pile to pile. A top card can go onto the top card of another pile if it is the same suit and one higher or one lower. A King and an Ace of the same suit count as neighbors.
- Empty piles. A pile that runs out stays empty. Nothing can be put there.
- Shuffle. Three times a game you may shuffle: the bottom card of every pile moves to the top of its pile.
- Winning. You win when all eight foundations are complete.
How to play here: cards that can move have a thick outline. Tap one and it goes to a foundation if it fits there, or onto its neighbor on another pile. If it fits in more than one place, those places get a dashed outline and you tap the one you want.
Tips for Winning
- Play to the foundations first. Every card that goes up uncovers a new one. Check all sixteen piles before you do anything else.
- Hold your shuffles. You only get three. Use up every useful move on the table before you press Shuffle.
- Build chains you can unwind. A run like 5, 6, 7 of one suit on a pile can go to a foundation card by card, from the top.
- Watch both ends of a suit. The Ace pile and the King pile of a suit grow toward each other. A middle card can often go to either one, so pick the pile that helps the cards you can see.
- Use Undo and Hint freely. Undo is unlimited, and the Hint button points to a useful move and tells you why.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this Crescent Solitaire free?
Yes. You can play as many games of Crescent Solitaire as you like for free. There is no account to create, nothing to download, and no ads pop up between games.
Can every deal be won?
No. Crescent is one of the harder solitaire games, and many deals cannot be finished with only three shuffles, however well you play. To give you a fair chance, when you start a new game we look for a moment for a deal that our own solver has managed to win with the rules you chose. If it does not find one quickly, you get an untested deal. A deal number you type in yourself is always dealt exactly as it is.
What does the Shuffle button do?
It takes the bottom card of every pile and puts it on top of that pile. The cards are not mixed. Sixteen cards that were buried at the bottom come up at once, and the cards that were on top are now second in their piles. You get three shuffles in a game, and the button shows how many are left.
Why can't I put a card on an empty pile?
That is the rule in Crescent. Once a pile is used up, its place stays empty for the rest of the game. This is different from games like Klondike, where an empty column is a valuable parking space.
Can I move cards from one foundation to another?
Yes, between the two foundations of the same suit, when the top card of one is the next card the other is waiting for. For example, if the Ace pile of Hearts has reached the 7 and the King pile of Hearts has come down to the 8, you can tap the 7 to move it across. The Ace and King that start the piles never move.
Can I undo a move?
Yes, as many times as you like. Press the big Undo button to take back your last move, and keep pressing it to go further back. Undo also takes back a shuffle and gives you that shuffle again.
Does the game save my progress?
Yes. Your game is saved in your browser after every move, so you can close the page and pick up where you left off later on the same device. Your statistics are saved the same way.
How do I tell the suits apart on a small screen?
Every card shows its rank and a large suit symbol side by side at the top. If red and black are not enough, open Settings and turn on four-color cards. Diamonds turn blue and clubs turn green, so each suit has its own color as well as its own shape.
Like two-deck games? Try Spider solitaire. For a game where every card is face up from the start, there is FreeCell, and the classic is always Klondike solitaire.
More Free Games
- Klondike Solitaire The classic solitaire. Draw one or three, with big cards, hints and unlimited undo.
- FreeCell Every card is face up and almost every deal can be won. Use the four free cells wisely.
- Spider Solitaire Build runs from King down to Ace. Play with one, two or four suits.
- Pyramid Solitaire Clear the pyramid by pairing cards that add up to 13. Kings go on their own.
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- Golf Solitaire Play cards one up or one down from the pile and try to clear all seven columns.
- Yukon Solitaire Like Klondike with no stock: move any face-up group, even out of order, and dig out the hidden cards.
- Scorpion Solitaire Build four same-suit runs from King down to Ace by moving whole groups of cards.
- Canfield Solitaire A classic with a 13-card reserve. Build up by suit from whatever card starts the foundations.
- Clock Solitaire Deal the cards around a clock face and turn them up one by one. Finish before the fourth King appears.
- Addiction Solitaire Line up each suit from 2 to King in four rows by moving cards into the gaps. Three shuffles to help.
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- Texas 42 The trick-taking domino game from Texas: bid, name trumps and win tricks with your partner.
- Hearts Avoid hearts and the queen of spades, or shoot the moon and stick everyone else with the points.
- Spades Bid your tricks with your partner, then make your bid. Spades are always trump.
- Hand and Foot The family canasta game: play your hand, then your foot, and build clean and dirty books with your partner.
- Canasta Meld sets of a kind, freeze the pile, and build canastas with your partner. Classic American scoring.
- Cribbage Count fifteens, pairs and runs, and peg your way around the board to 121.
- Gin Rummy Make sets and runs, knock when your leftover cards are low, and go for gin.
- Euchre The fast trick-taking game of the Midwest: call trump, use your bowers and take three tricks.
- Rummy Draw, meld sets and runs, lay off on the table and be first to go out.
- Rummy 500 Score points for every card you meld, take from deep in the discard pile and race to 500.
- Whist The classic partnership trick game with no bidding. Take seven tricks to score.
- Oh Hell! Say exactly how many tricks you will take, then take that many: no more, no fewer.
- Pinochle Bid, meld and take tricks with a 48-card deck. Partnership auction pinochle.
- Bridge Contract bridge with a computer partner: bid your contract, then make it.
- Crazy Eights Match the suit or the number, change the suit with an eight, and be first to play all your cards.
- Switch The British cousin of Crazy Eights, with cards that skip, reverse and make the next player draw.
- Go Fish Ask for the cards you need, collect sets of four and make the most books.
- Old Maid Pair up your cards and don't be the one left holding the odd queen.
- War Turn a card each; the higher card wins both. The simplest card game there is.
- Spit A race to play your cards up or down on two piles, with a slow pace option so nobody is rushed.
- Idiot Play equal or higher cards, pick up the pile when you can't, and don't be the last one holding cards.
- Thirteen Shed your cards in singles, pairs, triples and runs. Twos are high. Also called Tien Len.
- Escoba The Spanish fishing game: capture cards that add up to 15 and sweep the table.
- Briscola Italy's favorite trick game with a 40-card deck. Win the valuable cards and reach 61 points.
- Skat Germany's three-player classic: bid for the right to play alone against the other two.
- Manni A three-player trick-taking game from Iceland, played to ten points.
- Kings in the Corners Build down in alternating colors around the deck, put Kings in the corners, and be first to empty your hand.
- Mahjong Solitaire Match pairs of free tiles to clear the board. Large, high-contrast tiles and every deal can be solved.
- Jigsaw Puzzles Relaxing picture puzzles from 12 to 100 pieces, with big pieces that snap into place.
- Sudoku Fill the grid so every row, column and box has 1 to 9. Big numbers, notes and three levels.
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- Triangles Take turns drawing lines between dots and claim every triangle you close.
- Checkers American checkers on a big board. Jump, get kinged and clear the other side.
- Backgammon Race your checkers home and bear them off before the computer does. Fair dice you can check.
- Reversi Trap the other color between your discs to flip them. Most discs at the end wins.
- Chess A friendly game of chess with large pieces, hints and computer levels from beginner up.
- Sea Battle Hide your fleet, call your shots and sink every ship before yours go down.
- Yacht Dice Roll five dice up to three times a turn and fill your score sheet. The classic dice game.
- Farkle Roll six dice, set aside the scoring ones and decide when to stop before you lose it all.