Yukon Instructions
Version 1.02 (Feb 8 2000) Copyright © 2000 Andrew Pipkin
Overview
The initial setup for Yukon solitaire is the same as that of Klondike
solitaire. Seven card stacks are made containing from one to seven cards,
with only the top card turned face up. Instead of placing the remaining 24
cards in a stack which is cycled through, four cards are placed face up on
each stack except the leftmost. The objective is to put the entire deck in
suit stacks of ascending rank, making stacks of descending rank with
alternating colors as an intermediate stage. Any face up card can be placed
on a card at the top of a stack which has a different color and a rank one
greater than it. If the moved card is not the top card in its stack, all
cards above it will be moved along with it.
Layout
The seven building stacks are in the middle of the screen, with two suit
stacks on each side. If all the face up cards of a stack are removed, the
topmost face down card will be turned over.
Moving Cards
To move a card, click on the card (which will highlight it) and then
click on the destination. The following are valid moves:
- A card can be moved to a card which has a rank one more and a different
color from it, moving all cards above it stack along with it.
- An ace can be moved to its suit stack. (This will usually be done
automatically.)
- A card at the top of a stack can be moved to its corresponding suit
stack if the value of the card at the top of that stack is one less than the
card's value (Kings have a value of 13, queens 12, jacks 11 and an ace has
a value of 1).
- A King can be moved to an empty building stack.
A card will be automatically moved to the suit stacks from the tops
of the building stacks if the cards which might be placed on top of it are
already in the suit stacks. Clicking undo will retract an automatic move.
Selecting Moved Cards
Usually there will be only one face up card in the source stack which can be
placed on top of the destination stack, and that move will be made
regardless of how many cards are selected. If there are more than one card
in a stack which can be placed on another card (for example a stack
containing a 4 of hearts and a 4 of diamonds which can both be placed on a 5
of clubs), it is necessary to select multiple cards to move the card lower
in the stack. Clicking on a card below the top card will select all cards
from the clicked card to the top of the stack and clicking twice on a stack
will select all face up cards. If more cards are selected than can be moved,
as many selected cards will be moved as possible.
Strategy
The general algorithm for playing Yukon solitaire is as follows:
- For each stack, see which face up cards in the other stacks can be moved
to the top of the stack.
- If there is only one unordered card which can be moved to the top of the
stack, go ahead and move it.
- If there are two or more cards which can be placed on the stack, make
the move which will lead to turning over a face down card. If neither move
will result in a new face up card, make the move which will enable more
moves.
- Repeat until the game is won or there are no possible moves.
Buttons
Clicking on these buttons will perform the following actions:
- New Game
- Begin a new game after shuffling the deck
- Restart
- Return to the original state of the current game
- Undo
- Return to the condition before the previous move was
- Options
- Bring up a window with the
following options:
- Starting rank
- This option sets the rank of the
cards at the tops of the suit stacks at the start of the game. A new game
must be started for this option to take effect. Increasing this value will
result in an easier game.
- Empty spaces accept
-
This option enables empty building stacks to accept cards other than kings.
- Automatic card moving
-
When this box is set (which is the default), a card atop a building stack
will be moved to its suit stack automatically if there are no
cards available which might be placed on top of it.
History
- Version 1.02 (2000/2/08)
- Starting rank option added.
- Version 1.01 (2000/1/23)
- Options added.
- Version 1.00 (2000/1/13)
- First Public Release
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