Play Paganini II Solitaire Online — Two Decks, the Aces in Play, No Redeal
Paganini II is the two-deck Gaps game without a safety net. All 104 cards are dealt face up into eight rows of fourteen with the first slot of each row empty, and the aces stay wherever they fell. A gap takes the card of the same suit one rank higher than the card to its left; a leftmost gap takes an ace. There is no redeal. Win by making every row read ace to king in one suit.
Setup
Shuffle two decks and deal all 104 cards face up into eight rows of fourteen, skipping the first slot of each row. The eight leftmost slots are your opening gaps. Nothing else is moved.
Rules
- Rows build up in suit from an ace in the first slot to the king.
- A gap takes one card: the card of the same suit one rank higher than the card to its left. A gap to the right of a king, or of another gap, is dead until a redeal.
- A leftmost gap takes an ace. The first move of every row is finding an ace for its first slot.
- Twins: two decks mean two of every card; either copy continues a run.
- No redeal. When no gap can be filled, the game is over.
- Win when all eight rows read ace to king in one suit; the last slot of each row stays empty.
Strategy
Without a redeal every move is final in a way it is not in Blue Moon. The opening gaps are all in the first column and only aces fill them, so the first decisions are which aces to seat, and where each seated ace leaves a gap that can still be used.
- Read the runs, not the cards. Every row wants one suit in order from its first slot. Before any move, find the longest run each row already has and work to extend it.
- Never open a dead gap. A gap to the right of a king takes nothing. Moving a card away from beside a king leaves a slot that is lost until the next redeal.
- Prefer the move that creates a live gap. Where a card leaves matters as much as where it lands. Take it from a slot whose left neighbour is a low card with its successor still loose.
- Count the redeals. A redeal keeps the seated runs and reshuffles the rest, with a gap after each run. Seat as much as you can before spending one; what is seated is safe.
- Seat the aces whose successors are free. An ace whose two sits beside a low card of another suit is a better start than an ace whose two is under a king.
- Watch where the ace came from. Moving an ace opens a gap in its old slot; if the card to that gap's left is a king, you have spent a live gap for a dead one.
- Plan whole chains. With no reshuffle, a run that cannot reach its king is a run wasted. Trace each suit's cards before committing a row to it.
Where It Sits in the Gaps Family
Paganini II is Double Blue Moon's stricter twin on the Gaps engine: the same eight rows of fourteen, but the aces are dealt in play rather than moved to the left, and there is no redeal. It is not related to Parlett's Paganini beyond the name.
Other Games to Try
About This Online Version
Paganini II runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. Install it as an app on your phone or computer and it works offline. You get unlimited undo, a hint button that names a legal move, statistics that track your wins and times, and seeded deals: every game has a seed you can replay, so a board you enjoyed (or lost) can be played again exactly.