Play Big Harp Solitaire Online — Double Klondike With No Second Chance

Big Harp is Double Klondike's stricter cousin. Two decks are dealt into a staircase of ten columns that runs down to the right — ten cards in the first column, one in the last — with only the top card of each turned. The tableau builds down in alternating colours, runs travel, and any card may take an empty column. The catch is the stock: forty-nine cards, turned one at a time, with no redeal. One pass is all you get.

Setup

Shuffle two decks together. Deal ten columns: ten cards in the first, nine in the second, down to one in the tenth. Only the top card of each column is face up; the forty-five beneath are hidden. The remaining forty-nine cards form the stock. Eight foundations wait above the tableau, two for each suit.

Rules

• Foundations build up in suit from ace to king. Each suit has two; either accepts its next card.
• Tableau builds down in alternating colours, and any packed run may be moved as a unit.
• Spaces take any card or any packed run.
• Turning up: when a column's face-up cards leave, the hidden card beneath is turned.
• Stock: one card a turn to the waste. The top waste card is in play.
• No redeal. When the stock is empty it stays empty; whatever is left in the waste is only reachable from the top down.
• Win by banking all 104 cards.

Strategy

The single pass changes everything. In Double Klondike a card you skip comes round again; here a card you pass in the waste is buried until everything above it is played. Play the stock as a resource you spend, not a resource you turn.

• Work the tableau before the stock. Every stock card you turn without playing goes onto the waste pile, where it blocks the cards under it. Exhaust the tableau moves first, then turn one card, then look again.
• Keep the waste playable. A card you cannot play now is one you may be able to play in three moves. Before turning the next stock card, ask what would free the current waste card — often a tableau move you overlooked.
• Dig the deep columns. The first column hides nine cards; the last hides none. Uncovering is the only way to see the hidden forty-five, so prefer moves that turn a card, and prefer the deep columns when you have a choice.
• Use spaces to reorder the waste. Any card takes a space. When a valuable card sits two deep in the waste, park the card above it in a space to reach it.
• Count the twins. Two copies of every card exist. A run that needs a black five has two chances; check whether either is still in the stock before you commit.
• Bank as you go. With no redeal there is no reason to hold low cards in play. Send aces and twos up at once.

Where It Sits in the Klondike Family

Big Harp belongs to the two-deck Klondike line alongside 8 x 8, Open Gargantua, Double Trigon and Inquisitor. Its deal is Double Klondike's staircase reflected — the tall column comes first — and its two rules of note are the open space and the single pass. Harp, the one-deck version, is Klondike with any-card spaces and no redeal; Big Harp is that game at twice the size.

Other Games to Try

• Double Klondike — the same two-deck staircase, with redeals
• 8 x 8 — two decks dealt open, with unlimited redeals
• Westcliff — one deck, one pass, any card in a space
• Lexington Harp — the two-deck harp on the Yukon build

About This Version

Big Harp 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.