Play Blockade Solitaire Online — Spaces Filled From the Stock

Blockade deals two decks a card at a time. Twelve columns start with one card each, face up. Columns build down in suit and a packed run moves as a unit. A column emptied by a move is filled at once from the stock; only when the stock is empty may any card or run enter a space. The stock holds ninety-two cards and deals one to every column per click. Eight foundations build up in suit from the ace. Bank all 104 to win.

Setup

Shuffle two decks. Deal one card face up to each of twelve columns. The remaining ninety-two cards form the stock above eight foundations.

Rules

• Foundations build up in suit from the ace; each suit has two piles.
• Columns build down in suit: the seven of clubs on the eight of clubs.
• Runs travel packed. A group of cards moves as a unit only when every card in it sits one rank lower and the same suit as the card beneath; a loose tail cannot be lifted.
• Spaces are filled from the stock. The moment a move empties a column, the stock's top card takes it face up. Once the stock is empty, any card or run may enter a space.
• The stock deals a row: one card face up to every column per click, an empty column included, as far as the cards go. There is no waste and no redeal.
• Win when all eight foundations are complete.

Strategy

An empty column is never yours while the stock lasts, so clearing a column is not a way to gain room; it is a way to draw one card from the stock without dealing a whole row. That is Blockade's whole trade: a single unknown card against a row of twelve.

• Deal only when stuck. A row covers every column at once, an empty one included, and cannot be taken back except by undo. Play everything that will go before you click the stock.
• Keep runs packed. Only a packed run travels, so a card dropped out of sequence freezes everything above it until the run is rebuilt.
• Bank as you go. Foundations are one-way; a card on a foundation never blocks a column again.
• Empty a column to draw one card. Moving the last card off a column pulls one stock card into it, which is cheaper than a row of twelve.
• Build long same-suit runs. They move whole and bank in order; a run broken by a foreign card freezes everything above it.
• Save the row deal for real deadlocks. Ninety-two cards are eight rows; every one covers all twelve columns.
• After the stock, spaces open up. Once it is gone any card fills a column, and the endgame is an ordinary sort.

Every game in this line runs on one clock: the stock. It never reshuffles and never comes back, so the number of rows left is the number of times the board can change on its own. Deal a row to reach a card you need only when no move can reach it, and before each deal read the tops of the columns, because those are the cards the row will bury. The hint button names a legal move; when it names the stock, nothing else is left.

Where It Sits in the Gypsy Line

Blockade is the Gypsy line's forced-fill member on the Yukon engine: a suit build with packed runs and a stock that both deals rows and fills spaces. Eclipse plays the same build on thirteen columns of four without the fill.

Other Games to Try

• Eclipse — thirteen columns of four, down in suit
• Corona — spaces filled from the waste on the Forty Thieves board
• Steve — a rank build with same-suit runs
• Gypsy — the line's parent

About This Online Version

Blockade 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.