Play Elba Solitaire Online — Gypsy on Ten Columns of Five

Elba buries most of two decks. Ten columns of five are dealt, every card but the top of each face down. Columns build down in alternating colours and a packed run moves as a unit; only a king, or a run headed by one, fills a space. The stock holds fifty-four 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 five cards to each of ten columns, the top one face up. The remaining fifty-four cards form the stock: five full rows and a last row of four.

Rules

• Foundations build up in suit from the ace; each suit has two piles, and a banked card never returns.
• Columns build down in alternating colours: the seven of hearts on the eight of clubs or spades.
• Runs travel packed. A group of cards moves as a unit only when every card in it sits one rank lower and the other colour from the card beneath; a loose tail cannot be lifted.
• Hidden cards turn face up the moment the card on them leaves.
• Only a king fills a space, alone or heading a packed run.
• 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

Forty cards are hidden under ten face-up ones, and only kings may take a space, so Elba is a digging game: every column is four turns deep, and a column cleared is a home for a king only. The six deals bury what you have exposed, so turn cards before you deal.

• 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.
• Turn cards over anything else. A move that exposes a hidden card beats a tidy build every time.
• Clear a column for a king. With five cards to dig through it is slow, but a seated king never moves again.
• Deal when the tops are low. Each row lands on all ten columns; a low card on top welcomes it, a king on top does not.

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

Elba is one of the Gypsy line's kings-only members on the Yukon engine, distinguished by its deep even deal. Hypotenuse plays the same rule on a hidden staircase and Phantom Blockade on thirteen columns of three.

Other Games to Try

• Hypotenuse — the kings-only rule on a hidden staircase
• Phantom Blockade — thirteen columns of three
• Eternal Triangle — the staircase dealt face up
• Gypsy — the line's parent

About This Online Version

Elba 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.