Play Free Parking Solitaire Online — Montana Filled From Either Side

Free Parking, also called Moonlight or Park and Ride, is Montana with a second way into every gap. All 52 cards are dealt face up into four rows of thirteen and the four aces are removed, leaving a gap wherever each one lay. A gap takes the same-suit card one rank higher than the card to its left, or the same-suit card one rank lower than the card to its right. A leftmost gap takes a two. Two redeals. Win by making every row read two to king in one suit.

Setup

Shuffle one deck and deal all 52 cards face up into four rows of thirteen. Take the four aces out of the game. Their slots are your opening gaps, and they can be anywhere on the board.

Rules

• Rows build up in suit from a two in the first slot to the king. The aces are out of play.
• A gap takes a card from EITHER side: the card of the same suit one rank higher than the card to its left, or the card of the same suit one rank lower than the card to its right. A gap with a gap on both sides is dead.
• Runs count from the left. A card is safe through a redeal only when it continues its row's run from the first slot; matching the card on its right alone does not seat it.
• A leftmost gap takes a two, whatever lies to its right.
• The redeal: when no move remains, every card that is not part of its row's run from the first slot is gathered, shuffled and dealt back after the runs, leaving a gap after each run. Two redeals a game.
• Win when all four rows read two to king in one suit; the last slot of each row stays empty.

Strategy

Montana's gaps fall at random, and in Free Parking each one has two possible fillers instead of one. The early game is about getting the twos into the first slots; the middle game is about using right-hand entries to line cards up ahead of the runs without shuffling them back and forth.

• 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.
• Get the twos home. No row starts until a two is in its first slot, and a leftmost gap takes nothing else.
• Bridge from the right. A card entered by its right neighbour is a stepping stone; make sure the run from the left can reach it before a redeal.
• Do not shuttle. A card that fits from both sides can move for ever; move it only when a run grows.

Where It Sits in the Gaps Family

Free Parking is the two-sided member of the Montana line on the Gaps engine: Montana's deal with the aces removed and a fill rule that reads both neighbours. Galary applies the same rule to Red Moon's ace-headed deal.

Other Games to Try

• Gaps — Montana, filled from the left only
• Galary — the two-sided rule with the aces seated
• Double Montana — two decks with the aces removed
• Blue Moon — the classic

About This Online Version

Free Parking 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.