Play Milligan Harp Solitaire Online — Gypsy on a Hidden Staircase

Milligan Harp is Gypsy's rule on Lexington Harp's deal. Two decks are dealt into eight columns one to eight deep, every card but the top of each face down. Columns build down in alternating colours and a packed run moves as a unit; any card or run fills a space. The stock holds sixty-eight 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 a staircase: the first column one card, the second two, and so on to eight, with only the top card of each column face up. The remaining sixty-eight cards form the stock above eight foundations.

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.
• Any card or run fills 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

Thirty-six cards are hidden at the start and every row you deal buries the columns deeper, so the game is a race to turn cards before the stock runs out. The packed move is stricter than Yukon's: a run you break stays broken until you rebuild it.

• 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.
• Dig the deep columns first. The eighth column hides seven cards; moves that expose them are worth more than tidy builds elsewhere.
• Use spaces for kings and long runs. A space takes anything here, but a king headed run in a space never needs to move again.
• Count the rows left. Sixty-eight cards are eight rows and a half; the last row reaches four columns only.

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

Milligan Harp is the Gypsy line's hidden staircase on the Yukon engine: Lexington Harp's deal with the packed move instead of Yukon's, and the deal Carlton plays face up. Steve is the same board with a rank build and same-suit runs.

Other Games to Try

• Lexington Harp — the same deal with Yukon's any-card move
• Carlton — the same deal face up
• Steve — a rank build with same-suit runs on this board
• Gypsy — the line's parent

About This Online Version

Milligan 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.