Monte Carlo Solitaire is a single-deck pair-matching puzzle. Twenty-five cards are dealt face-up into a 5×5 grid. You remove pairs of cards of the same rank — but only when the two cards are touching (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally). After every removal, the remaining cards compact upward and leftward, and new cards from the deck fill the empty bottom-right slots. Clear the entire deck to win. Also known as Weddings. Free in your browser, no sign-up. Works offline once the page has loaded.
Goal: remove all 52 cards by matching adjacent same-rank pairs.
Monte Carlo Solitaire is a 19th-century pair-matching patience that appears in many anthologies. It is also called Weddings, a name that predates Monte Carlo in some published collections — the wedding metaphor refers to the pair-matching mechanic, not to the city. The variant has remained in print continuously since the late 19th century and is included in many modern multi-game digital collections, often alongside other compact pair-matching games like Pyramid.
This Monte Carlo runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. Install as an app on your phone or computer; once installed it works offline. Unlimited undo, statistics, and a daily challenge that gives every player the same deal that day.
Two cards are adjacent if they touch in the grid horizontally, vertically, or diagonally — eight neighbours per card (fewer at the edges and corners). Two cards in the same row but separated by another card are not adjacent.
No. Only rank matters. Any 7 pairs with any other 7 if they're adjacent; the suits are ignored. This is a key difference from foundation-based solitaires where suits drive the building rule.
The remaining cards compact toward the top-left (in row-major order) to fill the empty positions. Once the grid has empty slots in the bottom-right after compaction, new cards from the stock fill them. The compaction step is what makes Monte Carlo a planning puzzle and not just a clicking game.
No. The compaction mechanic and stock order can leave a final grid where no adjacent pair exists. The stock refills the grid after each compaction, so a deal that looks stuck can still open up.
The Weddings name predates Monte Carlo in some published collections. The wedding metaphor refers to the pair-matching mechanic — two like cards are 'married' and removed together. Both names appear in 19th-century patience anthologies.