Play Pluto Solitaire Online — Deuces With the Twos to Find

Pluto is Deuces with its first gift taken back. The foundations still build up in suit from the two to the ace, wrapping past the king, but the twos are not lifted out for you: all eight are shuffled into the pack and the foundations start empty. Twelve columns of a single card build down in suit, wrapping, one card at a time; any card may fill a space; the stock turns one card at a time with no redeal. Find the twos, then bank 104 cards in one pass.

Setup

Shuffle two decks together. Deal twelve columns of one card each, face up. The remaining ninety-two cards form the stock. The eight foundations are empty, and there is no reserve.

Rules

• Foundations start empty and take only a two. From there each builds up in suit, wrapping past the king: 2, 3 … K, A. Each suit has two foundations.
• Tableau builds down in suit, wrapping past the ace: an ace goes on a two, a king on an ace.
• One card at a time. A packed run does not travel.
• Spaces take any card, and nothing refills them.
• Stock: one card a turn to the waste; the top waste card is in play.
• No redeal.
• Win when all eight foundations run from two to ace.

Strategy

Everything said of Deuces holds here, with one thing in front of it: until a suit's two is found, that suit cannot be banked at all. The first half of a Pluto game is a hunt, and the twelve columns are the reason it is fair.

• Hunt the twos. Eight twos are somewhere in ninety-two stock cards and twelve columns. A two on the tableau is worth more than any run; bank it the moment it shows, and never bury one.
• Hold the threes until their two is up. A three with no foundation to go to is a host for a two of its suit — an ace-on-two, then a two-on-three chain wraps neatly. Keep threes on top of columns where you can.
• Twelve columns are twelve chances. Two more columns than Deuces means two more single-card parking places. Use them to take waste cards you cannot yet bank rather than turning past them.
• One pass, so play before you turn. Every stock card you turn without playing buries the cards beneath it in the waste. Exhaust the tableau first.
• Aces last. Each foundation ends on its ace; an ace is the last card of its suit to leave, so never build beneath one.
• Twins are hosts. Two copies of every card exist. When a card has no host in view, its host's twin may be a column away.

Where It Sits in the Canfield Family

Pluto is Deuces with two changes: twelve columns instead of ten, and the twos shuffled in rather than lifted out. That second change is the same delta that separates Big Forty from Ali Baba — a lift restored to a shuffle is a different game, not a count. It lives on the Canfield engine for the base rank and the wrap, with no reserve.

Other Games to Try

• Deuces — the twos already on the foundations
• Big Forty — Ali Baba with the aces left in the pack
• Quadrangle — a turned base on the same twelve columns
• Forty Thieves — the board this deal comes from

About This Version

Pluto 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.