Play Hypotenuse Solitaire Online — Gypsy on a Hidden Staircase of Ten

Hypotenuse, also called Brazilian Patience, deals two decks into a staircase of ten columns, one to ten deep, 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 forty-nine 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 of ten columns, one card in the first and ten in the last, with only the top card of each face up. The remaining forty-nine cards form the stock; its last row reaches nine columns.

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-five cards are hidden and the staircase puts the deepest ones on the right. The short columns on the left are the first to clear and the natural homes for kings; the long columns on the right are where the game is won or lost.

• 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.
• Empty the first column for a king. It holds one card; a king seated there is settled for the game.
• Dig from the left. Short columns turn their hidden cards quickly and feed runs that reach the deep ones.
• Five deals only. Forty-nine cards are four rows of ten and a last of nine; the board after them is the endgame.

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

Hypotenuse is the hidden form of Eternal Triangle on the Yukon engine, and the two-deck parent of Small Triangle. Elba plays the same kings-only rule on an even deal of five.

Other Games to Try

• Eternal Triangle — the same staircase face up
• Small Triangle — one deck, seven columns
• Elba — ten columns of five
• Milligan Harp — a hidden staircase of eight, any card into a space

About This Online Version

Hypotenuse 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.