Play Queenie — Yukon's Move Rule, Dealt Openly

Queenie takes the freest move rule in solitaire and puts it on a board where nothing is hidden. Seven columns are dealt a staircase of one to seven cards, every one of them face up, and the remaining twenty-four form a stock. The Yukon rule applies: any face-up card may be moved, carrying every card on top of it, packed or not. Cards build down in alternating colour, only a king fills an empty column, and the foundations go up in suit from an ace. The stock is the twist — clicking it deals one card to every column at once, an emptied one included. Free in your browser, no sign-up, and it works offline once the page has loaded.

How Do You Play Queenie?

Goal: build all 52 cards onto the four foundations, up in suit from an ace.

Setup

• Columns: seven, dealt a staircase of one to seven cards — 28 in all, every one face up.
• Stock: 24 cards, dealt a row at a time.
• Foundations: four, up in suit from an ace.
• No waste. The stock deals straight onto the columns.

Rules

• Any face-up card moves with its whole tail, packed or not. That is the Yukon rule and the heart of the game.
• Cards build down in alternating colour: a red six on a black seven.
• Nothing is face down. The only thing you do not know is the order of the stock.
• Clicking the stock deals one card to every column, face up.
• There is no waste and no redeal — the stock is dealt out row by row and then gone.
• A deal fills an emptied column too, so a space does not survive one.
• Only a king may be moved into an empty column.
• The foundations build up in suit from an ace.
• You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations.

What's the Best Queenie Strategy?

• Everything is visible, so plan before you touch anything. Unlike most Yukon games there are no cards to turn over, which means no lucky reveals — the whole board is in front of you and every move is a considered one.
• Do not deal while you still have moves. A deal puts a card on every column, burying whatever was on top. Exhaust the board first; the stock is a way out, not a resource to spend early.
• An empty column is temporary. The next deal fills it. So a space is worth using immediately for a king, not saving — the opposite of most of the family.
• Move deep runs, not single cards. The Yukon rule lets you lift a whole ragged pile at once. Use it to relocate a buried ace or a needed low card rather than picking away at the top.
• Watch the aces. With nothing hidden you can see exactly where all four are from the first move. Getting them out early is what makes the rest of the deal flow.

A Short History

Queenie belongs to a small group of Yukon variants that PySolFC marks as extra-original — games built on the Yukon move rule but dealt and fed like Klondike. The combination is unusual and works better than it sounds. Yukon proper deals every card at the start and hides most of them; Queenie deals an open staircase and holds twenty-four cards back, so the game has an opening you can fully analyse and a middle where new material keeps arriving. The stock is the unusual part: it has no waste, so a click deals straight onto the columns, one card each, and there is no second pass. That makes an empty column a fleeting thing — the next deal will fill it — and turns the usual advice about hoarding spaces on its head. The open-source PySolFC collection, whose rules this version follows, rates the game balanced, and it sits alongside Rushdike, which is the same board dealt face down and built in suit.

About This Version

This Queenie runs in your browser — free, no download, no sign-up. Install it 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.

Other Solitaire Games to Try

• Rushdike — the same board dealt face down, built in suit
• Yukon — the original — every card dealt, most face down
• Moosehide — Yukon's board, built down in any suit but the same
• Russian Solitaire — Yukon built down in suit