If you want a solitaire game with a lot of strategy, Calculation Solitaire is the game for you! In this game, every move you make matters as you flip card after card trying to build up your foundation piles and carefully planning which waste pile to place the cards you can’t play so they aren’t buried from you when you need them.
This is one of the more addicting games of solitaire I’ve learned, especially because it’s so tricky to win yet always feels like you could have done just one or two things differently that would have secured a victory.
Calculation Solitaire has a little bit of a trickier foundation sequence to follow, so I’ve made a free printable that you can download to aid you during play so that you can focus on your strategy.
To learn how to play, watch our youtube video as I walk you through how to play Calculation Solitaire by playing through a game start to finish.
How to Play Calculation Solitaire
What You’ll Need:
1 Standard Deck, Jokers Removed
Free Printable (optional)
Goal: Build up four foundation piles by following unique building sequences.
How to play Calculation Solitaire:
Begin by adding an Ace, 2, 3, and 4 of any suit into a top row to begin your four foundation piles.
Each pile builds following its own unique sequence.
Only the card rank matters in Calculation, you ignore all suits during play.
Foundation One (Ace) Builds by one, Ace-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K
Foundation Two (2) Builds by two, 2-4-6-8-10-Q-A-3-5-7-9-J-K
Foundation Three (3) Builds by three, 3-6-9-Q-2-5-8-J-A-4-7-10-K
Foundation Four (4) Builds by four, 4-8-Q-3-7-J-2-6-10-A-5-9-K
Below the foundation piles are four waste piles into which you will place cards you cannot currently play during the game.
Flip cards one at a time from the top of the deck. If it can be added to a foundation pile, do so. Otherwise, place it in a waste pile of your choice. Cards in the waste piles may not be moved again unless they can be added directly into a foundation pile. You cannot move them onto another waste pile.
Only the top card of a waste pile is available to be moved into the foundation piles. Cards underneath must be unburied in order to play.
Continue flipping cards one at a time from the deck adding to the foundation pile as able or onto any of the four waste piles until you have gone through the entire deck.
You win if you are able to successfully build up each of the 4 foundation piles.
Strategy Tips to Help You Win Calculation Solitiare
In general, it’s good to keep a waste pile open for the Kings. If you bury lower ranked cards below a King, it becomes extremely difficult to win as you must fully complete a foundation pile to play the King to unbury the cards beneath it. Once you have the Kings out, (or at least two or three of them) then you can use that foundation pile to hold lower rank cards.
Watch for ways you can build the cards in the waste piles in descending sequences so that when you play the top card, the card beneath it can also be played onto the foundation pile. Even just a few groupings of cards in these descending sequences can go a long way to helping you win the game.
FREE Printable
Keeping track of the foundation sequences while also trying to strategize your best move can be tricky. I made a printable template with a space for each foundation and waste pile along with the sequence orders listed above each foundation.
There’s also a quick start rules guide if you need a little rules refresh before playing.
You can download the PDF to print and play at home for FREE.
Just enter your email below (or use this form linked here) I’ll send it straight to your inbox.
If you enjoyed this post on how to play Calculation Solitiare, you may also enjoy:
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