Scorpion Solitaire

How to Play Scorpion Solitaire

What Is Scorpion Solitaire?

Scorpion Solitaire is a one-deck solitaire game with a sting in its tail. It looks a little like Spider, because you build long runs in a single suit, but it plays very differently: almost the whole deck is on the table from the start, and you are allowed to pick up messy, unsorted piles of cards and move them all at once. That one unusual rule turns Scorpion into a deep untangling puzzle. Your goal is to sort the deck into four complete runs, one per suit, each running from King down to Ace.

The Layout

Scorpion uses one standard deck of 52 cards. At the start of the game, 49 cards are dealt into seven tableau columns of seven cards each:

• Columns 1 to 4: the first three cards in each of these columns are dealt face down, and the four cards on top of them are face up. That gives you 12 hidden cards in total.
• Columns 5 to 7: all seven cards are dealt face up.
• The stock: the last three cards of the deck are set aside in a small face-down pile. They are your reserve, and you may deal them whenever you choose.

There are no separate foundation piles to build on during play. In Scorpion, all the sorting happens right in the tableau columns. When you manage to assemble a complete run of one suit from King down to Ace, the game lifts that finished run off the table for you automatically.

Building Down by Suit

In the tableau, a card may be placed on the card that is one rank higher and the same suit. For example, you may place the 7♠ on the 8♠, or the Q♥ on the K♥. Color does not matter in Scorpion; only the suit does. A 7♣ cannot go on the 8♠, even though both are black. Aces are the lowest cards, so nothing can be placed on an Ace, and an Ace itself can only move onto a 2 of the same suit.

The Signature Rule: Move Any Group of Cards

Here is what makes Scorpion special. In most solitaire games you may only move cards that are already in a tidy sequence. In Scorpion, any face-up card can be picked up together with every card sitting on top of it, no matter what those cards are or what order they are in. The only rule that matters is where the group lands: the card at the bottom of the group you are moving must go onto a card one rank higher in the same suit.

An example makes it clear. Suppose a column reads, from back to front: 9♦, then 2♣, then K♥. You may grab the 9♦ and drag it, carrying the 2♣ and K♥ along with it, onto the 10♦ in another column. The 2♣ and K♥ simply come along for the ride. This is the same moving style used in Yukon solitaire, and it is both a blessing and a trap: it lets you reach deep into columns, but it also makes it very easy to bury a card you will need later.

The Three Stock Cards

At any moment during the game, you may click the stock pile to deal its three cards. They are placed face up, one card each, onto the first three columns. This happens only once; there are no further redeals. Most players save the stock for the moment the game locks up, because the three new cards can break a deadlock, but they can also land on top of cards you were about to use. When and whether to deal is a real decision, not a formality.

Empty Columns

When you clear every card out of a column, that empty space may only be filled by a King, either a single King or a group of cards whose bottom card is a King. Since complete runs must start with a King anyway, an empty column is the natural workbench for building a fresh run.

How to Win

You win when all four suits have been assembled into complete King-to-Ace runs. Each finished run is moved off the table automatically the moment it is complete. Not every Scorpion deal can be won; with thoughtful play, experienced players win very roughly one deal in five, which is exactly why a victory here feels earned.

Playing on This Site

You can drag and drop any face-up card, along with everything on top of it, to a legal spot, or double-click (double-tap on a touch screen) a card to send it to the best available destination automatically. The buttons above the table give you a New deal, Undo, Redo, a Hint when you cannot see a move, and Auto-finish to complete a game that is clearly won. Undo is unlimited, so you can rewind a bad plan and try a different line. Every deal has a seed number, so you can replay the same shuffle later or share it with a friend and compare results.

Scorpion Solitaire Strategy & Tips

Uncover the Hidden Cards First

The twelve face-down cards in the first four columns are the biggest obstacle between you and a win. Until they are revealed, you are planning with incomplete information, and any one of them could be a card your runs cannot live without.

• When choosing between two legal moves, prefer the one that digs toward a face-down card.
• A move that flips a hidden card face up is almost always worth more than a move that merely tidies cards you can already see.
• Try to work on all four covered columns rather than emptying one and ignoring the rest; a single unrevealed column late in the game is a common cause of defeat.

Think in Suits, Not Colors

If you are used to Klondike, retrain your eye. Red-on-black means nothing here. Before moving anything, scan the table for each suit separately: where are the spades, and in what order? A useful habit is to pick one suit and trace its King, Queen, and Jack. Runs are born from their high cards, so knowing where each King and Queen sits tells you where each run will eventually have to be assembled.

Be Careful What You Bury

Because any pile can be moved regardless of order, Scorpion makes burying cards painfully easy. Every group you drop on a column lands on top of whatever was there, and the only way to see that card again is to move the whole pile somewhere legal.

• Before every move, look at the card you are covering and ask when you will need it. Covering a low card of a suit whose run is nearly finished can end the game on the spot.
• Be especially careful with Aces. Nothing can ever be placed on an Ace, so a pile sitting on top of one can only be moved off card group by card group, if legal moves exist at all.
• Watch for cycles: if the 8♥ is on top of the 9♥ in the same column, that pair is reversed. The 8 must be carried away to some other column, parked on a different pile, and brought back after the 9 is in place. Spot these reversed sequences early and plan the detour before the parking spots disappear.

Spend the Stock Wisely

Your three stock cards are a one-time rescue. Dealing them early wastes their power and may bury useful cards on the first three columns. The usual advice is to hold them until you are genuinely stuck, then deal and look for the new moves they create. The exception: if you can see that one of the first three columns is one card away from disaster, dealing sooner may be the lesser evil. Note where your remaining problems are before you click.

Guard Your Empty Columns

An empty column is the most valuable thing on a Scorpion table. Only a King can fill it, so choose that King well: pick one whose Queen and lower cards are reachable, so the new run can actually grow. An empty space is also your best tool for untangling reversed sequences, since it gives a homeless group somewhere legal to wait. Do not rush to fill a space the moment it opens; an empty column kept in reserve wins more games than a King parked out of habit.

Frequently Asked Questions

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