Play Scorpion Solitaire Online
Scorpion is a 1-deck patience game played across 7 long tableau columns. The deal places 49 cards on the table and leaves 3 in reserve. Most of the tableau starts face up, so the important suit fragments can be seen from the opening. There are no foundations. A suit leaves the table only after its full King-to-Ace run has been assembled.
Scorpion borrows its group movement from Yukon and its completed runs from Spider. Picking up a face-up card also picks up the entire tail beneath it, regardless of order. Every landing must continue a descending run in the same suit.
How the 52 Cards Are Dealt
Each tableau column receives 7 cards. In columns 1-4, 3 cards are face down and the next 4 are face up. All 7 cards in columns 5-7 are face up. The 3 cards left over form the reserve, which can be dealt once onto columns 1-3. At the start, 37 cards are visible and 15 are still unknown.
With 37 cards exposed, the opening contains far more information than a stock-heavy game. Kings, Queens and long suit gaps are usually visible before play begins. The hidden cards still matter, especially in the 4 left columns, but the board already shows where much of each suit has landed. A single column can contain part of a useful run alongside several cards that will eventually need to move away.
Building on the Tableau
The tableau builds downward in suit. For example, the 8 of clubs can land only on the 9 of clubs. The 8 may bring every card below it along for the move. Those lower cards do not have to be ordered or share a suit. Only the lead card and its destination decide whether the landing is legal.
Completing a Suit
A same-suit sequence from King down to Ace is removed from the tableau as soon as it is complete. The game is won when all 4 suit runs have been removed. An empty column accepts a King or a group led by a King; no other rank can start there.
Why Scorpion Columns Often Look Untidy
The loose group move is the rule that gives Scorpion its characteristic board. If the 7 of hearts has 5 unrelated cards below it, all 6 cards can land on the 8 of hearts. The cards under the 7 remain attached until another legal move separates them. Long, mixed tails are routine in Scorpion.
Spider 4 Suits handles groups differently. Spider allows a properly ordered packet to travel, while Scorpion allows any exposed tail to travel and then applies a stricter same-suit rule at the landing point. In the screenshot below, the lead card controls the move and the mixed cards beneath it come along as passengers.
The 3-Card Reserve
Scorpion has a reserve rather than a reusable stock. Its 3 cards are dealt together, with 1 card added to each of columns 1-3. The reserve cannot be cycled or dealt again. Once those cards arrive, the full deck is on the tableau and no hidden stock remains above the board.
The reserve row is smaller than the 10-card stock rows in Spider 1 Suit, but each card still changes the exposed end of a column. In the screenshot, the reserve has already been dealt and a completed run has left the table. Every remaining card can now be accounted for directly on the board.
Empty Columns Belong to Kings
Clearing a column creates space for a King-led group. A Queen, Ace or numbered card cannot be placed in that gap. Since the final objective is a King-to-Ace run in each suit, an empty column often becomes the working area for 1 of those runs. It remains occupied until the group moves again or the suit is completed.
Yukon also moves loose tails, although its tableau builds down in alternating colors and its cards finish on 4 foundations. Scorpion builds down in suit and removes a completed run from the tableau. A black King is not enough by itself; the exact suit determines which Queen can follow it.
Certified Deals, Hints and Clean Results
Scorpion's public game rotation draws from a 1,000-deal certified pool. Each opening is tied to a complete replay through the same engine used by the live board. That replay turns over the real hidden cards, deals the reserve, checks every tableau move and ends with all 4 suit runs removed. The stored line is also used by the board's winnability check.
Hints, undo and the proven-move tool remain available during play. Results that use those tools are marked Assisted. A Clean result comes from finishing a certified deal without them. The explanation of how certified winnable deals are checked describes that replay policy in more detail. The types of Solitaire overview places Scorpion alongside the other tableau families on the site.
A Scorpion Board in Progress
Midgame Scorpion rarely looks tidy. Mixed tails may sit beside nearly complete suit runs, and a newly exposed card can change which group has somewhere to land. The useful facts stay visible: how many of the 12 face-down cards remain, whether the reserve has been dealt, which Kings have space and which suit runs have already left the table.
The live board keeps those details in fixed places above the tableau. Reserve count, completed runs and move status remain visible while the columns grow or shrink. On a long deal, that fixed display helps when several face-up cards travel together and the lower half of a column becomes crowded. Scorpion's rules fit in a few lines. The table can still hold a great deal of information at once.