How to Play Scorpion Solitaire
Scorpion gives you a crowded table and an unusual amount of freedom. Every exposed card is a possible pickup point, and choosing it also collects all cards beneath it, regardless of how untidy the tail is. The landing rule is strict, though: the lead card must go on the next higher card of the same suit. Learning the game means using that generous pickup rule to satisfy a very narrow destination rule.
There are no foundations in Scorpion. Your work stays in the 7 columns until a complete suited run from King through Ace forms on the table. Finish all 4 suits and the deal is won. You can play Scorpion Solitaire online while following the examples below; the screenshots come from the same certified deal and show the board changing under legal moves.
Scorpion Setup: 7 Columns and a 3-Card Reserve
A single 52-card deck is used. The main deal places 7 cards in each of 7 columns, accounting for 49 cards. In columns 1 through 4, the first 3 cards are face down and the next 4 are face up. Every card in columns 5 through 7 is exposed. The remaining 3 cards sit in a reserve above the tableau.
There are 12 concealed cards in the tableau. The reserve is visible as a separate pile but its 3 faces remain unknown until the deal. Most ranks can still be located at the opening, which makes the first scan worthwhile: find the Kings, notice any long same-suit fragments and see which face-down cards have the shortest cover above them.
Build 4 Complete Suits to Win
To remove a suit, place its King first and follow every rank through the Ace in 1 continuous column. When the full 13-card run comes together, it leaves the tableau automatically and fills 1 of the 4 completion spaces. You do not move cards to those spaces individually. A partial run remains in play until every rank is present in the correct order.
A nearly finished suit can still be awkward if the missing rank is trapped. Before extending a long run, look for the card that must follow its exposed end. If that card is beneath the group you are about to build, the neat-looking move may block its own completion. Scorpion rewards access first and tidiness second.
Move a Face-Up Card with Everything Below It
Any exposed card may lead a tableau move. Click or tap that card and its complete tail comes with it. The cards underneath do not need to descend by rank, match suit or alternate color. If a face-up 7 has a Queen, a 3 and an Ace below it, all 4 cards still travel together when the 7 has a legal destination.
Only the leading card is tested. A 7 of hearts can land on the 8 of hearts, carrying its mixed passengers along. It cannot land on the 8 of diamonds or the 9 of hearts. Once the move is made, the loose cards remain attached to that column until another exposed card within the tail finds somewhere legal to go.
Same Suit and 1 Rank Down
Tableau building always descends within a suit. A Jack of clubs accepts the 10 of clubs, and that 10 accepts the 9 of clubs. Color alone is not enough. This is stricter than Yukon Solitaire, which also carries loose groups but lands them in alternating colors.
When several cards of the same rank are exposed, identify them by suit before choosing a move. The wrong red 8 cannot hold a red 7 just because the ranks line up. The board highlights legal targets, but it is useful to read the suit relationship yourself because later choices depend on knowing which lane can grow.
Expose Cards Before You Polish the Table
The 12 face-down cards are the least predictable part of the deal. Whenever the top concealed card in a column becomes uncovered, it turns face up automatically. A move that reveals one usually tells you more than a move that merely joins 2 visible cards, even if the second move creates a longer run.
Start with columns that need the fewest useful transfers to uncover a card. If 2 possible moves reveal hidden cards, prefer the one that leaves another legal landing behind. Emptying the exposed portion with nowhere to put its final card can exchange one obstruction for another.
Choose the Reserve Moment Carefully
The reserve is dealt only once. All 3 cards arrive together, 1 on each of columns 1, 2 and 3. They become the new exposed ends of those columns, so any card previously available there is covered until the newcomer moves. You cannot take the reserve back or cycle through it again.
There is no fixed point when the reserve must be dealt. Use it when the tableau has stopped offering productive work or when you have prepared likely homes for the 3 incoming cards. Dealing immediately can bury useful starters. Waiting after every sensible line has closed only delays the new information you need.
Keep Empty Columns Ready for Kings
A cleared column accepts only a King or a group led by a King. No Queen, numbered card or Ace can begin there. This restriction makes a blank column valuable only when a suitable King is available or can soon be exposed. Opening space without a King may still reveal an important card, but the gap itself cannot help until a King reaches it.
A good King move does more than fill the vacancy. It starts a suit lane that can absorb the Queen and lower ranks while freeing other columns. Check what sits beneath the King before moving its tail. A large mixed group can occupy the new lane for several turns before the useful suited part can be separated.
Finish Runs Without Trapping the Last Suit
Completed suits disappear, shortening the table and often creating a new empty column. That is usually a major gain, yet the order of completion still matters. If finishing 1 suit covers the only landing needed to untangle another, make the freeing move first. The goal is not merely to remove the next available run; it is to leave a route for all 4.
Late in the deal, count the missing ranks in each suit from the exposed ends. With 3 runs removed, all 13 remaining cards belong to the last suit, although they may still be split across columns or tied to loose tails. At that point, work from the Ace end upward when freeing cards and from the King end downward when choosing the final lane.
A Practical Order for Each Turn
First, check for a move that exposes a face-down card. Next, look for a complete suit or a safe extension to a long suited lane. Then inspect any short column that could become empty and confirm that a King can use the space. Only after those checks should you consider dealing the reserve or making a move whose sole benefit is a tidier table.
Before committing, trace the lead card, its full tail and the card that will become exposed at the source. Loose-tail movement makes a legal move easy to spot but its aftermath easy to underestimate. If the line is uncertain, undo is more informative than repeatedly reshuffling visible cards. Certified deals also offer a next proven move; the wider Solitaire winnability guide explains how those stored solutions are checked.
Common Scorpion Mistakes
Building the longest run first
A long suited run looks like progress, but it can pin down a card needed elsewhere. Prefer the line that opens hidden information or creates usable space. Length matters after access is secure.
Forgetting the whole tail will move
The chosen card never travels alone unless it is already at the exposed end. Scan every passenger below it. Moving a useful lead card can also move the only available King or bury the next card you planned to use.
Dealing the reserve into blocked columns
The 3 reserve cards cover columns 1 through 3 at the same time. If those exposed ends are doing useful work, move them first or make sure each new card has a plausible exit.
Clearing space without locating a King
An empty column cannot hold an arbitrary blocker. Know which King will enter before you count the gap as working room.
How Scorpion Relates to Yukon and Spider
Scorpion shares loose-tail movement with Yukon, but it replaces alternating-color landings with same-suit building. It also shares King-to-Ace removal with Spider, although Spider Solitaire moves only orderly suited packets and deals full stock rows. Those 2 comparisons explain why Scorpion feels familiar without playing like either parent.
For a broader view of where the game belongs, see the types of Solitaire guide. It places Scorpion among the packing games, where cards are completed and removed from the tableau rather than sent to ordinary foundations.
Common Questions
Can any face-up group move in Scorpion?
Yes. Choose any exposed card and every card beneath it moves as a single tail. The lead card must land on the next higher card of the same suit; the passengers do not need to be in order.
What can go into an empty Scorpion column?
Only a King or a group with a King at its top. No other rank may enter an empty column.
Do you have to deal the reserve right away?
No. You may work the tableau first. When you deal it, all 3 reserve cards are placed on columns 1 through 3 and there is no second deal.
Where are the foundations in Scorpion?
There are none. Build a complete same-suit sequence from King to Ace on the tableau. The finished run is then removed automatically.