How to Play Yukon Solitaire
Anyone who knows Klondike will recognize most of Yukon at a glance: the 4 foundations, the columns, the same building down in alternating colors. It takes only 2 changes to make it a different game. The stock is gone, so all 52 cards are on the table from the first move, and you can lift a whole pile of cards at once and carry it across even when those cards sit in no order at all. Most of learning Yukon is getting used to that second freedom.
Filling the 4 foundations
Yukon is won the way Klondike is, by filling the 4 foundations. Each belongs to a suit and rises in order from the Ace up to the King, and once all 52 cards have climbed onto them the game is won.
Seven columns, 21 cards face down
Deal all 52 cards into 7 tableau columns containing 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 cards. Column 1 is entirely face up. Each of columns 2 through 7 has its last 5 cards face up, with the earlier cards face down. That gives 31 visible cards and 21 hidden cards. There is no stock or waste.
Moving stacks that are out of order
Tableau cards build downward in alternating colors. A red 9 can land on a black 10, and a black 8 can land on a red 9. Foundations build upward in suit from Ace to King, and only the card at the exposed end of a column can go up to a foundation.
For a tableau move, pick up any face-up card. Every card lying over it, out to the exposed end of the column, comes along. Only the card you pick up has to fit the destination, and the cards lying over it can be in any order. For example, a red 7 can move onto a black 8 while carrying a Jack of clubs and a 2 of hearts. Both arrive with the 7, and neither can be left behind.
What sets Yukon apart from Klondike
The two games are close relatives, and their names point to the same place: the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896 to 1899 took place in Canada's Yukon. If you come to Yukon from Klondike, 2 differences change how it plays.
There is no stock
Klondike hands you fresh cards from a pile in the corner whenever you run dry. Yukon offers nothing of the sort. The entire pack is dealt at the outset, so no new draw is ever coming to rescue you, and a board that looks stuck generally is stuck unless you can find the move already sitting in front of you.
You can move cards in a loose group
Klondike only lets you carry a run that is already in proper sequence. Yukon lets you carry any face up cards as a single block, ordered or not, as long as the card you pick up lands correctly. That gives you far more control of the board. You can swing a big group of cards across to free a buried one in a way Klondike never permits. Scorpion Solitaire uses the same loose group move, then requires the card you pick up to land on the next rank of its own suit.
Turning over the hidden cards
Each of the 21 hidden cards could be the rank you are missing. Moving every face-up card off a column turns its next card face up. Once every card is visible you can plan the rest of the hand in full, though you still need a landing spot for each pile you want to move.
How hard is Yukon
Yukon combines broad freedom to pick up cards with few places to put them. A move can reveal a card and also carry several blockers onto another column. The long columns on the right are the usual trouble: column 7 hides 6 cards under its 5 face-up ones, and you reach them only by moving those 5 off, all at once or in pieces.
Russian Solitaire
Russian Solitaire is Yukon with one rule tightened. The deal and the loose group move stay the same, but you build down in suit, so the 7 of hearts can go only on the 8 of hearts. Each card then has one possible landing spot instead of two, which makes it a much tighter game.
Winning at Yukon
Turn the hidden cards first
Most of your early moves should aim at a face down card. Until the table is fully open you are guessing at what lies underneath, so pry those buried cards loose before anything else.
Use the loose move to dig
The freedom to lift any pile, sorted or not, is the main thing Yukon gives you. Do not save it for neat runs. Use it to drag a clump off a column you need to open, then sort out the result.
Send the Aces and 2s up early
Low cards do no work sitting in a column, so move Aces and 2s to their foundations the moment they come free. Higher cards deserve a pause, since you may yet need them to hold another card in the tableau.
Empty columns are for Kings
Clearing a column gives you a home for a King and whatever pile it carries. As in Klondike, only a King may fill it, so think twice before emptying a column with no King on hand, unless the cards it frees are worth it.
Check where a big move leaves you
With no stock to fall back on, one careless group move can wreck the hand. Before a big move, follow where it leaves you. If you are unsure, use Undo to try the other line.
Common questions
Does Yukon solitaire have a stock pile?
No. The whole pack of 52 is dealt onto the columns at the start, with no pile to draw from later, so you have to win with what is in front of you from the first move.
Can you move any group of cards in Yukon?
Yes. You may pick up any face up card along with every card lying over it, even if those cards are in no sequence at all. The card you pick up has to land on a card one rank higher of the opposite color, and the cards lying over it can be anything.
Is Yukon harder than Klondike?
In some ways, yes, mostly because there is no stock to bail you out of a tight spot. Against that, the loose group move gives you more control than Klondike ever does. Every Winnable deal on the site has a known solution, so a stuck game usually means an earlier choice went wrong. How we check that a deal can be won.
How many cards start face up in Yukon?
Thirty-one cards start face up: the single card in column 1 and 5 cards in each of columns 2 through 7. The other 21 begin face down.