CITADEL

Hey there! Welcome to Citadel, a cool twist on Beleaguered Castle solitaire. In this version, we get to build our foundations while dealing the cards. It’s super fun and really engaging! The secret to winning lies in paying extra attention to the cards as we set up the tableau.

THE DEAL

The setup in this game is what sets it apart and makes it so special. To start, we need to take out all four aces from the deck. These aces will be the cornerstone of our game. Let’s put them in a column to create our foundation piles.

In Citadel, I establish the rest of my tableau by dealing cards one by one to each row. It’s similar to Beleaguered Castle, where I also deal six cards to each row on both sides of the foundations. The cards are face up and arranged in a way that I can see all their faces. However, in Citadel, things are a little different.

While I’m dealing the tableau, if I ever place a card on a row that can be played on the foundation, I play it on the foundation instead. For instance, if I lay the 2 of Spades, I can put it on the Ace of Spades instead of the row.

When you’re playing this game, remember that the next card you play has to go to the next row, unless it can be played on the foundation. If you’re lucky, you might find a lot of 2’s early on in the game. And once a card is placed on the foundation, it has to match the suit of the foundation.

By the time you finish the game, you’ll end up with a tableau that has rows of different sizes. Some rows may have all six cards, while others might only have two or three.

THE PLAY

Now that you’ve set up your tableau, it’s time to start the game. Your goal is to move all the cards onto the foundations, starting with the ace and ending with the king, in ascending order. Each foundation should contain cards of the same suit. For example, all the spades should be in one foundation, all the hearts in another, and so on. To achieve this, you need to carefully move and arrange the cards in the rows. Hopefully, you already have some foundations built up with more than just the aces.

In this game, you can only move one card at a time. Cards can only be moved from the ends of the rows. When moving cards, you must arrange them in descending order. For instance, you can only place an 8 on top of a 9. The suit doesn’t matter when organizing the rows.

Once a row is empty, you can start a new row by moving a card into the empty space.

Once you’ve placed a card into a foundation, you can’t remove it. So be cautious with your moves!

THE THRILL OF VICTORY

Hey there! Let me share the secret to winning the game – building all four foundations. It’s a challenge, but the feeling of triumph is incomparable!

So, how exactly do you achieve this victory? Well, it’s all about strategically placing your cards and making the right moves. Trust me, it’s not as daunting as it sounds. Let’s break it down together.