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Welcome to Dutchess!
I’m excited to introduce you to Dutchess, a solitaire game that belongs to the fan family. Let’s dive right in and learn how to play!
Get to Know the Cards and Layout
To play Dutchess, you’ll need a standard 52-card French deck. Begin by shuffling the cards thoroughly. Once you’re ready, deal out a reserve of twelve cards. These cards will be placed face up in groups of three, resembling beautiful fans. Keep in mind that you can see all twelve reserve cards at the start of the game.
Beneath your reserve fans, create a row of four foundation piles. These piles will be the building blocks of your game. Now, deal out another row of four cards, face up. These four cards mark the beginning of your tableau columns.
Great! Now that we have our layout set up, let’s move on to the gameplay.
Playing the Game
In Dutchess, your goal is to create a tableau by arranging cards in descending order while alternating colors. For example, you can place a red 5 on top of a black 6, or a black Queen on top of a red King.
But wait! There’s more to it. You also have a draw pile that you’ll be using throughout the game. This pile acts as a resource for you to make moves and keep the game going. Whenever you’re stuck and can’t make any more moves from the tableau or the foundation piles, simply draw a card from the draw pile and see if it can help you.
Now, I have to warn you, Dutchess is quite challenging. Winning this game isn’t easy – the odds are about 1 in 10. But don’t let that discourage you! Sometimes, the greatest satisfaction comes from overcoming difficult challenges.
I hope you’re as excited as I am to embark on this solitaire adventure. Let’s shuffle the deck and start playing Dutchess!
GETTING STARTED
So, here’s what you need to know to get the game rolling. When we start playing, we pick one card from the fan at the top to kickstart our first foundation pile. This card becomes the “boss” card that sets the tone for all the other foundations. Let’s say we go with a 6 of hearts as our first card. That means all the other foundations must begin with a six, no exceptions. Got it? Good! Now, our goal is to pile up all the cards in each foundation until we have a whopping total of 13 cards. And here’s the kicker: all the cards in a foundation must be of the same suit, and they need to be arranged in ascending order. We go from King to Ace and then keep going from 2 and beyond. Easy-peasy, right? Let’s dive in!
When it comes to playing Tableau, there are a few things you should know. Let’s start with the columns. Now, the columns are built from the top down, going in descending order, and they alternate in color. It’s like putting together a puzzle! Once a card is placed on a column, you can’t move it anymore. But don’t worry, you can still move the entire column to another one as long as it follows the rules of tableau building. If there are any empty spaces in the tableau, you can fill them with cards from the reserve or the waste pile.
Now, let’s talk about drawing cards. You can draw one card at a time from the draw pile and play it on the foundations or the tableau, if it fits. If you can’t play a card, don’t worry, just discard it to the waste pile. The top card of the waste pile is always available for play, so keep an eye on it!
Once you’ve gone through the entire draw pile, it’s time to start over. Pick up the waste pile and turn it face down. You can do this once. It’s like getting a fresh start!