Star Solitaire

What is Star Solitaire?

Star Solitaire belongs to the peaks family of solitaire games. Cards are laid out in a shape on the table, and you clear them by playing each one onto a single pile at the bottom, as long as it's one rank higher or one rank lower than the card showing. Suits don't matter at all.

It's fast, it's relaxing, and it has more decisions in it than it first looks like. Star Solitaire is free and runs in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, nothing to download.

How to play peaks solitaire

The table

Each deal lays out between 25 and 28 cards in one of four shapes: Lantern, Star, Moth or Comet. Cards overlap in rows. A card is only face up and playable once the cards covering it from the row below have been cleared, so the bottom row starts open and the rest flip over as you dig in.

One card starts face up on the waste pile at the bottom of the screen. The rest of the deck sits face down in the stock beside it.

The rules

• One higher or one lower. Tap any open card that's exactly one rank above or below the waste card. It moves onto the waste and becomes the new card to match. On a 7 you can play a 6 or an 8.
• Suits don't matter. The 8 of hearts plays on the 7 of clubs just fine.
• Kings and Aces wrap around. A King can go on an Ace and an Ace can go on a King, so the chain never dead-ends at the top or bottom.
• Stuck? Draw. When nothing on the table fits, tap the stock to turn a new card onto the waste. That's a fresh card to match, but it ends your current streak.
• Win by clearing the table. Every card in the shape gone means the sky is cleared. If the stock runs dry and nothing fits, the game ends.

There's no undo and the stock only goes through once, so every draw counts. In exchange, every deal you get is one we've checked can be cleared.

Streaks and Comets

Playing table cards one after another without drawing builds a streak. Streaks are where the points are, and they also feed you Comets.

A Comet is a wild card. Anything can be played on it. You get them two ways:

• Earn them. Every time your streak hits a multiple of 4 (4, 8, 12 and so on), a Comet flies into your pocket. You can hold up to two at once.
• Find one. One Wild Comet is shuffled into the stock in every deal, somewhere in the later part of the pile.

Tap your pocket Comet to drop it on the waste. Unlike drawing, using a pocket Comet keeps your streak alive, so it's the way out of a dead end when you're on a roll.

Scoring

Each card you play from the table is worth 10 points times your current streak. The first card in a streak is 10, the second 20, the third 30. A streak of 10 cards adds up to 550 points on its own, which is why a long streak matters far more than anything else.

Controls

On a phone or tablet, tap an open card to play it, tap the stock to draw, and tap the Comet in your pocket to use it. If you sit for a few seconds, playable cards give a little bounce to show you where to look.

On a computer: Left and Right arrows (or Tab) step through the open cards, Enter plays the selected one, Space, D or Down draws, C or Up uses a Comet, P or Esc pauses and M mutes.

Daily Deal, Sky Map and card backs

The Daily Deal is the same deal for every player that day, and the shape changes from day to day. Play daily to build your streak of days.

The Sky Map holds 12 constellations, lit one at a time in order by reaching a long enough streak in a single deal: The Kite (4 in a row), Little Teapot (5), The Lantern (6), Fox Tail (7), Paper Boat (8), The Owl (9), Twin Bells (10), The Whale (11), Moon Harp (12), The Sparrow (13), Crown of Dusk (14) and Great Comet (16). You can light at most one per deal, so the sky fills in over many games.

Wins unlock Star Solitaire's own card backs: Midnight to start, then Aurora at 2 wins, Rose Nebula at 5, Moon Phases at 10, Gold Comet at 18 and Galaxy at 30.

Tips and strategy

• Look two cards ahead. When a 6 and an 8 both fit on your 7, check what each one would let you play next. Pick the one that keeps the chain going longest.
• Free the face-down cards. Between two equal plays, take the card that's covering something. A newly flipped card is one more option for your streak.
• Use the wraparound. King to Ace and Ace to King are legal, and they're easy to forget. A run like Q, K, A, 2 is often the bridge between two sides of the table.
• Spend a Comet before you hit the cap. You can only hold two. If both pockets are full and your streak is about to reach the next multiple of 4, that Comet is lost. Use one first if it helps.
• Comets beat draws mid-streak. Drawing resets your streak to zero. A pocket Comet doesn't. If you're on a 7 card streak and stuck, the Comet keeps the next card worth 80 points instead of 10.
• Keep the stock thick. Each card left in the stock is 25 points when you win, and every unused Comet is 100. Clean, long streaks pay twice.
• Don't chase constellations at the cost of the win. One per deal is the most you can light, and you'll get there over time. A cleared sky is worth 500.

Enjoy clearing shapes of cards? Desert Pyramid has you pairing cards to 13 against a setting sun, and HiLo Rocket is all about guessing higher or lower.

Questions