Accessible Solitaire

Work is currently in progress to add Royal Parade to the Accessible Solitaire app. It may be a few weeks before a version of the app containing Royal Parade is published, but in preparation for this, this post contains the rules for Royal Parade. I should add that I’d never heard of Royal Parade solitaire before adding it to the app, so if you spot something unexpected in these rules, please do let me know.

Royal Parade solitaire uses two shuffled packs of cards. The first 32 cards are dealt face-up, in four rows of eight cards. If at any point during the game an Ace is shown in one of these 32 spots, a click on the Ace will discard it from the game. It is recommended that clearing any Aces from the game is done as a first step in playing the game as that might leave an empty spot which could be helpful later.

The remaining 72 cards are placed face-down in a pile near the top left corner of the app.

The goal of the game is to make 24 piles of four cards in each of the eight spots in the first three rows of cards. All the piles on the first row are to be built up of cards in the order (from the bottom) of 2, 5, 8, and Jack. All the piles on the second row are to be built up of cards in the order of 3, 6, 9, and Queen. All the piles on the third row are to be built up of cards in the order of 4, 7, 10, and King.

The following rules dictate how card cans be moved in the game.

• First click the card you wish to move, and then click a card which is to have the other card moved on top of it. For example, click a card with rank 5, and then click a card with rank 2, to move the 5 on top of the 2. This will result in a pile containing a 2 and a 5. Only the top card in the pile, in this case a 5, will be shown.
• A card can only be moved on top of another card if the cards are both the same suit. For example, a 5 of Hearts can be moved on top of a 2 of Hearts, but not on top of a 2 of Diamonds.
• A card of rank 2 cannot have a card of rank 5 moved on top of it unless the 2 is on the first row. Similarly, cards of rank 3 or 4 need to be in the second or third row respectively if other cards are to be placed on top of them.
• If a card is moved from a spot in the first three rows, that spot becomes empty. Once a spot is empty, a card from another row can be moved into that spot, if that card’s rank is 2, 3, or 4, and the row is the first, second, or third row respectively. For example, a 2 can be moved from the second or third row to an empty spot on the first row, or a 4 can be moved from the first or second row to an empty spot on the third row.
• Once a 2, 3, or 4, is on the first, second, or third row respectively, it cannot be moved, and the goal is to add the required three cards on top of it to complete the pile.
• The piles must be built up in order. For example, a card with rank 8 cannot be placed on top of a card with rank 5, and then those two cards together moved on top of a card with rank 2. Rather The 5 must be placed on top of the 2, and then the 8 on top of the 5.
• All cards on the fourth row are eligible to be placed on top of cards in the other three rows using the same rules as moving cards between the first three rows. Similarly cards can be moved from the fourth row to empty spots on the other three rows.
• No cards can be moved from the first three rows onto a card or empty spot on the fourth row.
• Typically once the game is started, Aces will be discarded, and then some cards will be moved between the first three rows, and some cards will be moved from the fourth row to the other three rows. Once no more moves are available, click the remaining cards pile. This results in the next eight cards in the remaining cards pile being dealt out along the fourth row. So each of the cards or empty spots in the fourth row will get one card added on top of it. Play then continues with whatever moves have become available after the eight cards have been dealt out.
• Only the top card in each growing pile in the fourth row is shown, despite a spot on the fourth row having anything from no cards, one card, or any number up to nine cards.
• A card cannot be moved from the top of one of the piles in the fourth row onto an empty spot on the fourth row.
• Once no more remaining cards are available, and no moves are available, the game cannot be won and so it must be restarted.