Solitaire.City

Two-deck patience

Archway Solitaire

An open two-deck patience game with 13 arch reserve piles, four fully visible tableau columns, and eight foundations building simultaneously upward and downward by suit.

Click any arch card or the top of a tableau column to select, then click a highlighted destination.

A
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
J
Q
K

Related solitaire variants

  • Lady of the Manor for the same arch-reserve structure with suit-free foundation building.
  • Crescent for another two-deck game with dual upward and downward foundations.
  • Beleaguered Castle for a compact open-information single-deck patience.

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Why Archway stands out

Archway is one of the few patience games where the entire layout is visible from the first move. Both decks are fully dealt: 48 cards in four tableau columns, one card per suit per deck on the foundations, and all remaining cards sorted by rank into the arch reserve. Nothing is hidden.

The challenge is sequencing. Eight foundations run simultaneously — four climbing from Ace to King and four descending from King to Ace — and any card in the arch reserve can be used at any time. The bottleneck is the four tableau columns: only single-card moves are allowed between them, so unlocking the right arch card at the right moment is everything.

Quick rules

  • Two standard decks (104 cards).
  • One Ace and one King per suit dealt to the eight foundations at the start.
  • Four tableau columns of 12 cards each — all face-up and visible.
  • 13 arch piles, one per rank, holding the remaining cards sorted by rank.
  • Any card in any arch pile may be moved at any time.
  • Foundations build by suit: Ace piles go A→K, King piles go K→A.
  • Empty tableau column accepts one card.

Key strategy tips

  • Full Archway strategy guide
  • Plan which arch cards to play before clearing tableau space for them.
  • Track the gap between your up and down foundations per suit to spot which ranks are urgent.
  • Empty columns are rare — spend them to unlock a column sequence, not as parking.