Double-deck variant
Also known as Herring-Bone, Braid uses two decks of 52 cards. A 21-card central braid is laid out face-up in the middle; only the last (bottom) card of the braid is available for play. Six reserve cells flanking the braid act as temporary parking spots. Draw cards one at a time from the stock to the waste. Move cards from the braid tip, waste top, or reserve cells onto the eight foundations — two per suit, built up from Ace to King. Fill foundations to win.
Click the last braid card, a waste card, or a reserve card to select it — then click a highlighted destination.
Braid Solitaire is a two-deck patience game built around a central linear sequence of face-down cards — the “braid” — that is revealed card by card as the game progresses. Only the exposed tip of the braid is accessible, alongside a small reserve and the waste pile. The goal is to route all 104 cards to eight Ace-to-King suit foundations. The braid structure creates a drip-feed of new information that shapes the whole game.
Two 52-card decks (104 cards). A long sequence of cards is laid face-down as the braid; only the last (most recently exposed) card of the braid is available. A small reserve holds a limited number of cards (implementation varies). A stock deals to a waste pile; the waste top card is available. Eight foundations build by suit from Ace to King.
Cards from the braid tip, reserve, or waste may go to the foundations whenever they fit. As braid tip cards are played, the next braid card is revealed. Win when all 104 cards reach foundations.
The braid is the game’s defining structure. You cannot access any card in the braid except the current tip — all others are face-down and locked until the tip is played. This creates a forced order of card revelation that may or may not align with what the foundations need next.
Reserve cells bridge the gap between braid timing and foundation readiness. When a braid tip card cannot go to a foundation immediately, parking it in reserve keeps it accessible. Reserve space is limited, so managing it carefully — only parking cards with a clear near-term foundation path — is the central skill.
With the braid tip, reserve, and waste all potentially holding foundation-ready cards, the key discipline is scanning all three sources before each move. A card in the waste may be a better foundation play than the braid tip, but using the waste card advances the waste sequence — which may expose a less useful card next.
As in many two-deck games, tracking which copies of needed ranks have been seen is useful: with two of each card, one copy in reserve and one in the braid means the foundation does not strictly need the reserve copy immediately.