The braid reveals its cards in a fixed order — your job is to prepare for what is coming before it arrives.
Braid Solitaire (also called Herring-Bone) centers on a 21-card central sequence where only the exposed tip card is accessible at any time. Cards beneath the tip are locked until the tip is played. Six reserve cells and the waste provide temporary staging, but all six cells together hold fewer cards than a standard tableau column. The game rewards players who read the braid several steps ahead and build reserve and foundation state proactively rather than reactively.
Last updated: June 2026
How the braid works
The braid is a sequence of 21 cards laid face-down in a central column, with the last card (the tip) face-up. Only the tip card can be moved; all cards above it are locked until the tip is played. When the tip card is played to a foundation or a reserve cell, the next braid card is revealed as the new tip.
The braid is one-directional: cards surface from tip to base in fixed order. You cannot choose which braid card to access next; you only choose where to send the current tip. This forced sequencing means strategy is about preparation: ensure each braid tip has a destination ready before it surfaces.
Six reserve cells flanking the braid act as temporary staging areas. Each cell holds one card. A cell card can be played to a foundation at any time. Cards from the waste top or braid tip may be placed in a reserve cell if no better destination exists.
Braid-tip sequencing: reading ahead
Because the braid reveals in fixed order, you can often see the next one or two braid tips by tracking the current state. The key planning question before each tip play is: “What will surface next, and does it have a destination ready?”
Situations where reading ahead matters most:
- A tip cannot go to a foundation or reserve. This is a dead-end situation. The braid stalls unless a reserve cell is freed or a foundation advances to accept the tip. Plan to avoid this by routing cards to foundations and keeping at least one reserve cell open before the stuck tip surfaces.
- Two consecutive braid tips need the same resource. If the next two tip cards are both going to need reserve cells, and only one cell is open, the second tip will deadlock. Identify this pattern and free a second cell before both tips arrive.
- A braid tip immediately enables a foundation play. Routing the tip to a foundation rather than a reserve is always preferable when the tip fits, since it frees no reserve and advances the win condition directly.
Progress in Braid is measured by how many braid cards have been played. A game that exhausts the braid entirely but has many foundation gaps is in trouble. A game that advances foundations steadily as the braid is consumed will usually have enough card access from the waste and reserves to finish.
Reserve cell discipline: six cells, not six parking spots
Six reserve cells sound generous, but they are the entire mobile staging capacity of the game outside the braid and waste. A cell occupied by a card with no near-term foundation path is a cell that cannot accept an urgent braid tip.
The reserve usage rules that prevent deadlock:
- Never fill all six cells simultaneously. Always maintain at least one open cell as a safety buffer for an unexpected braid tip that cannot go anywhere else. A full reserve with all six cards blocked is a near-deadlock state.
- Reserve cards should have defined foundation paths. Before placing a card in reserve, confirm that its foundation will be ready to accept it within the next two to four moves. Cards parked without a clear exit plan tend to stay in reserve for far longer than intended.
- Clear reserve cells by advancing foundations. The most reliable way to free a reserve cell is to advance the relevant foundation to accept the card in it. Use waste draws and other available cards to advance foundations specifically when reserve cells are getting full.
Waste and stock coordination
The stock deals one card at a time to the waste; only the waste top is accessible at any time. One pass through the stock is allowed. The waste is the third card source alongside the braid tip and reserve cells.
The waste serves a different function from the reserve: the reserve is for staging braid tips, while the waste accumulates all stock cards not immediately played. A useful waste top is a bonus that advances foundations without consuming reserve space. A waste top with no destination is a problem because it must stay at the top until it can be played, blocking access to cards beneath it.
The braid tip is the 6♥. The Hearts foundation is at 4 (needs 5 next, not 6). The waste top is the 5♥. A reserve cell is open.
Play the 5♥ from the waste to the Hearts foundation immediately. The foundation advances to 5, and now the 6♥ braid tip can go directly to the foundation on the next move. This two-step sequence clears both the waste top and the braid tip without using any reserve cell. Always check whether advancing a foundation by one step unlocks the current braid tip before reaching for reserve.
Single-pass stock: foundation momentum before midgame
The single-pass stock means every unplayed waste card is effectively lost once the next card is drawn on top of it (since only the waste top is accessible). Waste management is therefore similar to Napoleon at St Helena: play every waste top at the earliest possible opportunity.
The interaction between the braid and the stock creates a natural game tempo. In the early game, the braid provides most of the card movement (each tip played reveals the next). The stock supplements with additional cards. In the late game, once the braid is exhausted, the remaining foundations must be completed from reserve cards and whatever waste cards have been accumulated. The size of that end-game challenge is set by how efficiently the foundations were advanced during the braid phase.
What collapses a Braid game
- Filling all six reserve cells. A full reserve with no open cell means the next braid tip that cannot go to a foundation has nowhere to go. The game stalls. Always leave at least one cell open.
- Placing cards in reserve without exit plans. Cards that enter reserve without a specific foundation ready to accept them tend to stay there for many moves. Identify the foundation target before parking.
- Not reading the next braid tip before placing the current one. Routing the current tip to a reserve cell that would have been better saved for the next tip is a common mistake. Check what surfaces after the current tip before placing it.
- Ignoring the waste while focused on the braid. The waste top changes with each stock draw and may contain the foundation card needed to free a reserve cell. Scan the waste top before each braid tip play.