The first foundation card sets the architecture for the entire game — choose it knowing the full colour implication.

The colour-pairing mechanic

Colours uses one deck and four foundations, but unlike standard patience games, the foundations are paired by colour: two foundations for red suits (hearts and diamonds) and two for black suits (clubs and spades). Cards build upward in circular wraparound within their colour group: a red card of any rank can play on a red foundation that is exactly one rank below it, and the wrap from King to Ace applies within the colour group.

The starting ranks for the foundations are not pre-set. The first card played to any foundation (from the waste pile or the deal) sets the starting rank for all four foundations simultaneously. All four foundations then build from that rank, one colour group going up, the other also going up but from the same base. This creates a rigid synchronization: if the hearts foundation is at 7, the diamonds foundation must also be at 7 (or waiting to reach 7). The two red suits advance as a unit.

The stock is dealt one card at a time to the waste pile. Six waste piles are available for holding cards; only the top card of each is playable. There is no redeal.

Choosing the opening foundation start

The opening rank choice is the most consequential decision in Colours. The ideal starting rank is one where both colour groups have cards of the next two needed ranks already visible or close to the top of their sequence in the stock.

In practice, you usually cannot predict what the stock contains until you deal a few cards. Instead, look at the first few waste pile tops that appear and ask: which starting rank would immediately connect to what is already visible?

The safest opening ranks are mid-values (5 through 9). Starting at Ace forces the cycle to wrap through King quickly, which is fine in principle but requires Kings to be accessible in a specific order. Starting at King (which builds: K→A→2→...→Q) means Aces are the first needed cards — if Aces are buried, the game stalls immediately.

Six waste pile management

Colours gives six waste piles — more than Sir Tommy’s four — but adds the complexity of managing two colour groups simultaneously. A simple allocation framework:

• Two piles: red suits (hearts and diamonds). Dedicate these to holding red cards that are not yet playable. Keep them organized by urgency — the next-needed ranks near the top.
• Two piles: black suits (clubs and spades). Same approach for the black colour group.
• One pile: mid-urgency overflow. Cards that are several ranks away from being needed but are not immediately dangerous to bury.
• One pile: Kings and low-urgency cards. Kings stay active through the wraparound, so they cannot be treated as dead cards. This pile manages them separately from the immediate-need piles.

This allocation is a starting framework. As the game progresses, rigid pile roles become hard to maintain. The key rule to preserve throughout: never bury a card of the current needed rank for either colour group under a card that cannot play to foundations for many turns.

Wraparound planning

Colours foundations wrap from King back to Ace. This means a King is never a terminal card — after King, the foundation needs Ace, then 2, and so on until the rank below the starting rank is reached. This is different from standard patience games where King is always the last card.

The wraparound creates a specific timing challenge: when foundations approach King, Aces become urgently needed for both colour groups simultaneously. If Aces are buried in waste piles under Kings (a common storage pattern when Kings are treated as “safe to bury under”), all four foundations stall simultaneously at King waiting for their Aces.

Track Ace positions throughout the game. As foundations approach 10 or Jack, check where both Aces of each colour group are. Any Ace that is buried more than three levels deep with fewer than 15 cards remaining in stock is a potential game-ending block.

Frequently asked questions

Do clubs and spades have to be at the exact same rank on their foundations?

Yes. Because both black foundations build from the same starting rank, they must be at the same level — the 7 of clubs and 7 of spades both play to their foundations when the black foundation level reaches 7. One cannot be ahead of the other.

What happens if I cannot play any card to a foundation and all six waste piles are blocked?

The game is lost. In Colours, there is no redeal, and once the waste piles are all covered by cards that cannot advance any foundation, and the waste pile top from the main stock is also unplayable, the game ends. This is the “gridlock” failure mode that careful waste management prevents.

What is the win rate for Colours?

Colours is a challenging patience game. The single-pass stock and no-redeal constraint make waste pile burial very costly. Skilled players who carefully manage both colour groups win roughly 25 to 40 percent of deals.

How is Colours different from Sir Tommy?

Sir Tommy uses four waste piles and builds four independent foundations by rank (any suit). Colours uses six waste piles but pairs the foundations by colour, creating the synchronization constraint. The starting rank mechanic adds a planning dimension that Sir Tommy lacks. Read the Sir Tommy strategy guide for the comparison.