Two-deck variant
Two shuffled decks are dealt into eight tableau rows of four cards each. Build the eight foundation piles up by suit from Ace to King. Move single top cards onto tableau rows built down regardless of suit. Draw from the stock one card at a time — the stock may only be dealt once, so plan ahead.
Click a card to select it, then click a highlighted destination to move it.
Stock
72 leftWaste
♣ 1
♣ 2
♦ 1
♦ 2
♥ 1
♥ 2
♠ 1
♠ 2
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
Diplomat Solitaire is a two-deck patience game in the Forty Thieves family. Like Napoleon at St Helena, it uses ten tableau columns, a single-pass stock, and eight foundations building Ace to King by suit. The key difference: Diplomat builds tableau sequences downward regardless of suit (any suit on any suit, one rank lower), rather than same-suit only. This makes Diplomat more accessible than Napoleon at St Helena but still demanding due to the single stock pass.
Two 52-card decks (104 cards). Ten tableau columns each receive four face-up cards (40 total). The remaining 64 cards form the stock, dealt one at a time to a waste pile; the stock cannot be recycled. Eight foundations build upward by suit from Ace to King. Tableau columns build downward by rank, any suit. Only one card moves at a time (no groups). Win when all 104 cards reach the foundations.
Napoleon at St Helena (same-suit only) gives each card at most two legal tableau destinations. Diplomat (any suit) gives each card potentially many more destinations — any card one rank higher, regardless of suit. This dramatically reduces blockage compared to Napoleon at St Helena and makes recovery from waste decisions more achievable.
However, the single-pass stock is unforgiving regardless of tableau flexibility. Every waste card that passes without being played is permanently gone.
The stock can only be used once, so every draw is a one-time opportunity. Before drawing, check whether available tableau moves would expose cards that could receive the next stock card. Using tableau moves to create better positions before drawing is the primary rhythm of Diplomat play.
Unlike Napoleon at St Helena where same-suit restrictions make most tableau cards hard to move, Diplomat’s any-suit rule means there are usually productive tableau moves available. Exhaust them before drawing.