What is Queen of Italy?
Queen of Italy (also known as Terrace) is a two-deck patience game with an eleven-card terrace that sits above nine tableau columns. The terrace functions as a reserve whose cards can only be used when the foundation for their suit has reached the appropriate rank. Eight foundations (one per suit per deck) all start on the same shared base rank, chosen by the player from the first few stock cards. This makes the opening selection — which rank to use as the foundation base — the most consequential decision in the game.
Full rules
Two 52-card decks (104 cards). Eleven cards are dealt face-up to the terrace. Nine tableau columns build downward in alternating colors. Eight foundations share the same base rank (player-chosen from early stock cards) and build upward by suit with wraparound.
Terrace cards are available only when their rank is one above the current top of their suit’s foundation. The stock deals to a waste pile. Win when all 104 cards reach the foundations.
Choosing the base rank
The player sees the first few stock cards before committing to a base rank. The ideal base rank is the one where the most terrace and early tableau cards are immediately useful (one rank above the base, which becomes the first foundation target) while avoiding locking a rank that is already abundant in the terrace and would be hard to reach via the foundation sequence.
Read the Queen of Italy strategy guide →
Terrace card timing
Terrace cards are inaccessible until the foundation reaches the rank below them. Planning which foundation suit to advance first — to unlock the most useful terrace cards earliest — is the mid-game strategic loop. A terrace full of low-rank cards is a liability if the foundations are building from a high base rank; the terrace will remain locked until the foundations wrap around and approach those low ranks.