History of Yukon Solitaire
Yukon Solitaire is named after the Yukon territory of northwestern Canada — part of the same gold-rush geography that gave Klondike its name. It is a direct descendant of Klondike, sharing the seven-column triangular layout, the alternating-color build rule, and the four-suit foundations. The key differences are the complete absence of a stock pile and a modified deal that places several out-of-sequence face-up cards on most columns from the start.
The game is notable for its group-move rule: any face-up card can be moved along with every card piled on top of it, regardless of whether those cards form a valid sequence. This single rule creates a radically different strategic environment from Klondike.
Full rules
The 52-card deck is dealt into seven columns. Column 1 receives one face-up card. Columns 2 through 7 receive the standard Klondike face-down triangle (one face-down card in column 2, two in column 3, and so on), then four additional face-up cards are dealt on top of each. There is no stock and no waste pile.
Any face-up card can be moved to another column along with all cards above it, as long as the destination’s top card is one rank higher and the opposite color. Foundations build Ace through King by suit. Only a King (or a group led by a King) can fill an empty column.
How Yukon differs from Klondike
Klondike offers stock draws. Yukon has no stock, so the available moves must come from its tableau or foundations. Examine what each group move exposes before you use it.
In Klondike, only a properly ordered alternating-color sequence can move as a unit. In Yukon, any face-up card (and everything on top of it) can move to a valid destination, regardless of internal sequence order. This creates opportunities — and traps — that simply do not exist in Klondike.
The combined effect is that Yukon rewards two skills above all others: identifying which face-down cards are blocking progress, and constructing the specific group moves that reveal them with the fewest wasted steps.
Key strategic concepts
Reveal priority: every face-down card is an unknown blocker. Group moves that flip a face-down card often help, but a visible rearrangement can set up a later reveal or release a needed destination.
Empty column timing: Yukon’s columns are deeper than Klondike’s, so clearing a column to empty requires sustained effort. When you have a clear path to emptying a column, identify an available King-led group and what moving it would uncover. Empty columns cannot hold non-King groups.
Read the full Yukon strategy guide →
How Yukon compares
- Scorpion — one deck, same group-move freedom, but builds require same-suit placement and goal is four complete suit runs rather than foundations
- Wasp — Scorpion-style movement with unrestricted empty columns
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Yukon is part of Downtown · Klondike family.
More Klondike family games
- Australian Patience — Klondike relative built in-suit down.
- Klondike — The patience everyone knows. Draw 1 or 3.
- Agnes — Klondike-family with reserve deals and a variable base.
- Easthaven — Klondike that deals rows from the stock.
- Gargantua — Two-deck Klondike: 9 columns, 8 foundations.
- Kuiper — Triangular eight-column Klondike variant.
Also try
- Gaps (Grid & sequence puzzles) — Fill four rows of gaps to build 2–K suit runs. No aces, three passes.
- Seahaven Towers (FreeCell & open packers) — FreeCell cousin: ten columns, same-suit builds, two cells.
- Beleaguered Castle (Castle games) — Eight columns flanking four aces.
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