Crescent – Rules

Play Crescent against the computer

1. Quick overview

What is it about? 16 piles lie in an arc around eight foundations. For each suit you build one pile up from the Ace and one down from the King. Three times you may “roll” the piles to bring hidden cards to the top.

2. Cards and material

• Deck: two French decks of 52 cards.
• Ranking: A, 2 … 10, J, Q, K; in the piles King and Ace are connected.

3. Setup and start

1. From the two decks take one Ace and one King of each suit and lay them out as base cards.
2. Shuffle the remaining 96 cards and deal them face up into 16 piles of 6.

4. Goal and winning

• Won: All piles are empty.
• Lost: Nothing works after the third shift.

5. Play in detail

1. Only the top card of a pile is playable.
2. Ace piles: up in the same suit; King piles: down in the same suit.
3. On the piles: A card may go on a card of the same suit that is one rank higher or lower (K and A connected).
4. Empty piles are not filled again.
5. Shift: When stuck, bring the bottom card of each pile to the top – at most three times.
6. When the Ace pile and King pile of a suit meet, cards may move from one to the other.

Example. The top of a pile shows the 2 of hearts – it goes onto the Ace of hearts. Beneath it is the Queen of spades: it fits the King of spades pile.

6. Scoring

• Won or not.

7. Special rules and important situations

• Only one card is moved, never a stack.
• Duplicate cards: Every card exists twice – think about which one belongs on which pile.

8. Variants

On cardgames.zone you shift with the “Shift” button; the counter shows how many are left.

9. Tips for beginners

1. Empty piles: Short piles are quickly cleared – that gives overview.
2. Shift late: Only when nothing else works.
3. Park on the piles: Stack cards on each other to free those beneath.

10. Summary in 10 steps

1. Lay out one Ace and one King per suit.
2. 96 cards into 16 piles of 6.
3. Only the top card is playable.
4. Ace piles up, King piles down.
5. Always in the same suit.
6. On the piles build up or down.
7. Empty piles stay empty.
8. No move: bottom card of each pile to the top.
9. At most three shifts.
10. All piles empty: won.

11. Frequently asked questions

May I fill an empty pile?

No, empty piles stay empty.

What does the shift do?

Every pile then shows a new card – often exactly the one you were missing.

Origin & history

Crescent is an old English two-deck patience. Its name comes from the layout: 16 piles lie in an arc around the foundations.