Yukon – Rules
Play Yukon against the computer
1. Quick overview
| Name | Yukon |
| Game type | Patience for one person, no stock |
| Players | 1 |
| Recommended age | 9 and up |
| Duration | one game 5–15 minutes |
| Material | 52 cards |
| Goal | Move all cards onto four foundations, by suit from Ace to King. |
| Difficulty | medium – lots of freedom, but many face-down cards |
What is it about? Yukon looks like Klondike but has no stock: all cards are in the tableau. In return, any face-up card may be moved with everything on top of it – even if that is not an ordered sequence.
2. Cards and material
- Deck: 52 French cards.
- Ranking: A, 2 … 10, J, Q, K.
3. Setup and start
- As in Klondike, seven columns of 1 to 7 cards, only the top one face up.
- The remaining 24 cards are added face up, four each, to columns 2 to 7.
- There is no stock.
4. Goal and winning
- Won: All 52 cards are on the foundations.
- Lost: No useful move left.
5. Play in detail
- A face-up card may be placed on a card one rank higher and of the other colour.
- Everything on top of it moves along – ordered or not.
- Freed face-down cards are turned up.
- An empty column only takes a King (with everything on it).
- Foundations: Ace first, then up in the same suit.
Example. In column 4 there is a 6 of hearts in the middle of the face-up part. You may place it on the 7 of spades in column 2 – the three cards on top of it move along.
6. Scoring
- Won or not; if you like, count moves or time.
7. Special rules and important situations
- Unordered stacks: may be moved as long as the bottom card of the moved stack fits.
- Taking back: Cards from the foundations may return to the tableau.
8. Variants
| Variant | What changes? | For whom? |
|---|---|---|
| Russian Solitaire | Build in the same suit. | Experts |
| Alaska | Up or down in the same suit. | Variety |
On cardgames.zone you choose easy, medium or hard; solvable deals are dealt whenever the solver finds a way in time.
9. Tips for beginners
- Turning up comes first: Every card turned up brings new options.
- Kings for empty columns: Only empty a column when a King is ready.
- Use big stacks: Moving whole blocks saves many moves.
10. Summary in 10 steps
- Shuffle 52 cards.
- Seven columns as in Klondike.
- Remaining 24 cards face up on columns 2–7.
- No stock.
- Build down, alternating red/black.
- Any face-up card can be moved with its stack.
- Turn up face-down cards.
- Empty columns only for Kings.
- Foundations: Ace to King per suit.
- All cards placed: won.
11. Frequently asked questions
Does the stack on the moved card have to be ordered?
No. Only the bottom card of the moved stack has to fit.
Is there really no stock?
Yes – all cards are in the tableau from the start.
Origin & history
Yukon is a relative of Klondike and, like it, named after a gold-rush region in Canada. It is described in American patience books from the mid-20th century.