Easthaven Solitaire is a Klondike-family card game that changes two things about the classic: each tableau column starts with three face-down cards instead of a variable stack, and the stock deals one card to every column simultaneously rather than one card to the waste. Those two tweaks turn a familiar-looking board into a significantly harder puzzle — Easthaven Solitaire wins come in at around 15–20% even with thoughtful play.
What is Easthaven Solitaire?
Easthaven Solitaire is a single-player card game played with a standard 52-card deck. Seven tableau columns each start with three face-down cards and one face-up card on top — 28 cards dealt in total. The remaining 24 cards form the stock. Four foundation piles, one per suit, build from Ace up to King.
The game belongs to the same family as Klondike, Yukon, and Westcliff, sharing the alternating-color descending-rank tableau rule. The key differences are the uniform starting depth of each column (three hidden cards, always) and the stock mechanic: clicking the stock deals one card face-up to every column at once — all seven — rather than drawing to a separate waste pile.
Crucially, only one card at a time can be moved in Easthaven Solitaire. The sequences-move-together rule that Klondike allows does not apply here. Every card must be placed and unburied individually, which makes clearing the three face-down cards at the base of each column feel like a genuine achievement.
How to play Easthaven Solitaire
Step 1 — Deal the board
Seven tableau columns are dealt, each receiving three face-down cards followed by one face-up card on top. That accounts for 28 of the 52 cards. The remaining 24 cards go to the stock pile face-down. Four empty foundation slots sit ready for Aces.
Step 2 — Build tableau columns down by alternating colors
Place cards onto tableau columns in descending rank and alternating color — a black 8 on a red 9, a red Jack on a black Queen. Only the top card of a column moves at a time; you cannot move a sequence of cards together the way Klondike allows.
Step 3 — Use the stock to deal to all columns
When the tableau stalls, click the stock to deal one card face-up to every column simultaneously. The stock holds 24 cards, giving you three full deals of seven cards each (with three cards left over that cannot be dealt). You cannot draw if any column is empty — fill them first.
Step 4 — Build foundations up by suit
Move Aces directly to their foundation slots the moment they appear, then continue building each foundation upward in the same suit through King. Aces and 2s have no tableau value, so send them up immediately.
Step 5 — Uncover face-down cards
Each tableau move that empties a face-up card from the top of a column automatically flips the newly exposed face-down card. Getting all three face-down cards in a column flipped is the core challenge of Easthaven Solitaire.
Step 6 — Win the game
All four foundations must be stacked from Ace through King — all 52 cards off the tableau. Given the ~15–20% win rate, winning Easthaven Solitaire is genuinely satisfying.
The Easthaven play area
The Easthaven Solitaire board has three regions. Seven tableau columns occupy the main play area, each starting four cards deep. The stock pile sits in the upper-left, replacing the Klondike waste pile entirely — there is no waste in Easthaven. The four foundation piles run along the upper-right.
Because the stock deals to all columns at once, the board can become very tall if the lower face-down cards refuse to turn over. Vertical scrolling on mobile is normal in longer games.
Available moves
Easthaven Solitaire has a compact move vocabulary.
Deal from stock. Click the stock pile to deal one card face-up to every tableau column. The stock cannot be cycled — once the 24 cards are spent, there are no more draws. You also cannot deal if any column is currently empty.
Move a single card from tableau to tableau. Only the top face-up card of a column moves. The destination column must have a face-up card of the next-higher rank and opposite color, or be empty (Kings only to empty columns).
Move a card from tableau to foundation. One card at a time, matching suit, one rank above the current top of the foundation.
Move a card from foundation back to tableau. Legal, but rarely useful — use it only as a last resort to unblock a critical card.
Easthaven Solitaire strategy
Prioritize flipping face-down cards
Every hidden card is a blocked option. Any move that exposes a face-down card is almost always worth making, even if it temporarily worsens the visible board. Easthaven Solitaire games are often decided entirely by how quickly you can dig through the hidden cards in the first two columns.
Don't waste empty columns on the wrong King
An empty column appears when you clear all four cards from a tableau pile. Only a King can go there. Before placing a King, ask whether that King is genuinely useful — ideally it should have a useful sequence already starting underneath it, or at minimum a Queen of the opposite color you can immediately place on it.
Avoid dealing when columns can still be played
Dealing to all columns at once is irreversible — you can't choose which columns receive cards. Don't deal if you have moves remaining in the current position. Each premature deal can bury a card you need under new stock and make an already narrow path to victory impossible.
Build foundations at roughly the same pace
Keeping foundations balanced across suits preserves more tableau flexibility. A foundation that races ahead blocks tableau moves in that suit; a foundation that lags behind means those cards are sitting uselessly in the tableau. Try to keep all four foundations within two or three ranks of each other.
Plan before you deal the last stock cards
The stock gives you exactly three full deals (21 cards). The remaining 3 cards cannot be dealt when columns might be empty. Before each deal, survey which columns have playable tops and where the most-needed cards are likely to fall. Chaotic dealing is the fastest way to strand the game.
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Odds of winning Easthaven Solitaire
Easthaven Solitaire has a theoretical win rate of roughly 15–20% under best play. The combination of single-card movement, fixed column depth, and the bulk-deal stock mechanic makes it significantly harder than standard Klondike Turn 1.
The key determinant is usually whether the Aces come out of hiding quickly enough. An Ace buried under three face-down cards in each of two or three columns — with no matching sequence play available — is the most common way a game becomes unwinnable before you realize it. When the Aces are reachable in the first few moves, Easthaven opens up considerably.
The no-waste mechanic removes the safety net that Klondike players rely on. In Klondike you can cycle the stock repeatedly to find a specific card; in Easthaven you get one chance per deal, and the deal goes to every column whether you want it to or not.
History of Easthaven Solitaire
Easthaven Solitaire is part of a cluster of variants — including Westcliff and Usk — that explore what happens when Klondike's variable-depth tableau is replaced with a uniform starting layout. The uniform four-card column (three down, one up) was likely developed by card game authors in the mid-twentieth century as a deliberate hardening of the classic game.
The name "Easthaven" doesn't have a well-documented etymology. Variants in this family are often named after English place names or coastal references — Westcliff, Easthaven, Usk — which suggests a British origin, though no single inventor or date of invention is widely attributed.
Easthaven Solitaire gained wider notice through inclusion in major Windows and DOS solitaire software collections of the 1990s and 2000s, where it was often labeled as an advanced Klondike variant. Its presence in digital card game libraries has kept it in circulation for players who have exhausted standard Klondike and are looking for a harder member of the same family.
Frequently asked questions
What is Easthaven Solitaire?
- Easthaven Solitaire is a Klondike-family solitaire game played with one standard 52-card deck. Seven tableau columns each start with three face-down cards and one face-up card. The stock deals one card to every column at once rather than to a waste pile, and only one card at a time can be moved on the tableau. The goal is to build four foundations from Ace to King by suit.
How is Easthaven different from Klondike?
- Three differences define Easthaven Solitaire. First, every tableau column starts with exactly three face-down cards (not the variable 0-to-6 layout of Klondike). Second, the stock deals to all seven columns simultaneously instead of one card to a waste pile. Third, only one card at a time can be moved — you cannot move a run of cards together the way Klondike allows.
Can you move sequences in Easthaven Solitaire?
- No. Unlike Klondike or Yukon, Easthaven Solitaire only allows moving one card at a time. A sequence of face-up alternating-color descending cards on a tableau column cannot travel together; you must move each card individually.
What happens when all columns are empty in Easthaven?
- Empty columns in Easthaven Solitaire can receive a King (and only a King). If all columns were simultaneously empty — which is only possible by clearing the entire tableau — the game would be essentially won. In practice, the 'cannot draw if any column is empty' rule means you must keep all columns populated before using the stock.
How many times can you use the stock in Easthaven?
- The 24-card stock deals three full rounds of seven cards (21 cards total). The final three cards cannot be dealt because they are fewer than the seven needed to cover all columns. There is no recycling — once the stock is depleted, no more cards can be dealt.
What is the win rate for Easthaven Solitaire?
- Easthaven Solitaire has a theoretical win rate of approximately 15–20% under best play. It is meaningfully harder than Klondike Turn 1 (roughly 40–50% for experienced players) due to the single-card movement rule, the uniform starting depth, and the bulk-deal stock that cannot be cycled.
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