Golf Solitaire
A quick, easy-going solitaire with one simple idea: play the next card one higher or one lower. A game takes a few minutes, and the cards you can play are lit up so you never have to hunt for them.
How to play Golf
- Clear the seven columns. Thirty-five cards sit face up in seven columns of five. Your goal is to move every one of them to the pile at the bottom.
- Play one higher or one lower. Tap the bottom card of any column. It moves to the pile if it is one rank above or below the pile's top card. Suit and color don't matter, so a 7 can go on a 6 or an 8.
- The ends don't wrap. An Ace plays only on a 2, and a King plays only on a Queen. Nothing connects King and Ace.
- Turn a card from the stock when you're stuck. Tap the deck at the bottom left to put a new card on the pile. There is no second pass through the stock.
- The game ends when the columns are empty, or when the stock is gone and no card can be played.
How Golf is scored
Like the sport, low scores win. Your score is the number of cards still in the columns. Clear the table and your score drops below zero: you get minus one for each card still left in the stock. Clearing the table with three stock cards to spare scores −3.
| How the game ends | Score |
|---|---|
| Stuck with 6 cards left in the columns | 6 |
| Table cleared on the last stock card | 0 |
| Table cleared with 4 stock cards left | −4 |
Tips for a better score
- Look for the longest chain before you play. A run like 6, 5, 4, 5, 6, 7 clears six cards for one stock card.
- Play from tall columns first. Columns with more cards hide more future plays, so keep them moving.
- Be careful with Kings and Aces. They only connect in one direction, so a King on the pile can only be followed by a Queen.
- Don't turn a stock card while a play is still open. The stock is your only lifeline, and each card you save is a stroke off your score.
- Tap Hint to see a move. When a winning line still exists, the hint follows it.
Can every Golf game be won?
No. Golf depends a lot on the order of the stock. When we ran our solver on random deals, it proved roughly 3 in 10 of them could be cleared. Every deal on this page is one the solver has cleared, so a full clear is always possible here.
Keyboard shortcuts
Press 1 to 7 to play a column, D to turn a stock card, Z to undo and H for a hint.
More quick games
If you like Golf's pace, try classic Klondike Solitaire. For something that rewards planning, try Yukon or Scorpion.