Introduction: Stalactites Solitaire is a variation of FreeCell and is a very addicting and fun solitaire game. It has a few rules which make it different from FreeCell, and gives your brain a workout. For people who like FreeCell Solitaire, this one is a must to try.
Goal: Build up 13 cards in sequence on the four foundation piles. But a major difference from FreeCell is that the base card of each foundation pile is set randomly at the beginning of the game. That means that generally the four foundation piles start with a different base card from each other. A fun twist to this game is that the foundation piles may be built up by ones or by twos.
Time: About 15 minutes
Wins: Sometimes
Decks: One Deck
Layout: After shuffling, one card is dealt to each of the four foundation piles. This card is the base card for each foundation. Stalactites Solitaire differs from most games of solitaire in that each foundation pile starts with a different, randomly selected card. Then, cards are dealt to 8 tableau piles in the following way. For the first row, a card is dealt in the each of 8 columns, face up. The same is done for rows 2 through 6, overlapping the cards so that you can see the rank and suit of each card underneath. All cards are dealt in Stalactites Solitaire, leaving no stock pile. Two spaces are left open for freecell piles in the top left part of your layout. The initial layout for Stalactites Solitaire will look like this.
Play: The goal in Stalactites Solitaire is to build each foundation pile regardless of suit from the base card in each foundation pile, until you have 13 cards in each pile. But, as a fun twist to this solitaire game, you decide whether you want to build your foundations by ones or by twos. Take a look at your tableau cards to see if you would like to build by ones or twos. Whatever you decide will hold for the current game. So, if you decide to put an ace on the king in the foundation pile, then you must build all four foundation piles up by ones during this game. If you decide, however, to place a queen on your ten, then you must build up all four foundation piles by twos in the current game.
The top face-up card on the each tableau pile is available for play. But, in Stalactites Solitaire, there is no building on the tableau. Cards may not be moved from one column of the tableau to another, and cards may not be moved from one of the freecells to the tableau. Also, any card in a freecell is available for play. In order to build up the foundation, you need to uncover the covered-up cards in the tableau, to get them into play. You do this by moving tableau cards onto the foundation and onto the four freecells. Each freecell can hold only one card at a time. This sounds like a difficult game, but since the building on the foundation piles is by rank but regardless of the suit of the cards, it is a lot easier than it seems.
The two Freecells can hold only one card at a time, and the cards in the freecells are available for play. It is best to keep as many freecells empty as possible. This gives you greater flexibility in moving cards. If at all possible, try to move cards onto the freecells only when necessary, and only when you can move them from the freecells onto the foundation, as soon as possible.
Cards may not be moved from the foundation back to the tableau or onto any of the freecells. Because of this, it may make more sense to keep cards on the tableau and in the freecells, and available for play, rather than moving them early on to the foundation. But remember also, that cards are built up regardless of suit. So foundation piles are built up more easily than in the solitaire game freecell.
Gaps in the tableau may not be filled with at all. Creating a gap is FreeCell is usually a good move but creating a gap in Stalactites Solitaire doesn't help you at all.
Continue playing in this manner. Move cards from the freecells to the foundation, and from the tableau to the foundation and to the freecells, trying to uncover tableau cards and move them to the foundation.
When no more moves can be made on the tableau, freecells, and foundation, the game is over and lost.
Gaps: Gaps in the tableau in Stalactites Solitaire are made when all of the cards are moved out of a column of the tableau. When this happens, the gap may not be filled at all.
Redeals: In Stalactites FreeCell there are no redeals.