Accordion
The whole deck lies face up in one long row. Move a pile onto its neighbour, or onto the pile three places to its left, when their top cards share a suit or a rank, and keep folding until a single pile is left.
How to play Accordion
How to play
The row reads from left to right and wraps onto the next line, like text. A pile may move onto the pile right next to it on the left, or onto the pile three places to its left, when the two top cards match in suit or in rank: a 7 of hearts may go onto the 7 of clubs or onto the 2 of hearts. The whole pile moves and the gap closes up. Drag a pile, or tap it to see where it can go and then tap there; a double-tap moves it one place left, or else three.
The deal
In the card-table version you deal one card at a time and play as you go. Here the whole deck is dealt face up at the start, so you can see every card and plan ahead. Each pile shows its top card and, once it holds more than one card, how many it holds.
Tips
Every move changes which cards sit side by side, so look at the new neighbours a move creates, not just the match it makes. A pile three places to the left is easy to miss. Don’t rush to join two piles just because you can: a matching pair can be more useful later.
Levels
Classic asks for a single pile, and every Classic deal, including the daily, was folded into one pile by a solver first. Relaxed ends as soon as you are down to five piles or fewer, and every Relaxed deal was brought that far by the solver.
Questions
How do you play Accordion solitaire?
Lay the deck out in a row. A pile can move onto the pile next to it on the left or onto the one three places to its left if the top cards are the same suit or the same rank. The gaps close up, and you win when every card is in one pile.
Can every game of Accordion be won?
With the whole deck face up, many can: our solver, which sees the whole row, folds about two in three random deals into one pile within its search limit. Finding the way is the hard part, because every move changes the neighbours. Every Classic deal here was won by the solver and the win was replayed through the rules.
Can a pile move two places to the left?
No. A pile may only move onto the pile right next to it or onto the pile exactly three places to its left. It always moves as a whole, with its top card deciding what it matches.
What does the hint do?
Hint uses a solver that sees the same cards you do: every card is face up, so it knows nothing you can’t see. It searches for a way to reach the level’s goal from your position and highlights the first move, saying whether that goal is still in reach.