Addiction Solitaire
Addiction Solitaire (a member of the Gaps / Montana family) is a
single-player patience played on a fixed 4×13 grid. You slide cards into empty
gaps to sort each row into a single suit, ascending from 2 to King. You work
against the shuffle and a limited number of reshuffles.
Overview
All 52 cards are dealt face-up into a 4×13 grid, then the four aces are removed,
leaving four empty gaps. Slide cards into gaps to build each row into a
suited run 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K, with the empty slot trailing on the
right. You win when all four rows are ordered.
Card Rank
2 (low), 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K (high). Aces are removed and are not
used. Every row must run from 2 up to King in a single suit — any suit per row
is fine (rows are not assigned a fixed suit).
Setup
1.
A standard 52-card deck is shuffled and dealt face-up into 4 rows of 13.
2.
The four aces are removed. Their positions become the four starting gaps.
How to Play
There is no opponent and no timer. On each move you slide exactly one card into
one gap, then the vacated slot becomes a new gap.
Filling a gap
A card may move into a gap only when it "fits" the card immediately to the
left of that gap:
•
Interior / right-side gap — the gap accepts the card of the same suit
that is exactly one rank higher than the card to its left. If the 6♥ is to
the left of a gap, only the 7♥ may fill it.
•
Leftmost gap (start of a row) — a gap in the first column has no card to
its left, so it accepts any 2 (2 is the lowest rank in play and must begin
each row).
•
Gap to the right of a King — nothing is one rank above a King, so this gap
is dead and can never be filled. Dead gaps are what eventually stall the
board.
Playable gaps are highlighted. Tap a gap to slide in the only fitting card, or
drag (or swipe) the fitting card onto the gap.
Reshuffles
You are granted 3 reshuffles. When the board is stuck — every gap is dead or
otherwise unfillable — a Reshuffle control appears with the remaining count.
A reshuffle:
1.
Locks each row's correct leading run in place — a 2 in the first slot, then
same-suit ascending cards with no break.
2.
Gathers every out-of-position card, shuffles them together, and redeals them.
3.
Leaves exactly one gap immediately after each row's locked run, so you always
have fresh gaps to work with.
Correct progress is preserved across a reshuffle; only the unsorted remainder is
randomized.
Strategy Tips
•
Place the four 2s at the start of the rows early — every sorted row must begin
with a 2.
•
Avoid stranding a card behind a King; a gap to the right of a King is dead.
•
Think before spending a reshuffle — you only get three, and the board is lost
when it stalls with none left.
Winning
•
Win — all four rows are sorted (each a single suit, 2→K, with the empty
slot on the right). All 48 non-ace cards are in suit-and-rank order.
•
Lose — the board is stuck (no legal move) and no reshuffles remain.