[Note: Solitaire Till Dawn Demo plays only two of the eight games included in Solitaire Till Dawn. Only those two games are documented here. The Solitaire Till Dawn User's Guide describes all of the games.]
[Note: Some special solitaire terminology is used in the game descriptions. This terminology is fully described in the Solitaire Till Dawn User's Guide, but is not included in this on-line manual.]
Here are the descriptions of the games. Each description begins with an introductory paragraph or two about the game: its history or its special delights. Following the introduction, specific rules and other information are given in these sections:
Layout Size: Hints for people with small screens. Most games will fit nicely on the smallest screens with little or no scrolling required, but some of the games have larger layouts.
Difficulty: A rough estimate of how hard you’ll have to think to play this game, and how often you can hope to win.
Rules: How to play the game with a real deck of cards.
On the Screen: Anything special you need to know to play this game using Solitaire Till Dawn.
Klondike
If you only know one solitaire game, this is probably the one. We present two versions: the strict rules, which make the game very difficult to win, and the easier rules most people learn as children. The rules presented first are the familiar, easier ones, and the strict rules are presented as a variation at the end. [Note: Solitaire Till Dawn Demo plays Klondike only by the familiar rules, not by the strict rules.]
Klondike is often incorrectly called Canfield, and vice-versa. Both are popular games. If this one isn’t the game you learned to call Klondike, check out Canfield.
Layout Size: Fits a small screen without scrolling.
Difficulty: An easy game to learn and play, but with little scope for thought. The familiar rules can be won perhaps one game in ten; the strict rules are much harder to win.
 
Rules: There are four foundations, which are initially empty. There are seven tableau piles, fanned down. The first tableau starts with one card, the second with two cards, and so on to the seventh, which starts with seven cards. The tableaus initially have all cards face-down except the top card, which is face-up. The remaining cards are kept in the hand, and dealt as needed into a wastepile.
Top cards of tableaus and wastepile are available for building onto the foundations, which build up following suit. Only an Ace may be played to an empty foundation. Top card of the wastepile and partial or full builds from the tableaus are available for building on the tableaus, which build down by alternating color. Only Kings or builds whose bottom card is a King may be played to an empty tableau pile.
You may deal from the hand at any time by taking a three-card packet from the hand and turning it face-up onto the wastepile. You may redeal indefinitely: when the hand is empty, pick up the entire wastepile and turn it face-down to form a new hand.
The goal is to move all the cards onto the foundations. Like Canfield, you can also score by charging 52 points a game, and winning back 5 points for every card played to the foundations.
Strict rules: The same as above, except: Only full builds may be moved among the tableaus. The deal is one card at a time, and no redeals are allowed; that is, you may not form a new hand from the wastepile once the initial hand is emptied. [Note: Solitaire Till Dawn Demo will not play by the strict rules.]
On the screen: Solitaire Till Dawn will lay out the tableaus for you. Deal and redeal by clicking on the hand.
Miss Milligan
The author’s personal favorite, Miss Milligan is a challenging mix of Spider and Klondike. The charm of this game is the use of the pocket, which always feels deliciously like cheating.
Layout Size: Vertical scrolling is usually required on small screens.
Difficulty: Play thoughtlessly, and lose every time. Use the pocket cleverly, and you may win as many as 2 out of 3!
 
Rules: Shuffle two decks together, and lay out eight cards face-up in a row to form the eight tableau piles. Above the tableaus are the eight foundations, which start out empty. To the right of the tableaus is a special pile called your pocket. Keep the rest of the double deck in your hand.
Play proceeds like Klondike. Build the foundations up by following suit; only Aces may be played on an empty foundation. Build the tableaus down by alternating color; only Kings may be played on an empty tableau. Full or partial builds may be moved among the tableaus. Miss Milligan also allows moving the top card of a foundation back down into the tableau, a move not often needed but occasionally handy.
Whenever you wish, deal eight cards at a time from the hand, one onto each tableau regardless of rank or color. Usually you’ll deal when you run out of other moves.
The top card of a tableau may be picked up and “put in your pocket,” provided that the pocket is currently empty. This is a very convenient and powerful way to unblock a difficult position. But be careful, because you can only take the card out of your pocket when it can be correctly built onto a tableau or foundation.
On the Screen: Solitaire Till Dawn will deal eight cards for you when you click on the hand. The number displayed on the hand is the number of deals remaining, instead of the number of cards in the hand.
