Accordion Solitaire

Accordion is the simplest solitaire to learn and one of the hardest to beat. You lay the whole deck out in a row and squeeze it together, pile onto pile, until, if everything goes your way, one pile is left. There are no foundations, no columns and no stock. The only question on every turn is which pile to move, and that question turns out to be surprisingly deep.

Play it here free in your browser, on a computer or a phone, with no download and no sign-up. You get unlimited undo, hints, a timer, a move counter and saved statistics.

How to Play Accordion

Setup. All 52 cards are dealt face up in one long row, each card its own pile. On screen the row wraps onto several lines, eight piles per line on a phone and more on a wider screen. Read it like a page of text: left to right, then on to the next line.

Goal. End with all 52 cards in a single pile.

Moves.

• A pile can move onto the pile immediately to its left, or onto the pile three places to its left, if the two top cards match in suit or in rank.
• The whole pile moves, not just its top card. Its top card becomes the new top of the combined pile.
• The gap closes at once: every pile to the right slides one place to the left.
• You never have to move. When two moves are possible, you pick.

Controls. Tap a pile to select it, then tap the pile you want to put it on. Tap the selected pile again to cancel. You can also drag a pile onto its target. If a move is not allowed, a short message says why. Undo and Redo are unlimited, Restart replays the same deal, and Hint searches ahead for the line that leaves the fewest piles. Shortcuts: Ctrl or Cmd+Z to undo, Ctrl+Y to redo, H for a hint, N for a new game.

The toolbar shows the timer, move counter and deal number. Add ?deal=NUMBER to the page address to replay a deal. Your statistics and any unfinished game are saved in this browser.

Accordion Strategy

1. Know how much a move disturbs. A move near the start of the row shifts every pile to its right and changes dozens of possible matches. A move near the end shifts only a few piles. When two moves look equally good, the one further to the right is usually the safer choice.
2. Before each move, check what the slide does. When a pile leaves its place, everything to its right moves one step left. Two cards that matched three places apart may now be two apart and useless, and two that did not match may now line up. Look at the three piles to the right of the gap before you commit.
3. Prefer the jump of three when both are possible. Moving three to the left usually keeps the neighbor match available for later, while moving onto the neighbor uses it up. It is not a law, but it is the right default.
4. Keep variety on top. A pile's top card is the only thing that matters. Tops in all four suits and many different ranks give the row more ways to match. If several piles end up showing the same suit, the row gets brittle.
5. Count the endgame. With six or seven piles left, you can often see the whole finish. Slow down here and try the lines with Undo; this is where most games are won or lost.
6. Judge by piles left. A full win is rare, so measure yourself by how few piles remain. Getting down to five or fewer is a good game.

Where Accordion Comes From

The rules were first printed by William Brisbane Dick in 1883, under the name Idle Year. Over the years it has also been called Tower of Babel, Methuselah and Leapfrog; the name Accordion became common in the 1950s. The old rules dealt the cards one at a time and made you move as soon as you could, which made winning almost impossible. Modern rules lay out the whole deck and let you choose. If you like quick, choice-driven games, try Golf Solitaire or Pyramid Solitaire.

Accordion FAQ