Crescent Solitaire is a card game of the Solitaire family that strays away from the typical layout expected in these games. Like many of this family, the players are expected to organize the cards into foundations following a certain order and for that, they must shift the cards around the piles to get to the ones they need. However, this is where all similarities end.
Crescent Solitaire is not a hard game to play and its rules are fairly simple, but it requires more strategy and planning ahead than most of its counterparts.
The tableau
This card game uses two standard 52-card decks. At the center of the table, 4 aces and 4 kings of each suit are laid down to form the 8 foundations.
The foundations with the Kings must be built in descending order and the ones with the Aces in ascending order.
The remaining cards are dealt around the 8 foundations, face forward, creating the shape of an open rectangle: 5 piles on the left and right, united at the top by 6 piles. Only the top card at each pile is visible to the players.
How to play Crescent Solitaire
The goal in this game is to rearrange all the cards in the piles into the 8 foundations. Those starting with the Kings are built in descending order and end with the Aces, while those starting with the Aces must end with the Kings. The cards must always be organized by suit.
The cards on the piles can be moved around to top others with the same suit and with one rank higher or lower. For example, a 7 of Spades can top either a 6 or an 8 of Spades.
The players are allowed to take a peek at the card immediately below the one on top of each pile. In the case of this online Solitaire game, players only have to drag the card slightly to the side to check the one below it.
Empty piles cannot be filled with any cards. Depending on the level of difficulty they would like to challenge, the players can choose between having 3, 6, or 9 shuffles available.
Tips to win at Crescent Solitaire
Take a peek!
Before moving a card to a different pile, drag it a bit to the side to check which one it will uncover. You should also check which one is below the one you were about to move your card into.
For example, if you are thinking about moving a 3 of Diamonds to a 2 of Diamonds, check the cards below both of them. Remember that in Crescent Solitaire you can move either one or the other, as they only have one rank difference.
By taking a look at the possible next cards, you can have a better idea of how the game will progress depending on your choice.
Shift the cards on the foundations
You can move cards between the descending and ascending foundations, as long as you do it in order and by suit.
For example, if you have a descending foundation with K-Q-J-10 and an ascending foundation with A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9, you can move the 10 on the first one to top the 9 on the second one (as long as they are from the same suit).
This might be an important strategy depending on the cards you have available on the piles.
If you have a Jack available, for instance, moving the 10 to the ascending sequence will let you remove it right away. However, if you do not have a Jack but instead have a 9, then there is no gain in shifting the cards in the foundations as you can keep them as they are and send the 9 instead to top the 10 on the descending foundation.
