🕳️ Gaps Solitaire
19 playsGaps Solitaire
Four gaps where the aces were, and a whole shuffled deck to shepherd into suit and sequence.
About Gaps Solitaire
Gaps — Montana, in some houses — deals the entire deck into four rows of thirteen and then removes the aces, leaving four empty spaces. Each gap will accept exactly one card in the deck: the same-suit successor of whatever lies to its left, so the seven of hearts follows the six of hearts and nothing else will do. A gap at the left edge takes any two, and the first two placed settles that row's suit for good; a gap that comes to rest beside a King accepts nothing at all. The object is four rows running two to King, each in a single suit. Every move fills one gap and opens another where the moved card stood, so the deal slowly consumes itself — which is why two redeals are provided, each preserving the runs already anchored at the left edge and reshuffling all the rest. Few patiences reward looking two moves ahead so directly.
How to Play
Tap a glowing gap to pull in the one card that fits it: the same-suit card one higher than the card on the gap's left. Only 2s may enter the left edge, and the first 2 placed fixes that row's suit. A gap directly after a King is dead. Arrange all four rows 2 to King in suit to win. Two redeals keep your left-anchored runs and reshuffle the rest; Undo is free.
💡 Tips & Strategy
Judge every move by the gap it leaves behind, not the card it places. Filling a gap always opens a new one where the moved card stood, so the real question is what that new gap will want: a gap after a nine calls for a ten that may be sitting somewhere useful, while a gap after a King calls for nothing and is simply a move lost. Before tapping, trace the little chain two or three links ahead — the card you place, the gap it opens, the card that gap wants — and prefer the chains that end somewhere alive.
The left edge deserves the most caution, because a 2 placed there fixes that row's suit for the rest of the deal. Before committing one, glance along the board at where that suit's middle cards lie: a suit whose 3, 4 and 5 sit just right of harmless cards will build quickly, while one whose early cards are trapped directly behind Kings will stall at once. There is no obligation to fill an edge gap immediately — sometimes the better play is to develop elsewhere until it is clear which suit a row should take.
Play the redeals with intent, because they keep only what is anchored. A redeal preserves each row's run from the left edge and reshuffles everything else, placing the new gap just behind each kept run — so cards in perfect order in the middle of a row are worth nothing when the shuffle comes. Once the board tightens, spend your remaining moves extending the left-anchored runs rather than tidying elsewhere, then redeal while you still have safe moves left instead of waiting for all four gaps to die. With two redeals in hand and forty-eight cards to lock, the game is usually won or lost on how much is anchored before the second shuffle.