When you start the game, you will see the basic layout of Klondike solitaire on your screen: The deck in the upper left corner, the four foundations to the right of the deck, and the seven columns of the tableau below them.
As the game begins, iKlondike deals twenty-eight cards from the deck into the tableau. The number of cards in each column increases from one to seven from left to right. The top card of each column is face up, the rest face down.
The object of the game is to build all the cards face up on the foundations. Each foundation builds upward, in sequence, from the ace to the king. Only aces may be moved to an empty foundation, and only the next higher card of the same suit can be added to the foundation.
You advance the game by building on the face-up cards in the tableau in descending sequence of alternating colors. For example, only the 9 of hearts or diamonds (red suits) may play on the 10 of spades (a black suit). Cards can be built on the tableau piles by moving them from another tableau pile or the top of the turned up cards from the deck.
According to strict Klondike rules, all the face-up cards in a column must be moved as a unit to another column. To move fewer than all the face-up cards, tap and hold on the column until the card you tapped ‘pops out’ from the column. Move your finger up or down the column so that the base card you wish to move is ‘popped out,’ then drag the partial column to the left or right to the desired destination.
Whenever the face-up cards in a column are moved, the uncovered face-down card becomes available to turn up. Only a king, or a sequence headed by a king, may be moved to an empty column.
If you select Casino Scoring in Settings, the game is scored according to a casino scheme: You ‘pay’ 52 points to deal a new hand, and you ‘win’ 5 points for each card played on the foundations.
Regular scoring is more like a video game, including a penalty for slow play, as follows:
For each card played to the foundations, you will receive 10 points.
For each card added to the tableau piles, you will receive 5 points. This can be either from moving a turned-up card from the deck to a tableau pile, or by turning up one of the face-down cards in the tableau.
For each 15 seconds of play, you lose 2 points.
If you win the game, iKlondike will notice and finish moving all the cards to the foundations for you (provided the Autocomplete option is selected in Settings). You will then receive a winning bonus of 10 * (final score - number of seconds played). If the Autocomplete option is not selected, you must move all the cards to the foundations yourself before receiving the winning bonus.
You can view the top ten scores you have achieved for the game by tapping History on the Menu toolbar. Details include the date and time the game ended, and the elapsed playing time. Scores for games which you did not win are shown in red.
For more information about iKlondike’s history, rules and scoring, visit the Klondike home page.
Email support: iklondike@casteel.org.