Easy Harp, rules and strategy
Solitaire on a grand scale: two decks, nine columns, eight foundations, and a rule that changes everything: you move just one card at a time. This site explains the exact rules, strategy and winning games, verified card by card. To play: Easy Harp Solitaire, on Android.
Available on Google Play. Coming soon to the App Store.
Easy Harp at a glance
Easy Harp is played solo with two decks shuffled together: 104 cards, with two copies of each card. 45 cards form 9 columns of 1 to 9 cards: only the last card in each column is face up. The remaining 59 stay face down in the stock. The aim is to build all 104 cards up on 8 foundations, two per suit, from ace to king.
In the columns, you place a card on a card of the opposite color and one rank higher: a black 9 on a red 10. But you move only one card at a time: an already ordered sequence cannot move as a unit unless it starts with a king and goes to an empty column. In return, you can go through the stock as many times as you like. The rules detail each move, and the strategy explains how to approach the game.
A deal from the app
Here is deal no. 1, code EH1-N-AAAAAAB, exactly as the app deals it: this is the one in the screenshots. Paste this code into the New Game window to play it; a game won in 405 actions on another deal is detailed on the Examples page.
Stock: 59 cards; waste empty. Foundations, cards placed: 0 spades, 0 hearts, 0 diamonds, 0 clubs, 0 spades, 0 hearts, 0 diamonds, 0 clubs. Column 1: 0 face down, then 2 of hearts; column 2: 1 face down, then jack of diamonds; column 3: 2 face down, then 2 of spades; column 4: 3 face down, then 8 of spades; column 5: 4 face down, then 9 of hearts; column 6: 5 face down, then jack of clubs; column 7: 6 face down, then 9 of clubs; column 8: 7 face down, then queen of diamonds; column 9: 8 face down, then king of diamonds.
Where to start?
The rules
The layout of the 104 cards, the one-card-at-a-time rule, the sequence led by a king, the eight foundations, the stock and scoring.
Strategy
Uncovering face-down cards, breaking up a sequence one card at a time, keeping space for a king: principles that help you win.
Won games
Actual deals from the app with their numbers, including a game won in 405 actions, replayed move by move.
Frequently asked questions
Can you move several cards? How many passes? What is the daily deal? Short answers.
On phone and tablet
The app is played in landscape orientation. It numbers every deal and offers a daily deal, a code for each game to replay or share a deal, undo for the last 100 actions, and statistics.
