A complete guide to the two-deck, 104-card solitaire: the goal, the layout, eight foundations built up from the ace and down from the king, moving cards by suit, controls on muta.pro and tactics. Read it and sit straight down to play.
Algerian is a solitaire played with two decks: 104 cards. In front of you are eight foundations: four are built up from the ace to the king in suit, and another four down from the king to the ace in the same suit. The game is won when all 104 cards are laid out on the foundations. There is no opponent — you play against the deal, and the order of your moves decides everything.
Eight foundations: four build up from the ace (A→2→3…), four build down from the king (K→Q→J…) by suit.
The table is split into three zones. At the top are the eight foundations (two per suit: one "↑A", one "↓K"). Below is the reserve of eight separate cells. At the bottom are the eight tableau columns, with all cards face up. On the deal, 4 cards are placed into each column (32) and the 8 reserve cells are filled — 40 cards are face up in all, while the remaining 64 go into the stock face down.
Four piles are built up in suit starting from the ace: A, 2, 3 … up to the king. Another four are built down from the king: K, Q, J … down to the ace. The suit on a foundation may never change.
The top card of a column can be placed on the top card of another column if they are the same suit and differ by one (by ±1), up or down. This is how you free the values you need.
A column that has been emptied accepts any single card. This is a valuable manoeuvre: use it to move a card out of the way for a while.
Any available card can be sent to a free reserve cell. There are only eight cells, and a card parked there returns to play only once you find a place for it.
The "Deal" button deals one card from the stock onto each of the eight columns. Use it when there are no moves left on the table.
If needed, the top card of a foundation can be taken back into a column or the reserve — but it costs points, so do not do it without reason.
Each card sent to a foundation earns +10 points; a move from the reserve to a column gives +3. Taking a card back from a foundation into play costs −12. The game is won when all 104 cards are gathered on the foundations — finishing quickly earns a bonus (the larger, the less time you spend). The "Auto-collect" button sends to the foundations every card that already has a place there.
Eight cells run out fast. Park a card only when you can see how you will get it back.
Each suit needs both the ace (up) and the king (down). Free both end cards, not just one.
First squeeze out every move on the table. A new deal covers the columns and can lock away convenient cards.
A free column accepts any card. Keep it as a trading ground for rearrangements.
Algerian is won not by a single lucky move but by the order in which you uncover cards. Keep both goals of every suit in mind — the ace for the "↑A" pile and the king for the "↓K" pile — and build the columns so there is always an approach to the value you need. The reserve and an empty column are your only "pocket"; spend them only on a move that opens up several others.
Before moving cards between columns, scan for every card that goes onto the eight foundations right now. Remove those first — it frees columns and costs nothing.
A sequence like 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ on top of a column is a ready "train": it travels whole and exposes what lies beneath. Build such ladders in advance.
Don't race one "↑A" pile up to the king while forgetting the "↓K". If all the low cards of a suit are already up top and the king has nowhere to land, the game will stall.
Every occupied reserve cell is one fewer move and a risk of locking a card in. Park only when you clearly see where you will return the card.
The table constantly presents forks: the same card can often be placed on a foundation, into a column and into the reserve. The right choice is the one that uncovers the most new cards in a single move and does not block a needed value underneath.
A ready chain 9♠-8♠-7♠ accepts the 6♠ and, in a single move, frees the whole column beneath it.
Of two equal moves, pick the one after which new cards become available in both columns involved.
The ace and king are a suit's entrance and exit. Never cover them with a long foreign ladder without a plan to lift it back off.
Having emptied a column, don't shove the first random card onto it. Better to move a ready sequence there and expose a whole batch at once.
Algerian belongs to the family of "two-deck solitaires with ±1 moves". On muta.pro the classic variant is implemented, with a reserve and a stock, but the solitaire has recognisable relatives, and understanding the differences makes you stronger at any table.
Eight foundations in two directions, eight columns, eight reserve cells and a stock from which "Deal" hands out one card per column. Taking a card back from a foundation is allowed, but with a penalty.
A harsher version removes the "parking" cells. Every move must go either to a foundation or to a column — the solvability drops sharply, and long-range calculation is prized.
The number of deals from the stock is capped. Each "Deal" has to be hoarded as a resource, and you must squeeze the table dry before pressing it.
Related solitaires from the same family are "FreeCell" (all cards face up, four cells) and "Carpet": if you have mastered Algerian, they will come noticeably easier.
Most lost games are wrecked not by a bad deal but by three or four typical blunders. Remove these and your win rate rises noticeably.