Australian Patience rewards same-suit building with group moves that save the game.
The tableau builds same-suit, and sequences that stay same-suit can move together as a group. These two facts are inseparable: every same-suit sequence you construct is an investment in future mobility. Every mixed-suit placement is a debt that costs individual moves to repay, with only one pass through the stock to repay it.
Last updated: May 2026
History and background
Australian Patience is sometimes called Australasian or Down Under Solitaire, and it belongs to the branch of Klondike variants that tighten the building rule to same-suit rather than alternating colour. The family includes games like Yukon (which also allows group moves under different conditions) and Scorpion (same-suit with stricter constraints). Australian Patience occupies a middle position: the same-suit build rule is strict, but same-suit group moves provide generous compensation.
The game uses seven columns of four face-up cards each, giving complete information on the initial 28 tableau cards. A single-pass stock of 24 additional cards provides the remaining supply. The absence of a redeal means every stock card and every group move opportunity must be used deliberately; there is no second chance at cards already played.
How the game is set up
One 52-card deck is used.
- Tableau. Twenty-eight cards are dealt face-up into seven columns of four. All cards are visible. Only the top card of each column is available to move individually; same-suit sequences from the top can move as a group.
- Building rule.Tableau builds downward by rank in the same suit. A 10♥ accepts a 9♥ on top. Placing a card of a different suit, even one rank lower, is not legal.
- Group moves. A sequence of two or more cards that are all the same suit and descend by rank may move together as a unit onto a valid same-suit tableau top.
- Foundations. Build from Ace to King by suit. Aces go to foundations as soon as they are available.
- Empty columns. Accept Kings only. An empty column cannot receive any card other than a King or a King-headed same-suit sequence.
- Stock. The remaining 24 cards form a single-pass stock. Cards are dealt one at a time to a waste pile; the top waste card is always available. There is no redeal.
Same-suit sequences: investment and return
In Australian Patience, building same-suit is both a constraint and the game’s main strategic tool. Every card placement must be same-suit, so there is no option to build otherwise — but the benefit accrues whenever you position cards so that a multi-card same-suit run sits on top of a column. That run can then relocate in one move to any valid same-suit column top, effectively performing several individual moves at once.
The return on a group move is highest when the relocation exposes a buried low card or creates an empty column. Moving a four-card run in one action and thereby uncovering an Ace is worth the same outcome as four individual moves, but it consumes only one move and leaves your other tableau tops free for additional actions in the same turn window.
Every time you have a placement choice, ask: does this extend a same-suit run that can move as a group later? If yes, it may be worth forgoing a slightly more convenient individual card placement. Runs that can move together are the primary currency of Australian Patience.
Strategic priorities in order
- Identify Aces and Twos in the initial layout before making any move.All 28 tableau cards are face-up from the start. Locate every Ace and Two immediately and plan the group-move or individual-move sequence that will expose each one. The suit with the deepest-buried Ace is your first excavation target.
- Build same-suit runs that can be relocated as groups. When you can choose where to place a card, prefer the placement that extends an existing same-suit sequence rather than starting a new one-card stack. Longer runs have more leverage as group moves.
- Use group moves to excavate buried low cards. If a four-card same-suit run sits above an Ace or Two, relocate the entire run as a group in one move. This is the most efficient excavation operation in the game and cannot be replicated by individual moves.
- Manage the single-pass stock deliberately. With no redeal, every waste card is a finite resource. Play waste cards to the tableau or foundations immediately when they fit. A waste card played to a useful same-suit position is worth more than cycling past it hoping for a better card that may not come back.
- Reserve empty columns for Kings that open important excavation chains.Kings-only empty columns are not free spaces. Before using an empty column, identify which King you will move there and what card beneath it in the current column becomes accessible as a result.
Decision walkthroughs
Group move vs. individual move with the same destination
Column three has a three-card same-suit hearts run (9♥, 8♥, 7♥) on top, with a 6♦ beneath the 7♥. Column six has a 10♥ on top. You can move the entire three-card run to column six as a group, or you can move individual cards with the same effect.
Use the group move. Moving three cards as a group costs one action; moving them individually would cost three actions. The three saved actions can be used on other columns in the same turn window, potentially chaining additional excavations before the next stock deal. Group moves are always preferred when they achieve the same result as the equivalent individual sequence.
Waste card that fits same-suit vs. being skipped for a “better” card
The top of the waste pile is a 5♠. A 6♠ is on top of column four, so the 5♠ can go there and extend a spades run. However, you suspect the next card in the stock might be more useful.
Play the 5♠ immediately. In a single-pass stock with no redeal, passing on a playable card to speculate on the next card is almost never correct. The 5♠ extending the spades run may enable a group move later that justifies the placement. The unknown next card may be unplayable entirely. Take the certain gain over the speculative one.
Which King to place in an empty column when two are available
A column empties. Two Kings are currently available: a K♣ that sits above a buried A♦, and a K♠ that sits above a 7♣ with no immediate foundation use.
Move the K♣ to the empty column. Exposing the A♦ starts a new foundation immediately and reduces the gap in the diamonds suit. Exposing the 7♣ merely gives you a slightly more accessible mid-rank card. Always prefer King placements that reveal low-rank cards over those that reveal high-rank ones.
Common mistakes
- Building one-card stacks instead of extending existing runs. A new single card on an empty-ish column top looks useful but is much less powerful than adding that card to an existing same-suit run that can later move as a group. Always check whether an existing run can receive the card before starting a new isolated stack.
- Passing waste cards to wait for a better one. With no redeal, any waste card passed over is gone if it cannot be reached again from the tableau. The single-pass constraint makes speculative waste management very costly.
- Sending cards to foundations before they can serve as group-move bases.A card on a foundation is unavailable as a tableau sequence base. If a 6 is the base of a useful three-card run, sending it to the foundation prematurely destroys the run. Hold cards in the tableau when they are actively serving as sequence anchors.
- Using an empty column for a mid-rank card rather than a King.Empty columns accept Kings only. If no King is available and you want to empty a column, you cannot. Plan which King will claim each empty column before clearing it, to avoid creating an empty space you cannot use.
Recognizing a losing position early
Australian Patience losses usually involve a suit whose Ace or Two is buried too deep to excavate before the stock runs out. These signals indicate a position in danger:
- One suit’s Ace is buried beneath two or more cards in the tableau, and those cards are not part of a same-suit run that can be relocated as a group. Individual moves to clear them require more stock cards than remain.
- All same-suit runs in the tableau are short (one or two cards) with no prospect of extension from the stock, meaning group moves will not be available to handle the major excavations still required.
- The waste pile cards are cycling through without finding same-suit placement opportunities, leaving them in the waste while the stock approaches exhaustion.
When these conditions appear, undo to the last branch where a group move could have been used earlier to expose a buried low card. Australian Patience positions that reach this state almost always have a much earlier missed group move that would have opened the board before the stock grew thin.