Follow the Fives down and the Sixes up.
Captive Queens begins with all four Queens and eight foundation bases already placed. The remaining stock is a sequence of waste cards. Each card has one possible foundation, so the key is recognizing its rank path before covering it with the next draw.
Last updated: September 2026
Read the fixed foundation paths
The Five line of a suit descends 5 → 4 → 3 → 2 → A → K. The Six line ascends 6 → 7 → 8 → 9 → 10 → J. A King follows an Ace on the Five line; a Jack finishes the Six line. The four Queens stay in the center and do not take cards.
Each non-Queen rank belongs to exactly one line. For example, a 3 of clubs can only follow the 4 of clubs on its Five foundation. A 9 of clubs can only follow the 8 of clubs on its Six foundation. No suit mixing or tableau building is allowed.
Keep the waste moving
Move the exposed waste top whenever it fits. If it does not, draw another card. Covered cards wait until the waste becomes a new stock on a later pass. Because there is no choice of destination, playing a legal card immediately is the sound default.
The deal starts with 40 stock cards after the four Queens and eight bases are removed. You can turn the waste over three times under the rules used here. Each pass can unlock cards that were blocked earlier, but the fourth pass is the last. On that pass, check all eight foundation tops before every draw.
Track bottlenecks
A foundation can move only when its exact next card reaches the waste top. If the Five line shows 3, it needs 2, then Ace, then King. Seeing the King first does not help yet. Remembering which earlier cards have already passed tells you whether you must wait for the next redeal.
The four stationary Queens make the ring easy to recognize but do not create moves. Focus on the eight surrounding piles and the current waste card. You win when those foundations reach Kings and Jacks and all 52 cards are placed.
Other Quadrille rules
Royal Quadrille is the earlier game with the same name. It starts foundations on Aces and Deuces as they appear, builds by twos, and permits two redeals. See its strategy guide for that rank order.