Chameleon and Rainbow strategy
Chameleon starts three tableau columns and a twelve-card reserve; Rainbow starts four columns and a thirteen-card reserve. Both build down in the tableau by rank regardless of suit or color. Only the reserve top moves, and their one-card stock draws have no redeal. Suit foundations use the dealt base rank.
Last updated: September 2026
Choose a landing card by what it covers
A Seven of Hearts may land on an Eight of Clubs or an Eight of Spades. Either is legal because tableau placement ignores suit and color. Compare the card each Eight covers, and whether the receiving column will remain useful for the current reserve top.
A Seven of Hearts covers the next foundation card in one column. Two other columns end in Eights of different suits. Either transfer exposes the foundation card, but covering an Eight that hides another near-term foundation card can delay a second route. The Eight's suit does not decide legality.
Use the single stock pass deliberately
Drawing covers the current waste top. Only the top waste card can move, and neither variant recycles its waste. Before drawing, inspect reserve, foundation, and tableau moves that might give the current waste card a home. An empty column accepts any exposed card, but filling it spends the most flexible landing place on this small board.
Rainbow: one more column, one more reserve card
Rainbow uses four tableau columns rather than Chameleon's three, and thirteen reserve cards rather than twelve. The extra column offers another landing place for a rank-only move, but it does not add a second stock pass. Compare the current reserve top with the waste card before committing the fourth column.
The Canfield guide explains shared base-rank foundations and reserve access. Its draw-three and recycle advice applies to baseline Canfield, not these one-pass games.