Easthaven punishes unready columns: every draw lands on all seven at once.
The stock deals one card to every column simultaneously rather than to a waste pile. You cannot choose where new cards land. The only lever you have is column readiness: clearing tops before each draw so that whatever arrives has somewhere useful to go. Easthaven is a preparation game disguised as a sequencing game.
Last updated: May 2026
History and background
Easthaven is a member of the Klondike family but departs from Klondike’s waste-pile stock in a fundamental way. In standard Klondike you deal one card at a time to a waste pile and choose when to play it; in Easthaven the stock distributes one card to every column in a single row deal, giving you no control over which columns receive cards. This forced simultaneous distribution appears in other patience games, but Easthaven applies it directly to Klondike’s seven-column triangle, amplifying the pressure that each deal creates.
Because the deal is forced and simultaneous, Easthaven places a premium on what the columns look like just before each stock deal rather than just after. A player who spends their inter-deal moves clearing tops and building useful sequences controls the consequences of each row deal; a player who moves speculative cards around gets buried column by column as the deals pile up.
How the game is set up
One 52-card deck is used.
- Tableau. Twenty-one cards are dealt into seven columns of three. The bottom two cards in each column are face-down; only the top card is face-up and available for play.
- Stock row deal.The remaining 31 cards form the stock. When you choose to deal, one card is placed face-up on top of every column simultaneously — a full row of seven cards at once. There is no waste pile and no ability to deal to individual columns.
- Foundations. Four piles building from Ace to King by suit. Aces are sent to foundations as they become available.
- Tableau sequences. Build downward in alternating colours. Only the top card of each column is in play; face-down cards flip when the card above is removed.
- Empty columns. Accept Kings only. A column that empties cannot receive any card other than a King or a King-headed sequence.
- No redeal. Once the stock is exhausted the game ends. There is no second pass through the deck.
The row deal: the constraint that defines the game
In Klondike you can choose to play a waste card immediately or defer it. In Easthaven every card in the next row lands unconditionally on every column the moment you deal. A column that already has a useful, playable top card gets buried under a new card you did not choose. A column that was about to cycle a card to a foundation now has an obstacle on top.
This means the state of your columns just before a deal matters more than what you do immediately after it. Pre-deal preparation — clearing tops to foundations, flipping face-down cards, building sequences — controls how disruptive the incoming row will be. A column with a face-down card still on the bottom cannot be considered “clear” until that card is exposed and handled.
Treat every deal as a forcing event. Before dealing, ask: which columns are in the worst possible state to receive an unknown card? Fix as many of those as you can before pulling from the stock. The deal is not a reward for finishing your moves — it is a scheduled disruption you can mitigate or not.
Strategic priorities in order
- Clear column tops to foundations before every deal. A column whose top card goes directly to a foundation is the cleanest preparation. It both removes an obstacle and creates a shorter column that is easier to manage after the row lands. Chain foundation moves before pulling from the stock.
- Flip face-down cards as quickly as possible. Face-down cards represent unknown constraints. A face-down card cannot sequence onto anything and cannot contribute to your plan until it is exposed. Every move that exposes a face-down card gives you information and at least one new option.
- Build alternating-colour sequences that allow group relocation.A legal alternating-colour sequence can be moved as a unit onto a valid tableau top. Building sequences between deal windows lets you rearrange tops quickly without requiring empty columns, which in Easthaven are restricted to Kings only.
- Reserve empty columns for King placements that unlock buried chains.Kings-only empty columns require a King to be available and ready. Before emptying a column, identify which King you will place there and what card beneath the King in its current column will be exposed by that King’s relocation.
- Defer the stock deal as long as productive moves remain. Every move you make between deals is a move made with full control. Once you deal, seven unknown cards arrive and alter the board. Use all available inter-deal moves before triggering the next disruption.
Decision walkthroughs
Deciding when to deal vs. making one more tableau move
You have two legal tableau moves remaining before the board stalls. One move chains a card directly to a foundation, freeing a column top. The other extends a sequence with no immediate foundation benefit. You are considering whether to deal now or make both moves first.
Complete the foundation chain first: it shortens a column and converts a blocked position into a more open one before the row arrives. The sequence extension is less urgent but still worth making because it keeps that sequence available for post-deal use. Make both moves, then deal. There is no benefit to dealing early when productive moves remain.
Two face-down cards remain in the same column
Column four has two face-down cards at the bottom under a face-up 8♦. The 8♦ can go on a 9♣ in column two. Making that move exposes the upper face-down card. However, it also places an extra card on column two, lengthening it before the next deal.
Move the 8♦ to expose the face-down card. The information value of turning a face-down card almost always exceeds the cost of adding one card to another column. Easthaven games are frequently lost because face-down cards were never exposed, not because columns became slightly longer before a deal.
All seven columns receive deal cards with no immediate foundation options
You deal a row and none of the seven new cards goes directly to a foundation. Three of them can extend sequences; four cannot move immediately. You now have several blocked columns.
Start with the three sequence moves: each one opens its column top for potential follow-on moves. Then check whether any of the now-exposed cards become foundations or open further tableau moves. Work through the consequential chain before considering another deal. Resist the urge to deal again immediately just because the current row looks difficult.
Common mistakes
- Dealing the stock before exhausting available tableau moves. Every unused tableau move before a deal is a lost opportunity to improve column readiness. The row deal cannot be undone; the pre-deal state is fixed the moment you pull from the stock.
- Leaving face-down cards buried under long sequences. A buried face-down card is an uncontrolled variable. As sequences grow on top of it, the excavation cost rises. Expose face-down cards early, even at the cost of slightly sub-optimal sequence placement.
- Filling empty columns with any available King rather than the most useful one.Because empty columns accept Kings only, the King you choose determines what card beneath it is revealed. Move the King that exposes the most useful card — ideally a low card or one immediately needed for a foundation.
- Treating the row deal as the main event rather than an interruption.Easthaven is won between deals, not during them. The quality of inter-deal moves determines whether each row deal advances you or buries you.
Recognizing a losing position early
Easthaven loses silently. The board does not obviously lock up; it just runs out of productive moves one column at a time. These signals indicate a position that is unlikely to be salvageable:
- Several columns have accumulated consecutive face-up cards with no legal sequence moves between them and no foundation advancement available. Each row deal makes these columns taller and less maneuverable.
- The Aces required to start one or more foundations are face-down under multi-card stacks, and no sequence of legal moves will expose them before the stock is exhausted.
- Every empty column opportunity was used for a King that revealed a high-rank, immovable card, providing no path to the low cards still buried beneath.
When these signs appear together, undo to the most recent deal that could have been deferred — or to the empty-column King choice that locked the board. Easthaven positions rarely recover from structural buried-Ace problems; catching them one or two deals earlier is the practical path to a win.