Open access before the next row covers it.
In Miss Milligan, eight face-up cards start eight columns and 96 cards remain in a two-deck stock. Each deal adds one card to every column. Tableau runs descend by alternating color, and eight foundations build by suit from Ace to King.
Last updated: September 2026
Check what a row will cover
In this implementation you can deal a new row while tableau moves remain. Before dealing, inspect exposed Aces and the cards directly above them. A new row covers all eight current tops; a foundation move or an alternating-color transfer may free a low card first. Dealing is useful when the current layout offers no productive move, but every row changes which cards you can reach.
For example, if a 6 of Hearts sits on a 7 of Clubs and a 5 of Clubs is exposed elsewhere, moving the 5 onto the 6 may create a legal run without uncovering the 7. If instead the 6 is the only card covering an Ace, moving the 6 to an opposite-color 7 exposes that Ace before another row arrives. The value comes from the card revealed, not the length of the moved run.
Use the Waive after the stock
Once Miss Milligan's stock is empty, an empty Waive space can hold one legal descending alternating-color sequence from the tableau. The sequence can return to a legal tableau column; a single card can also go to a foundation. After the Waive is emptied, it can be used again. There is no waste pile and no one-time Waive token in this game.
Before parking a sequence, identify its return route. If the leading card is a red 6, it needs a black 7 on a tableau column when you return it. Moving it to the Waive is productive when the newly exposed card or freed column creates that route.
Millie: no Waive
Millie keeps the two-deck, eight-column row deal but has no reserve after the stock. Its empty columns accept only Kings. A run that can be moved through a Waive in Miss Milligan must instead find a legal tableau landing in Millie; plan the last stock rows with that narrower mobility.
Giant: flexible empty columns
Giant also has no Waive, but any card or legal run may fill an empty column. Use a vacancy to separate a blocker from an Ace or foundation-ready card, then check how the parked run can move again. Filling every vacancy with a run can leave you with less room on the next row deal.
Imperial Guards: both storage options
Imperial Guards accepts any card or legal run in an empty column and provides one Waive space after the stock ends. They solve different problems: a vacant column is a tableau landing now, while the Waive temporarily removes a run to expose what is beneath. The Waive must be emptied before it can hold another run.
Little Milligan: one deck, seven columns
Little Milligan has 52 cards, seven columns, four foundations, King-only empty columns, and a Waive after the stock ends. Each deal puts a card on every column. There are fewer columns to absorb a new row, so check whether a King-led run can create space before drawing another seven cards.
Relatives with different access rules
Milligan Cell offers four single-card cells throughout play. Milligan Harp starts with a staircase of hidden cards and permits any legal run into an empty column. Milligan Yukon shares the staircase but permits moving an untidy face-up group, with King-only vacant columns. Their focused guides cover the choices created by those rules.