Klondike family · Downtown
Six columns of six face-up cards with a 16-card stock that deals one card at a time to column one. Build same-suit descending sequences and move them as a unit. Empty columns accept any card or sequence. Build all four foundations from Ace to King to win.
Select a card or sequence, then choose a highlighted destination.
Six by Six is a single-deck builder in the same family as Australian Patience and Klondike. The defining feature is the layout: exactly six columns of six cards, all dealt face-up, with the remaining sixteen cards forming a face-down stock. Unlike Klondike, the stock does not deal to a separate waste pile — each draw goes directly onto column one, extending it with a fresh card that immediately enters play.
Tableau building is strict: only same-suit, consecutive descending sequences may be placed on one another. However, any valid in-suit sequence may be picked up and moved as a unit, which distinguishes Six by Six from games where only single cards move. Empty columns impose no restriction on what can be placed there.
The 52-card deck is shuffled and dealt into six columns of six face-up cards each (36 cards total). The remaining 16 cards form the stock, face-down. Four foundation piles — one per suit — start empty.
On each turn you may move any card or sequence that forms a valid same-suit descending run. The card (or bottom card of a moved sequence) must be one rank lower and the same suit as the top card of the destination column. Empty columns accept any card or sequence without restriction. Only the top card of a tableau column can move to a foundation, and foundations build up in suit from Ace to King.
Click the stock to deal one card at a time to column one. There is no redeal. Win by placing all 52 cards on the four foundations.
Australian Patience deals to a separate waste pile from which only the top card is available, whereas Six by Six sends each stock card directly to column one. This means every stock draw is immediately stackable under the same column-one sequence, which creates a different kind of pressure: column one can grow very tall if draws land on cards that cannot be immediately moved elsewhere.
Both games use same-suit descending tableau building and allow sequence moves, but Australian Patience restricts empty columns to Kings, while Six by Six allows any card or sequence into an empty column. This makes empty columns significantly more valuable in Six by Six.
Column one is uniquely exposed because every stock draw lands there. Building a long in-suit sequence in column one by immediately moving stock arrivals into compatible positions elsewhere is the primary mid-game skill. A column-one pile that grows without being pruned quickly becomes an obstacle to the entire board.
Same-suit sequence moves open the board in ways that single-card games cannot match. When a long sequence in column three fits perfectly onto column five, moving it simultaneously frees space under it and consolidates two partial sequences into one. Plan sequence moves before individual card moves whenever possible.
Empty columns are the game’s most powerful resource. Maintaining at least one empty column throughout the mid-game gives you a staging area for sequence splits and temporary card parking during complex reorganizations.
Six by Six is part of Downtown · Klondike family.