Wasp Solitaire

What is Wasp?

Wasp Solitaire is a one-deck game in the Scorpion family. It shares Scorpion’s core mechanics — seven columns, same-suit group moves, three-card reserve, and a King-to-Ace same-suit run completion goal — with one important difference: in Wasp, any card or movable group can fill an empty column, not just Kings or King-headed groups.

This single rule change makes Wasp meaningfully more forgiving than Scorpion. The ability to temporarily park any card in an empty column gives you more options when reorganizing suit sequences, and it reduces the risk of creating an empty column that cannot be productively used because no King is available.

Full rules

The 52 cards are dealt into seven columns. Columns 1–4 receive seven cards each: top three face-down, bottom four face-up. Columns 5–7 receive seven face-up cards each. Three cards remain as a reserve, dealt one to each of the first three columns when the player chooses.

Any face-up card moves along with all cards above it, provided the destination card is one rank higher and the same suit. Empty columns accept any card or group (unlike Scorpion where only Kings are permitted). The game is won when all four K–A same-suit runs are assembled in the tableau.

How Wasp differs from Scorpion

In Scorpion, an empty column is a dedicated King-anchor slot — powerful but limited in use. In Wasp, an empty column is a general-purpose staging area that any card can occupy temporarily. This flexibility changes how you approach suit separation: you can use empty columns to break apart mixed groups and sort suit cards without needing a King available.

The consequence is that Wasp rewards more aggressive suit-separation tactics early in the game. In Scorpion, investing an empty column carelessly can lock you out of placing Kings; in Wasp, the recovery cost is lower. Players who find Scorpion too unforgiving typically prefer Wasp as the more accessible entry point.

Read the full Wasp strategy guide →

Key strategic concepts

Because empty columns can hold any card, the temptation is to use them freely as parking spots. This is a trap: every turn an empty column holds a parked card is a turn you cannot use that column for a larger reorganization. The best Wasp play treats empty columns as working space — always passing cards through, never simply storing them.

Suit contamination (placing a card on a different-suit card) is just as damaging in Wasp as in Scorpion. Each cross-suit placement creates a dependency that eventually costs an empty-column operation to untangle. Evaluate every move for suit purity before executing.

Scorpion family variants

• Scorpion — same rules but empty columns accept only Kings; stricter and harder
• Three Blind Mice — ten-column Scorpion-family layout; longer game
• Yukon — alternating-color group moves instead of same-suit; foundations instead of in-tableau runs

Related games and reference

• Scorpion Solitaire
• Wasp strategy guide
• Scorpion strategy guide
• Solitaire glossary
• All solitaire games