Home / Card / Kings Corner Solitaire
Kings Corner Solitaire is the one-deck patience also called Kings in the Corner, free to play online in your browser with no download and no sign-up. Five cards are dealt face up in a cross and the four empty corners around it are the foundations. Any Ace starts a corner, and each corner then builds up in its own suit, Ace to King, so a finished game leaves a King in every corner. The five piles of the cross build down in any suit — a 7 on any 8 — and the order wraps round, so a King may go on an Ace. Only top cards move, one at a time, and an empty pile takes any card. Turn the stock one card at a time onto the waste whenever you like, but there is no redeal. It is a hard patience: the solver behind this page, which can see the whole deck, finds a win in 832 of the first 2,400 deals, while a simple rule-of-thumb player wins only 37 of them. Drag or tap the cards, undo any move, ask for a hint, replay a deal by its number, and play Winnable deals (the default) or fully random ones.
How to play Kings Corner Solitaire
- The game deals five cards face up in a cross — north, west, centre, east and south. The four empty corners around the cross are the foundations, and the other 47 cards are the face-down stock.
- Any Ace can start an empty corner: tap it or drag it there. A corner then builds up in its own suit, one card at a time — Ace, 2, 3 and so on up to the King.
- The five piles of the cross build down, regardless of suit: any 7 goes on any 8. The order wraps round, so a King may be played on an Ace. Only the top card of each pile is in play, and cards move one at a time.
- When a pile of the cross is empty, any card in play can go into it — the top card of another pile or the top card of the waste.
- Tap the stock (or press D) to turn its top card onto the waste, whenever you like; the top waste card is in play. The stock goes through once — there is no redeal.
- You win when all 52 cards are on the corners, with a King on top of each. If the stock is spent and no card can ever reach a corner, the deal is lost: undo, replay the same deal or start a new one.
Tips
- Do not turn the stock just because you can. Every card you turn covers the one beneath it on the waste, and with no redeal a buried waste card is often lost for good.
- An empty pile in the cross is your most valuable space. Use it to park a waste card you would otherwise have to bury, or to dig an Ace or a Two out from under another card — not just to tidy up.
- Because the cross builds in any suit and wraps King-on-Ace, long runs form quickly. Before you drop a card on a pile, look at what is underneath: a run that hides the next card a corner needs can block the whole suit.
- Get the Aces and Twos home early. Nothing in the cross ever needs a Two to build on except an Ace, and an Ace only ever holds a King.
- When the stock is gone, the game finishes by itself as soon as every remaining card can simply go home. If you are stuck, undo a few moves, or press Hint: it follows a winning line while one exists and tells you when none was found.
FAQ
Is Kings Corner Solitaire free to play?
Yes. Kings Corner Solitaire is completely free to play online in your browser, with no download, no account and no in-game purchases. It works on phones, tablets and computers.
How do you play Kings Corner Solitaire?
Five cards are dealt in a cross and the four corners are foundations. Start a corner with any Ace and build it up in suit to the King. The piles of the cross build down in any suit, wrapping so a King goes on an Ace; an empty pile takes any card. Turn the stock one card at a time onto the waste, and win by getting all 52 cards into the corners.
Is this the same as the Kings Corner card game?
No. Kings Corner, the family game, is played by two to four people: each holds a hand of seven cards, builds down in alternating colours on a cross, plays Kings into the corners and tries to be first to get rid of their cards. This page is the one-player patience of the same name, Kings in the Corner, where the corners are foundations built up in suit.
Why is it called Kings in the Corner?
Because a finished game leaves a King on top of every corner. Each corner starts with an Ace and is built up in its suit, so the last card to land on each of the four corners is that suit's King.
Can a King go on an Ace?
Yes, on the five piles of the cross. They build down regardless of suit and the order wraps round, so after the Two comes the Ace and after the Ace a King can follow. The corners do not wrap: they go up from Ace to King and then they are complete.
How often can you win Kings Corner Solitaire?
Not often — it is a hard patience. We measured it on the first 2,400 deals: a solver that sees the whole deck, including the order of the stock, finds a win in 832 of them, about one deal in three. A rule-of-thumb player that sends cards home, plays the waste card whenever it builds and otherwise turns the stock wins only 37, about one in 65. Using the empty piles well and not turning the stock too early make most of the difference.
What does Winnable deals mode do?
It deals only hands the solver has played all the way to a win: the 832 winnable deals it found among the first 2,400. It is the default. Random deals draws from all 999,999 deal numbers, so many of those hands cannot be won however well you play.
How does the hint work?
The hint asks the same solver, which knows the order of the stock — so it knows more than you do. While it can find a winning line from your position it shows that line's next move and says so; otherwise it shows a sensible move and tells you no winning line was found.
Is there a redeal?
No. You can turn the stock onto the waste one card at a time whenever you like, but it goes through only once. When it is empty, only the cards already on the waste and in the cross are left to play.
Can I undo a move?
Yes. Every move — including turning the stock — can be undone one at a time, right back to the deal, even after the game has ended with no moves left.
What is the deal number?
Every shuffle has a number from 1 to 999,999, shown at the top of the table. The same number always deals the same cards, so Replay deal gives you exactly the same game again, and New deal picks a different one.
Does it save my game, and can I play with a keyboard?
An unfinished deal is saved in your browser and picks up where you left it. With a keyboard, the arrow keys move between piles, Enter plays the top card, D turns the stock, U undoes, H asks for a hint and N starts a new deal.