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Mrs. Mop Solitaire is the open two-deck patience invented by Charles Jewell, free to play online in your browser with no download and no sign-up. Both packs, 104 cards, are dealt face up into thirteen columns of eight. There is no stock, no reserve and no redeal, so the whole mess is on the floor from the first second and nothing is left to luck after the deal. Any card goes on any card one rank higher whatever the suit, but only a run that already goes down in one suit can move as a unit, and an empty column takes any card or any suit run. Finish a King-to-Ace run in one suit and it is swept off into a tray; sweep all eight and the floor is clean. It is a hard game, and our measurements say so honestly: across the first 240 deals our searches found a clean floor in 177, while a player who only looks one move ahead swept none of them. Drag or tap to move, undo as far back as you like, ask the hint for a winning line, or pick Winnable deals to play only hands the hint can clear from the opening.
How to play Mrs. Mop Solitaire
- Two packs, 104 cards, are dealt face up into thirteen columns of eight. There is no stock and no reserve: every card you will ever play with is on the table from the start, and the job is to sweep all of it away.
- Any card may go on any card one rank higher, whatever the suit — a 7 on any 8. Only a run that already goes down in one suit, such as 9♠ 8♠ 7♠, can be lifted and moved as a unit. A mixed-suit pile has to come apart one card at a time.
- An empty column takes any card or any suit run. Empty columns are the only spare room in the game, so making one, and spending it well, is what decides most deals.
- When a column holds a complete run from King down to Ace in one suit, it is swept off the floor into one of the eight trays at the top. Sweep all eight — two of each suit — and you have won.
- Drag a card or run to move it, or tap it and the game sends it to the best column that takes it. Undo goes all the way back to the deal, and Hint shows a move on a line to a clean floor when it can find one.
Tips
- Build in suit whenever you have the choice. A 7♥ on the 8♥ stays movable as part of a run; the same 7♥ on the 8♣ is stuck there until you take it apart again, card by card.
- Treat an empty column as your most valuable card. Fill it only when doing so lets you join two pieces of one suit, or empties another column, never just to tidy one card away.
- A wrong first few moves can kill a deal outright. Of the first nine deals, a player who grabs the tidiest-looking move each turn reaches a floor where no suit can ever be finished in five of them, all within sixteen moves, with all 104 cards still down. Undo is there for exactly that.
- Look for short columns. A column of three or four cards that can all be built elsewhere is your quickest route to a space, and the first space usually opens the next.
FAQ
Is Mrs. Mop Solitaire free to play?
Yes. Mrs. Mop Solitaire is completely free to play online in your browser, with no download, no account and no in-game purchases. Your game in progress and your win statistics are saved on your own device.
Does Mrs. Mop Solitaire work on mobile?
Yes. On a phone held upright the thirteen columns are laid out as seven over six so the cards stay readable, and held sideways they sit in one row. Tap a card to move it, or drag it with your finger. On a computer you can also use the keyboard: arrow keys move between columns, Enter plays the top card, U undoes, H hints and N deals again.
How do you win Mrs. Mop Solitaire?
You win by sweeping all eight King-to-Ace suit runs off the table — two for each suit, because the game uses two packs. A run is swept automatically as soon as a column holds a King followed by every card down to the Ace in the same suit.
Can every game of Mrs. Mop be won?
Not as far as anyone can show. Our solver plays the very game you see, since nothing is hidden, and across the first 240 deals it and the hint search found a clean floor in 177 of them. The other 63 are not proven lost — 104 open cards are far too many positions to search completely — they are simply deals no search here could crack. A player who only looks one move ahead swept none of the 240, so the game rewards planning far more than luck.
What are Winnable deals?
Winnable deals only gives you hands the page’s own hint search swept clean from the opening position when we measured it — 164 of the first 240 deals. In that mode Hint can always show you a line to a clean floor from the start, as long as you have not already played your way off it.
Which cards can move together in Mrs. Mop?
Only a run that goes down in one suit, such as Q♦ J♦ 10♦, moves as a unit, however long it is. A pile like Q♦ J♣ 10♦ is legal to build, because building ignores suit, but it has to be taken apart one card at a time, since there are no free cells to help.
What can go into an empty column?
Any single card or any run in one suit — not only a King. This follows PySolFC’s rules for Mrs. Mop; some books leave empty columns unexplained, and treating them as open to anything is the common reading.
How is Mrs. Mop different from Spider Solitaire?
Both use two packs, build down regardless of suit and remove finished King-to-Ace runs. Spider deals ten columns with most cards face down and adds ten more cards from a stock each time you call for them. Mrs. Mop deals all 104 cards face up into thirteen columns at once, with no stock at all, so there is no hidden card and no luck after the deal — only planning.
Who invented Mrs. Mop?
Mrs. Mop was invented by Charles Jewell, according to Wikipedia’s article on the game. We follow its rules for the deal and building, and PySolFC’s for empty columns.