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Napoleon's Tomb Solitaire is the one-deck patience named after the tomb of Napoleon, free to play online in your browser with no download and no sign-up. Five foundations stand in an X. Each of the four corners starts with any 7 and builds up to the King; the tomb in the middle starts with any 6 and builds down to the Ace, then starts again on a 6 — four times round, until all 24 low cards lie in it. Suits never matter, only ranks. Between the foundations are four cells that hold one card each from the waste, and a card in a cell can only go home. Play the 3-card deal, which turns three cards at a time and goes through the stock three times, or the strict classic: one card at a time, once through. With the stock in view, the solver behind this page wins every one of the first 2,400 3-card deals and 907 of the first 2,400 classic ones; a careful player who cannot see the stock wins 1,260 3-card deals and 407 classic deals of the same 2,400. Drag or tap the cards, undo any move, ask for a hint and replay any deal by its number.
How to play Napoleon's Tomb Solitaire
- All 52 cards start face down in the stock; the table is empty. Five foundations stand in an X — four corners and the tomb in the middle — with a cell on each side of the tomb: north, west, east and south.
- Tap the stock (or press D) to turn cards onto the waste. In the 3-card deal three cards turn at a time and only the top one is in play; in the classic 1-card deal they turn one by one. The top waste card is the only waste card you can play.
- Each corner starts with any 7 and builds up to the King: 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King. Suits do not matter, so any 8 goes on any 7.
- The tomb starts with any 6 and builds down to the Ace: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. Then it starts again on another 6, four times round, until all 24 cards from Ace to 6 lie in it. Suits do not matter here either.
- When the top waste card has nowhere to go, you may park it in an empty cell. Each cell holds one card, and a parked card can only go to a foundation — the game sends it there by itself the moment it fits.
- In the 3-card deal, tap the empty stock to turn the waste back over and go through it again, three times through in all. The classic deal goes through the stock once only.
- You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations. If the stock is spent and no card in play fits a foundation, the deal is lost: undo, replay the same deal or start a new one.
Tips
- Parking is the whole game. Keep the cells for cards a foundation will want soon — a 4 when the tomb is on its 6, a 9 when a corner shows an 8 — rather than for cards nothing needs yet. We measured it: on the first 2,400 classic deals a player who parks only to free the card underneath wins just one, while one who also parks cards wanted within three ranks wins 407.
- Do not fill the last cell lightly. A full set of cells means every card you turn just buries the one beneath it, and in the classic deal a buried card may never come back.
- Watch the tomb's rhythm. It wants 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace and then a 6 again, so every low card is useful sooner or later — but only in that order. The Tomb counter at the top shows the rank it wants and which time round it is on.
- The corners are interchangeable: an 8 can go on any corner showing a 7. Start all four corners as 7s come up, so that more of the high cards have somewhere to go.
- In the 3-card deal the order of the waste changes once you play cards out of it, so later passes show you cards you could not reach before. Use the first pass to clear what you can rather than to fill the cells.
- Stuck? Press Hint. It uses a solver that can see the stock, follows a winning line while it can find one, and says so when it cannot.
FAQ
Is Napoleon's Tomb Solitaire free to play?
Yes. Napoleon's Tomb 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 Napoleon's Tomb Solitaire?
Turn cards from the stock onto the waste and play the top waste card onto the five foundations. The four corners each build up from any 7 to the King; the tomb in the middle builds down from any 6 to the Ace, then starts again on a 6, four times round. Suits never matter. Four cells hold one waste card each until it can go home. You win when all 52 cards are on the foundations.
Why is it called Napoleon's Tomb?
The name points at the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the layout is drawn like a monument: four corners around a central tomb in the shape of an X. The centre pile is the tomb, and all 24 low cards, Ace to 6, end up in it.
What is the difference between the 3-card deal and the 1-card deal?
The 1-card deal is the classic, as PySolFC and KPatience give it: the stock turns one card at a time and goes through only once. The 3-card deal is the option GNOME Aisleriot offers: three cards turn at a time, only the top one is in play, and you may turn the waste back over and go through the stock three times in all. The 3-card deal is the default here because it is far kinder to a player who cannot see the stock.
How often can you win Napoleon's Tomb Solitaire?
We measured it on the first 2,400 deals. With the stock in view, our solver wins every one of the 3-card deals and 907 of the classic 1-card deals — it found no win in time for the rest, and proved none of them lost. Without seeing the stock, a careful player who parks cards the foundations will soon want wins 1,260 of the 3-card deals and 407 of the classic deals, about one in six.
What are the four cells for?
They are parking spaces. When the top waste card cannot go to a foundation, you may move it into an empty cell so that the card underneath comes into play. Each cell holds one card, and a card in a cell can only go to a foundation — never back to the waste or to another cell.
Why does the tomb go round four times?
One deck has four cards of each rank. The corners take everything from 7 to King — 28 cards, seven in each corner — and the tomb takes the other 24, from Ace to 6. Building 6 down to Ace uses one card of each low rank, so the tomb repeats the run four times to take them all.
Does the suit of a card matter?
No. Every foundation in Napoleon's Tomb ignores suit and colour: any 8 goes on any 7 in a corner, and any 5 goes on any 6 in the tomb. Only the rank counts.
How does the hint work?
The hint asks a solver that 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 that does not end the game at once, and tells you whether the deal can still be won.
Can I undo a move?
Yes. Every move — including turning the stock and turning the waste back over — can be undone one at a time, right back to the start, 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 gives the same cards in the same order, 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, and your wins are counted separately for each kind of deal. 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.