RONDO



OBJECTIVE RONDO:  Get cards into the correct position and remove them three times.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 1 player

NUMBER OF CARDS: 52 cards

TYPE OF GAME: Solitaire 

AUDIENCE: Adults


INTRODUCTION OF RONDO

Rondo is a patience activity that relies entirely on luck.  Although it is not much of a game, there is something calming and rhythmic about moving the cards from pile to pile.  Cards will be dealt into thirteen piles numbered 1 – 13.  The objective is to have each pile showing a card that correlates to the pile’s number.  Jacks are 11, Queens are 12, Kings are 13, and Aces are 1.  Players have a 5% chance of completing Rondo.

THE CARDS & THE LAYOUT

Rondo uses a standard 52 card French deck.  Shuffle the cards and deal out thirteen piles face up.  Each pile will have four cards in it.  Imagine that each pile is numbered 1 – 13.  

THE PLAY

Usually, play begins with pile number 1.  Pick up the top card and put it under pile two.  Pick up the top card from pile 2 and place it under pile 3.  Pick up the top card from pile 3 and place it under pile 4.  Continue this process until the top card’s rank matches the pile.  When this occurs, that pile is skipped, so you do not put the card under it or pick up it’s top card.  Instead, the card you picked up goes under the next available pile.  That pile’s top card is then picked up and placed under the next eligible pile.  

If the game begins with an Ace as the top card of pile 1, do not begin the game there.  Begin with the first pile that is not showing its matching number.

Play like this continues until all thirteen piles show a card that matches the pile’s number.  If this is accomplished, collect all thirteen cards (Ace – King) and place them in a pile to the side.  There will be a card left hanging from the move that happened before all thirteen cards were collected.  Begin the next round by placing that card under the next available pile after the collection.  

WINNING

To win, successfully collect the 13 cards three times.   If at any point there are no longer any eligible moves to be made, the game is lost.

Mark Ball
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