Bored and getting sick of scrolling endlessly on your phone? If that’s the case, we’ve got the solution for you! All you need to do is grab a deck of cards and try out one (or more!) of these amazing single player card games! Who knew playing cards by yourself could be so much fun? With these games in your arsenal, you’ll no longer be doom-scrolling on your phone when you could be entertaining yourself for hours with a single deck of cards! So, without further ado, let’s get to know the 15 best single player card games you should absolutely play!
For more like this, check out our post on the best games to play when bored – either alone or with friends!
1. SOLITAIRE
Of course, before we dive into the various versions of Solitaire card games, the first single player card game we should mention is traditional Solitaire.
A classic game played with a standard deck of 52 cards, Solitaire is a single-player game where the objective is to build four foundation piles, each starting with an Ace and ending with a King, sorted by suit. To start, deal the cards into seven tableau columns, with the top card of each column face-up. The first column should have one card, the second column two cards, the third three cards, and so on. The rest of the cards form the stockpile, which you use whenever you run out of moves.
To play, move cards between tableau columns to uncover hidden cards, ultimately aiming to create descending sequences of alternating colors. By moving cards around and uncovering hidden cards, you’ll start building on the four foundation piles. To win, you’ll need to move all the cards onto the foundation piles.
2. PYRAMID SOLITAIRE
A classic variation of the standard Solitaire game you should play is Pyramid Solitaire. In this game, players aim to remove pairs of cards from a pyramid-shaped tableau layout. Each pair must have a combined value of 13. You can remove cards from the pyramid if they are completely visible and not covered by other cards. As pairs are removed, the goal is to completely clear the pyramid.
Most cards hold the numerical value of the card, so it’s easy to remember. However, Aces have a value of 1, Jacks have a value of 11, Queens have a value of 12, and Kings have a value of 13. This means you don’t need to pair a King in order to remove it from the pyramid!
3. ELEVENS
Elevens is one of our favorite single player card games – and for good reason! Elevens is a simple yet engaging card game where players aim to clear the deck by pairing cards that have a combined rank value of 11. This game shares some similarities with other Solitaire games, such as Pyramid Solitaire and Bowling Solitaire.
To play Elevens, deal 9 cards in 3 rows and start making matches that add up to 11. You may only use the cards in your 3×3 grid. You can replenish any empty spots in the grid with your deck. And remember: you have to empty your deck, too, in order to win the game!
In this game, cards with face values of 2 to 10 are worth their numerical value, face cards are worth 11, and Aces are worth 1.
This game may sound easy, but it’s one of the more deceptively tricky single player card games out there!
4. TRI-PEAKS SOLITAIRE
If you’ve mastered standard Solitaire, one of the first Solitaire variations I would recommend for a little something different is Tri-Peaks Solitaire. Tri-Peaks Solitaire challenges players to clear a tableau of cards arranged in three peaks, hence its name.
The objective? Remove cards that are one rank higher or lower than the face-up card on the waste pile, with the goal of removing all cards from the peaks into the waste pile. For example, if there is a 3 face-up on the waste pile, then you can only move a 2 or 4 from the peaks into the waste pile. Just as with Pyramid Solitaire, you can only move cards once they are uncovered. So, you’ll start from the bottom rows of the peaks first. The game ends when all cards have been cleared from the tableau or no more moves are possible.
5. PORTRAITS
Portraits is another amazing single player card game you should play at some point in your life! The goal of Portraits is to collect all the face cards of the deck or the “portraits.”
To play, shuffle a standard deck of 52 cards. Then, one at a time, draw the cards to make rows of 5 cards. First, draw 5 cards to create the Public Sales row. And draw another 5 cards, one by one, to place on the Asset Cards row. If you draw any face cards when drawing for the Asset Cards, move them to the Private Collection row above the Public Sales row. If you fill up all five spaces of the Public Sales row, you lose!
Now, you buy assets from the Sales and Private Collection rows by discarding cards that hold a greater value than the purchased ones.
6. LITTLE SPIDER SOLITAIRE
One of the most interesting solitaire game variations is Little Spider. As with most other single player solitaire card games, the objective is to build four foundation piles. However, unlike standard Solitaire, you must create two foundation piles in ascending order, from Aces to Kings, and two in descending order, from Kings to Aces. While you can decide which suits start with Aces and which start with Kings, both Ace piles must be the same color and both King piles must be the same color.
To set up this game, there are two rows of four tableau columns, with enough space between the two rows for the four foundation piles. All remaining cards form a deck.
To play, move cards to the foundation piles if possible. Otherwise, you can also play within the piles, building either up or down. In this game, Ace can be both lower than 2 or higher than King.
7. ACCORDION SOLITAIRE
Accordion Solitaire is a unique variation of solitaire that challenges players to compress the deck into as few piles as possible.
As always, the game begins with a shuffled deck of 52 cards. Then, deal all of these 52 cards one by one in a row. If you run out of space, continue dealing the cards onto another row below the first one.
To play, stack cards to the left one by one as long as the card on the left is the same suit or same value. You can also stack a card third to the left if that card is the same suit or value. It doesn’t matter where you begin – you can even start in the middle! The rule is to just keep stacking, with the objective of having a single giant stack by the end.
8. TERRACE SOLITAIRE
Terrace Solitaire is slightly different from other solitaire games in that you need two decks of 52 cards. So, to play this game, you’ll need 104 cards. Since there are more cards than in your standard Solitaire game, you’ll need space for 8 foundation piles, 9 tableau piles, and a reserve pile.
To begin, deal 3 cards face up to the first 3 tableau columns. Then, choose one of these cards to be moved to the foundation pile. All other foundation piles must also start from a card of the same rank as they become available as you play the game.
Build the foundation piles up in alternating colors from the chosen rank until every foundation pile has a total of 13 cards.
9. YUKON SOLITAIRE
Looking for a version of solitaire that is similar to standard Klondike solitaire but with a twist? Try your hand at Yukon Solitaire! Just like standard Solitaire, shuffle your deck of 52 cards and deal them into seven tableau columns. But then, deal another four face-up cards for each but the first of the 7 columns. So, the tableau columns 2 to 7 must have 5 face-up cards.
You can move any card that is face-up. It doesn’t matter where on the column it is located. You can move cards around as long as it is in a descending sequence in an alternating color. All of the other cards underneath it move along with the card you are moving, just like standard Solitaire – even if they’re not in the correct order.
Move Aces to one of the four foundation piles as soon as they are available. Complete foundation piles in the same suit in order from Ace to King. Once you complete the four foundation piles, you win the game!
10. GIN SOLITAIRE
Gin Solitaire is a variant of the popular card game Gin Rummy adapted for a single player. You’ll need a standard 52-card deck and a Joker to play. In this game, the objective is to build your hands into melds and win 100 points before the Joker does!
Remove the Joker from the deck and deal yourself 11 cards. Then, place the Joker in the remaining deck and shuffle. This deck is your draw pile.
Then, to start the game, pick a card from your hand and discard it next to the draw pile face-down to start the discard pile. Once the first card is discarded, draw a card from the draw pile and try to make melds.
Keep drawing, melding, and discarding until you draw the Joker. When this happens, count the number of deadwood points you have. These are the points assigned to the Joker that are not a part of a meld. If you end a round with 10 or fewer points, then draw and count the cards from the draw pile until you draw the Joker. Subtract that from your deadwood points, which is your score for the round!
11. WISH SOLITAIRE
If you want to play a more unique version of Solitaire, try playing Wish Solitaire. This game is entirely based on luck! In this version, you’ll need a 32-card deck, which is created by removing all 2s to 6s from a standard 52-card deck.
Deal eight piles of four cards on the table. Now, turn over the top cards of each pile and take away any pairs of cards. Then, flip over the next cards in the stacks. Keep in mind that you can only remove pairs, so if you have three-of-a-kind, just choose two of those cards to take away.
You win the game once you clear away all pairs!
12. GOLF SOLITAIRE
One of the best single player card games you can play is Golf Solitaire, which is a great game to play if you love the Golf Card Game!
To set up the game, shuffle the cards and deal a tableau of seven columns made up of five cards each. All cards should be face-up and overlapped so that you can see each of the cards’ rank and suit. All other cards make up the draw pile. Then flip over the top card from the draw pile to start the discard pile. The objective of this game is to get as many cards as possible from the tableau to the discard pile.
You can remove cards from the tableau to the discard in descending or ascending order in any suit. For example, if the top card of the discard pile is a 10, you may put a Jack or 9.
When you cannot place any more cards in the discard, flip over the next card in the draw pile.
Tally your score by counting how many cards you have left in the tableau at the end of the round. Play a total of 9 rounds – just like golf!
13. BOWLING SOLITAIRE
If you want to try your hand at bowling but as a single player card game, try a round of Bowling Solitaire! While you won’t be throwing any balls into a set of pins, you will be mimicking the scoring system of an actual bowling game.
Just like normal ten-pin bowling, set up 10 cards in an inverted triangle. Then deal three “bowling ball” piles of five, three, and two cards. The top card of each bowling ball pile should be face-up. The goal? Clear the tableau by forming pairs or runs of cards that add up to 10, similar to the points earned in bowling.
You may use the deck to create pairs, but if you don’t use the deck and manage to clear the 10 “pins,” that’s a strike! If you were not able to remove the cards, count how many pins you were able to knock down – just like in normal bowling.
14. CANFIELD SOLITAIRE
The final game on this list of the best single player card games is Canfield Solitaire, which is probably the most challenging version of Solitaire, with only 3% of Canfield Solitaire games being winnable. The goal of this game is to build up all four foundation piles by suit in ascending order. This challenging version of solitaire requires strategic thinking and careful planning.
First, deal the reserve pile, which is made up of 13 cards face-up, but make sure only the top card is visible. Then, flip over the top card from the deck. This is the first foundation. All other foundation piles must start with the same value card. Take another four cards from the deck and place them in a row face-up; this makes up your tableau. Finally, all remaining cards make up the draw pile and remain face-down.
Now that the game is set up, to play on the tableau, cards must be in alternating colors in descending order. You can also play the top card of the reserve pile onto a foundation pile at any point.
This game can get complicated, so check out our full rules for Canfield Solitaire.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can You Only Play Solitaire Games by Yourself?
While solitaire games are generally played as single player card games, there are variations of solitaire that you can play with more than one person. An example of this is Double Solitaire.
What Is the Easiest Solitaire Game?
Once you understand the basic rules of Solitaire, you should easily be able to play all variations of Solitaire (although winning or beating the game is a whole different story!). But if you are looking for the easiest Solitaire variation, Klondike Solitaire is often considered the easiest Solitaire game.
Can One Person Play Rummy?
Generally, no. Rummy is usually played among 2 to 6 players. However, with that said, there is a version of Solitaire that involves making melds called Gin Solitaire, which is a variation of Gin Rummy.
Where Can I Find More Single Player Games?
If card games are not for you, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered with this complete collection of all single player games.