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Strategies and Hints:

Here are some of my hints and strategies for getting a perfect score during the regular or timed Klondike game (turning your hand three cards at a time). These hints are in no particular order.

The four piles that go up in suit from Ace up to King are known as foundations, suit piles, or Ace piles. The seven piles that alternate colors, red and black, as they go down in value, are called the tableau or the board. Tableau is pronounced like TAB and BLOW, with the B in the second syllable, and the accent on the first syllable, like TA-blow). You will be turning up cards three at a time from the deck (hand).

What do these three scoring details tell you?

1. You get five points for bringing a card from your hand down to the tableau.
2. You get ten points for bringing a card from your hand over to the foundations.
3. You get ten points for bringing a card from the tableau up to the foundations.

Bring cards from the deck down to the tableau whenever possible, even if they will go to the foundations next.

These score rules mean that two moves (10+5) are better than one (10). Do your best to practice the four click method of moving a card from the deck to the foundation. Click the deck button, then the foundation button twice, then the suits button. Your score will go up by 15. If you use the two button (deck + suits) sequence, you only get 10 points.

• If you turn up the Ace of Hearts and there is a Two of Clubs on the tableau, first move the Ace to the Two, then move it up to the Ace Area.
• If it is possible to move a card from your hand onto the tableau, you should do it even if that card will go up to the Foundation next. That's five more points on your score.
• If you think there is another card in the deck lower than the card you want to move up to the foundation, don't move the card up to the foundation unless it is to your benefit to do so. For example:
  • The three of clubs is in your tableau.
  • The two of hearts might still be in the deck
  • Unless moving the three will expose another card, don't move it up to the foundation.

Can you still get a perfect 5999 if you don't always bring the cards down to the table

Yes, you can. Some people may think that you only get 5999 when your "before bonus" score is 730 or 740, but I've had basic scores of 730, 731 or 735 that did not get me close to 5999, and I've had other lower scores that did get me a perfect score.

But, it certainly helps. I figure that I get the perfect 5999 more times because I have developed the habit of bringing cards down to the tableau whenever possible.

Establish a rhythm and memorize the buttons

Try to establish a rhythm so that you are looking ahead for other cards to play even while your finger is making the prior move. Let your fingers learn where all the buttons are so that you don't have to look at all the buttons all the time.

Sometimes, I use one finger to push both buttons for a move. When I'm hitting buttons that are farther apart, I sometimes use two fingers. I've never used three fingers for making moves.

By the time that I'm making lots of moves up to the foundations, I use my third finger for the "suits" button, and use my index finger for all the other buttons.

• Practice your end-of-game rhythm, when you can really get two fingers going, even if you're on your fourth or fifth time through the deck.
• When you're in your end-of-game speedup, be alert to chances to bring a card from the deck to the tableau before you move it up to the Ace Foundations.

Avoid backward moves

Remember, if you bring a card back down from the foundations onto your tableau, you lose 15 points (which is actually only a five point loss, because you'll get 10 points back when you move them back up to the foundation later.

• Try to avoid bringing cards back down from the Ace piles (you lose five points ((you get ten points when you move the card onto the Foundations, but you lose 15 points when you bring it back)) which relates to the strategy about waiting until you can't gain points by having cards on the tableau before you move them to the foundations).
• Do not move cards up to the ace stacks unless it is to your advantage to do so. For example:
  • If the next lower card of the opposite color might still be in the hand, you might get five more points by delaying the move of the next higher card up to the aces.
  • However, if moving a card up to the aces will expose new cards to view, it is usually advantageous to move it up to the aces. Sometimes, moving a card up to the aces will let you move the top card off another stack, making another move possible.
  • If both black Aces are up on the Foundations, then it is safe to move a red two up there, if one is available, because you can't gain any more points from that two down below.
  • But if you only have one black Ace and one red Ace on the Foundation, you might want to hold off moving either two up until either
    • moving the two will let you expose new cards, or
    • you've turned up the Ace that can be placed onto that two
  • When possible, I try to wait until I have all four of a rank before I move them up, but that is harder than it sounds, because many times, I need to move a card up in order to free up or expose another card.
• If you need the practice moving cards up to the foundations at the end game, play to the end of each game for the practice, even if you're on your fourth or fifth time through the deck.
• If your only goal is to get the highest possible score, watch the score when you turn the deck over each time. If you see the score go DOWN by 20 points, you can guess that you have reduced your chances of getting 5999, so you can redeal. HOWEVER ... I should add (a few years after I wrote the above) that once you get very fast with your fingers, you can get high bonus scores even on the fourth or fifth time through the deck. I've done so. I no longer try to bring cards down to the tableau before I move them up to the foundations, if there is no reason to, because my bonus score goes up, on average, by more than the five points I earn by bringing the card down first, then up. BUT if I might need that card on the tableau just in case another card comes up that can't yet be played onto the foundations, I may still bring it down.
• I'll try to look back at this page every once in a while, so that I can add other things when I think of it.