Distances use surviving piles
One-away and three-away refer to the current compressed sequence, not the original card positions. Every collapse removes a position, so all piles to its right acquire new distances and possible matches.
Accordion Solitaire
Collapse all 52 cards into a single surviving pile.
How to play
Collapse all 52 cards into a single surviving pile.
- Deal the entire deck face up as a left-to-right sequence of single-card piles.
- Move a pile left by one or three surviving positions when its top card matches the destination by rank or suit.
- After every collapse, recount surviving positions and continue until one pile remains or no match exists.
Strategy tips
- Check three-away matches before taking an adjacent move because longer jumps often preserve more options.
- A collapse changes every later distance, so rescan the whole line instead of repeating a fixed pattern.
- Keep ranks and suits distributed across the sequence rather than merging all nearby matches immediately.
Complete guide
Rules, scoring, and strategy
Accordion Solitaire lays all 52 cards in one face-up sequence and repeatedly compresses it. A pile may move left onto the pile one or three surviving positions away when their exposed cards share a rank or suit; reducing the line to one pile wins.
Rank or suit creates a match
The moving card and destination card may share either rank or suit. The move always travels right-to-left, replacing the destination with the moving pile and closing the source position.
Long jumps usually preserve choice
A three-away move crosses two surviving piles and can create several new adjacencies at once. An adjacent collapse is easier to spot but may consume the rank or suit link needed for a later long jump.
One pile is an exacting goal
A state with no one-away or three-away match is stuck even when many cards share ranks or suits elsewhere. Reaching one surviving pile requires planning the distance changes, not merely taking every visible match.
Questions players ask
Can a pile move to the right?
No. This Accordion edition permits moves only from right to left.
How far may a pile move?
Exactly one or three surviving pile positions to the left.
What makes two piles match?
Their exposed cards must have either the same rank or the same suit.